The Wall

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"Wake up!" said Brad leaning over the edge of his bunk into Kevan's bed. "Come on, Millsy. No sleeping in on team-building trips. Besides, I set my alarm for 4:45, they’ll be here banging on some shit to wake us up at 5am. So we’ll be ready."

Kevan shoved Brad back into his bunk by his face. 4:45 am was too early to deal with the Squirrel. He heard Brad cackle. Kevan stretched his stiff muscles. Military style bunks were nowhere near as comfy as his bed with a warm snuggly Hadlee Belle. Kevan looked around they were sleeping 12 players to a room. And yep that was as fun as it sounded. He was sure it made him appreciate his teammates but it damn sure made him appreciate Hadlee Belle. He missed her lime and coconut smell, and it was a 100 times better than the current smell festering in the bunks. Kevan heard Brad start to count down, 3, 2, and 1.

The assistant coaches burst through the doors blaring air horns with military drill sergeants screaming behind them. Most of the other guys were startled from a sound sleep. Spoons had even fallen off his bunk. Brad climbed down from the top bunk and slid his feet into his trainers. "Told ya" he smiled as he looked at Kevan. Miller just laughed and shoved his feet into his own shoes. Apparently, the t-shirt and short combo handed out last night weren't just PJs. Kevan listened to the guys barking orders and jogged out the door once he had his shoes on.

Once outside the bunkhouse they were all bleary eyed and confused. Poor Gears looked addled. Miller called him over to their group. God forbid something happen to the girls' baby. They would all be in the dog house.

"You alright, kid?" asked Kevan.

"They are loud." replied Pastrnak

"It's supposed to be military style. It's a show." said Brad.

"Well, I lost a few years off my life!" called Spooner "I don't think I’m military material."

Kevan saw Whitey coming towards them and groaned. No good could come from him smiling at them this early. He was holding a metal ring with 6 harnesses attached to it. He called for Kevan, Brad, Dougie, Bart, Smith, and Pastrnak. He dropped the ring on the ground. He then began hooking the harnesses around their waists and chest. Once they were all connected to the ring, he pulled the harnesses until the boys were in a tight circle formation. He then told them they had to navigate the obstacle course in front of them. He gave them several rules: only one person in the group was allowed to speak, the designated speaker was captain, they failed as a team or won as a team, and no man was left behind. Whitey informed them it was strength, endurance, and mental.

Brad looked at the 6 of them harnessed together. It made him think of the Mighty Ducks movie where they had to skate together. Brad laughed and joked "Ducks fly together."

An evil smile crossed Whitey's face "There you have it boys, Marchand is your captain. Good luck."

"Wait!" said Brad "I was joking."

"Too fucking bad" said Whiteside "Lead your team, captain."

The group groaned. Whiteside laughed again. He handed Brad a black bandana. "Black team: Team Marchand, gold team: Team Chara, white team: Team McQuaid, and green team: Team Spooner. Kevan looked around and laughed he wasn't sure how Spoon's became captain of a team that had Boychuck, Paille, Soupy, Rask, and Bergeron. But he really wanted to be fly on the wall. Team McQuaid had Seids, Kelly, Sveddy, Loui, and Carl. Team Swede thought Kevan. Team Chara was Looch, Krug, Frasure, Krejci, and Griffith. Kevan was pretty sure Krug was about to be dragged through this course. They lined them up. Whiteside yelled for them to go.
Kevan almost laughed out loud when Spooner yelled "May the odds ever be in your favor!"
The first part of the course was a 3 mile run up and down hill. No problem for Kevan, but dragging 5 other guys was interesting. Kevan set a blistering pace for their group. He wasn't sure Brad's feet were hitting the ground. Once they arrived at the foot of the hill, there was a 6ft tall wall they had to get over. He looked at it, then at the guys beside him. Brad was there panting looking at the wall. Brad then climbed on Kevan's back. He instructed Smitty to do the same with Dougie, as well as Gears and Bart.

"Bart, you drop him and the girls will kill you." reminded Brad. Kevan, Dougie, and Bart all scaled the wall. Once they were over the wall Brad started yelling. Kevan laughed. The Squirrel wanted to win. They ran down another hill and through a maze of tires. They then encountered a word scrambled. Kevan and the guys all started rearranging letters. After a few minutes they worked out the word endurance. They took off running again. They crossed a river. Went up a large hill and back down. They saw Whitey standing at the foot of the hill. When they met him, he unclipped them. He told them their final challenge was on the other side of the giant cargo net. He explained they were all still under the same rules.

Brad was yelling for them to move their asses. That Chara's team was closing in. They made it over the net and were running in a pack to the last challenge. Brad grabbed the envelope of the top of the brick. He immediate started laughing.

Bruins must stand together. All 6 team members must stand on the brick together. You may use any configuration, but you must remain on the brick for 2 minutes. Kill this penalty and you might win this challenge.

"I know how to do this." said Brad quietly as the other teams were approaching "Kayleigh joked about this as a cheer camp thing." They all stared at Brad "We have to put just our toes on in and all of us hold hands and lean back. Tension will hold us up."

Kevan looked at him skeptically but nodded. Kevan stepped up and put his toes on the block and balanced. Dougie followed suit across from him. Kevan and Dougie locked wrists and leaned back. Bart stepped on to the block and locked his hands on one of Dougie's and one of Kevan's. He leaned back as Smitty did the same on the opposite side. Gears climbed in between Kevan and Bart and followed suit. Brad looked around at the other teams trying to climb on top of one another. "We fucking have this boys." he said as he stepped in between Smitty and Dougie. Brad leaned back and yelled for their time to start. They all leaned back and held on for dear life. Six sets of toes on a tiny brick would be difficult for dainty cheerleaders, but for huge hockey boys it was