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Dangles13 · 08-24-2018, 07:37 PM

He stepped off the plane into the heat, he felt short of breath as the first few gulps of the scorching air entered his lungs; it was always hard to breathe in the hot cities like Los Angeles. The young man descended the stairs and stepped onto the apron. It always bothered him when people called it the tarmac; tarmac is the material used, well not really, most airports use concrete these days. It is like calling facial tissues, Kleenex or cotton swabs Q-Tips, just plain dumb. As he started towards the bus he heard his name, "Liam", he turned to find who was interrupting his silent grumblings.

It was that damn rookie, Ensio Kalju, "Hey Liam! How exciting is this? I've never been to Los Angeles before, is it always this hot? Is it..." Liam held up his hand to stop the youngster before he ran out of breath, "Look Ensio, just chill and try to enjoy this. It is not every day you get to play here so drink it in and stop bugging me." Ever since the Finnish rook landed in Seattle he had been all over Liam O'Callaghan, the team's Captain. "Why can't he go bug Clint for a change? Clint is the good one, go learn from him" thought the Irishman as he boarded the team bus.

The Seattle Riot were in town to play the Los Angeles Panthers and it was the first time that Finnish rookies, Ensio Kalju and Kolja Seppänen were in the infamous city. Kolja was more subdued and generally a quiet person; Kolja carried himself with the poise of a ten-year veteran and if it wasn't for his baby face you might think he was a middle-aged man with his life together.

Liam pushed of Ensio to get on the bus first so he could choose a seat away from the exuberant kid. The bus smelled clean as if the driver had driven through a car wash with all of the windows down. The darkness on the bus was unexpected and it took a moment before Liam's eyes adjusted to the dim interior, he scanned the rows of seats and eventually settled on a seat in the back beside Wuma Duce.

Wuma was a new addition to the team who came over from Texas via an offseason trade. Duce and O'Callaghan got along pretty well, the German got quieter as the group around him got larger but when it was one on one he was very open. Liam was able to read when he sat with Duce because the big power-forward knew not to bother him when he was engrossed in a novel. Another of the Irishman's pet peeves was when people tried talking to him when he was devouring the pages of a good book.

Currently, Liam was reading a trilogy by Richard Herley called the Pagans. Oddly, it takes place in Europe somewhere around Germany and it captures what life was like for nomadic tribes trying to survive the birth of agrarian society. Liam was clipping along at a good pace when he got to a place where 30 pages had fallen out or been removed and he cursed under his breath. Eager to continue the story, he set his book down and pulled out his smartphone. Unbeknownst to the Riot's Captain, Kalju was waiting for just such a moment and he pounced.

"Liam, can we talk about the game tonight? I'm nervous and I need help. I feel like I've been doing everything wrong and I'm worried that I might get scratched".

Liam sighed inwardly, the book would have to wait, as Captain it was his job to help the players. O'Callaghan really enjoyed talking about hockey, he loved talking strategy with players and picked the brains of rival players when they gave him the opportunity so he could not begrudge Ensio doing the same.

"Where do you want to start, Ensio? Let's focus on you first and foremost. If we can get you back to where we know that you can play then we can worry about strategy later. Tonight, let's keep things simple. Make short passes, chip the puck off the boards. Get the puck and fire it on the net, don't think, just do. I need you to KNOW that you can do these things at this level before we talk strats".

The bus pulled up to the hotel just as Liam finished instructing the rookie blue-liner. It was a marvellous looking building, not new and boring like so many first-class hotels seem to be. The hotel had character, stone pillars on either side of the massive carved wooden doors, gargoyles perched at all levels of the outside and beautiful carved stone parapets. Liam was unsure what the building was called but it resonated with his old soul.

The inside was just as impressive as the outside, old paintings were hung in the foyer with more carved pillars and etched glass was everywhere. The team manager handed everyone the keys to their rooms and told them that the bus would be leaving in six hours so be ready in five. Liam's bunkmate was the big Czech winger, DeMaricus Smyth. It was an odd pairing, O'Callaghan had always thought that he would be paired with his D partner but Eastwood was a veteran and a star so he always snagged his own room.

Smyth and O'Callaghan were not fast friends, in fact, it seemed that the two had nothing in common. DeMaricus always had some EDM thumping in his ears, the "dun, dun, dun" could be heard by Liam when he was reading. DeMaricus liked to go out and have fun while Liam preferred to stay in and read or watch the news. Perhaps it was their stark differences that made them mesh so well, Liam was left alone when DeMaricus was out and when DeMaricus came back he would always bring the Irishman some food.

A breaking news bulletin flashed across the screen, "holy shit, did you hear that Smytty"? Of course, he didn't, those damn headphones were blocking everything out. O'Callaghan shook his roommate, "Smytty, they say I'm getting traded! Smytty, what is this? Nobody told me I was on the move, can this be real"?

Panicked, Liam fumbles around looking for his phone, he finds it on the floor, it must have fallen off the bed. "It says that I have no calls or messages, this must be a fucking joke. I'm gonna wring that scrawny little GMs neck when I see him, doesn't even have the spine to tell me he traded me".

An incipient smile starts to spread across DeMaricus' face, which he tries to cover with his hand. O'Callaghan sits there on the gold and maroon paisley comforter, a confused look on his face. "Smytty, if you know something then you had better fucking tell me right now"! Smyth turns to the tv and presses pause, the realization sinks in and DeMaricus can see the Eureka moment flow through Liam's face.

"We got you so good, Liam. You were so angry that I thought you might fly back to Seattle and commit some unspeakable crimes" cackles an obviously amused DeMaricus. O'Callaghan fires back "you are so dead Smytty, I hope you don't plan on sleeping ever again". The two laugh about it and DeMaricus texts the rest of the team to tell them how well the prank worked. "Let's catch some shut-eye, Liam. We've got a big game in a few hours".

Some people can lay their head on the pillow and be out within minutes, Liam is not one of those people; Liam is the type who lays awake all night with his mind racing. In this scenario, Liam was contemplating the upcoming game and sleep was not going to come in this heat.

Seattle has been trying to climb out of this rebuild for a few seasons now and O’Callaghan, as the leader of the team, puts immense pressure on himself to be perfect, each and every game. Usually, O’Callaghan goes over the video in his head while he lays there with earbuds in.

Liam got up and went outside on the balcony to take in some fresh air but he underestimated just how hot the Los Angeles air was and he was met the grossly hot air. Furthermore, the noise was overwhelming and Liam couldn’t stay outside so he went and woke up DeMaricus so they could leave for the rink.

The team was in good spirits on the bus ride over and the prank that the boys pulled on O’Callaghan was the most talked about subject. Many players thought it would be hilarious if they said faux farewells to the Irishman and wished him well in his new digs. The coach quieted everyone down and went over the game plan before as we pulled into the arena lot.

The game was a tight checking affair and even though the boys had been jovial on the bus, it was evident that they were jittery on the ice. It seemed like maybe the Panthers were about to score on a flurry of shots when Bennett fired one wide and O’Callaghan scooped it up and fired a 20-foot outlet to Twain. Twain looked over and saw it was just him and Lindstrom against the lone defenseman so he split out wide and feathered a beauty of a saucer pass over to his wingman; Lindstrom made no mistake as he fired the puck just as it reached his stick and he cleanly beat the goalie. Seattle had jumped out to an early lead and the team had some life breathed into it.

All good things must come to an end and this was the case for Seattle’s lead when Wachter tipped in a point shot past Yuma to even things up not even halfway through the second period. Seattle was put on their heels and just when it seemed like Los Angeles was going to score again, they did!

Jean-Luc Reflieux took a pass from Woodcroft in the neutral zone and walked into the Riot’s zone and wired an absolute laser past Yuma to take the lead. Reflieux’s goal would stand up as the winner as the Panthers win 2-1 despite Seattle’s third-period rally.

Kalju was on the ice for the first goal against and finished the night at a –1; O’Callaghan could see he was upset so went and sat beside the youngster in the dressing room.

“Kal, you can’t blame yourself for that goal. Wacther is one of the biggest and baddest in front of the net and he beat Yuma with a lucky tip-in" remarked Liam as he tried to console the kid.

Ensio looked at Liam, rage in his eyes, “I don’t care that I was –1, I played good and felt good. I’m upset that I don’t get to play good matchups ever, why the hell am I playing against the top line when we had the chance to change? What is the coach thinking? I can’t learn to play my game when I’m barely surviving”.

O’Callaghan drew a deep breath, he was not ready for such a tirade. “Look, Ensio, you have to calm down and either take this up with the coach or use it as a learning point. The coach knows that playing you against those guys is not easy but he wants to see how you perform. If you keep bitching about it then he will think you can’t cut it in this league”.

Kalju said he would calm down and went off to shower. The rest of the team followed and the dressing room cleared out quickly. After a loss like this, the team usually went their separate ways and the mood was sombre. However, this night, Smytty decided to rally the guys “hey, why are we moping about? We played a damn good game and lost by a few inches, we are in L fucking A so we should get out and party.”

"Half the kids here are not even old enough to get into a bar, Smytty” replied Garrett who appeared deep in thought. “Don’t you fucking say it” retorted Eastwood, who was clearly perturbed. A large grin crawled onto Louie’s face, not unlike that of the Grinch, “How about we go bowling!!? I saw a few lanes on our way in!”

The older guys on the team let out a sigh but some of the younger guys like Seppänen and McElroy seemed genuinely excited. O’Callaghan felt that this was a good time to bond and could be a good opportunity to lighten the mood so he spoke up “Look, boys, we can find one of those glow in the dark places so Smytty can pretend he is at the club. Most of those places serve beer so the older guys can let loose and you can all come and get embarrassed by my remarkable bowling skills”.

Every player agreed to go out that night and that is an absolute rarity for the Riot. Even Duce came out with the guys and he is usually busy video chatting with his wife and their newborn baby, Chalupa Bean.

We got to the place that Garrett chose and we rented half of the lanes as there was a birthday party taking up the other half. Some of the younger guys could not stop gawking at the party, it was a bunch of 20 something-year-old girls and the girls in LA are quite beautiful.

For the first time in a long time, the team was feeling good after a loss and O’Callaghan and Garrett shared a knowing look under the black lights of the bowling alley. Letting off steam instead of hitting the gym was a good idea and both of the leaders knew it. O’Callaghan nodded towards the door, Garrett peeled himself out of the fuzzy swivel chair and made towards the front door.

Liam followed suit and headed outside, the air was a little cooler but still hot enough to be uncomfortable. “Liam, we have to think of more things to do that build the morale after a loss.” Liam ran his fingers through his auburn hair while racking his brains. “I don’t know, Louie. We could do dodgeball, it would get the boys moving around but it might make them angry. Plus, the coach is going to bag-skate us sometimes” replied the Irishman.

The two players chatted outside while some of the younger players made a foray into the young woman’s birthday party. It appeared to go well from an outside perspective and DeMaricus Smyth even looked to have collected a number before the night was through. Even though the Riot was beaten by the Panthers, the team had a great night.

Coach gave O’Callaghan a call at about 11:00 pm and told him to start sending the boys home as they had to catch an early flight back to Seattle and there was a practice scheduled for as soon as the plane landed. The news was met by a collective groan and a few other phrases that were unfit for children but they went without a fuss; the players knew how awful they were about to be skated and they needed rest.

The trip to Los Angeles came with mixed results but the leadership of the team hoped that this was an important building block toward their future success. The future of some of the players is uncertain, who will still be with the team in a few seasons time? Only time will tell...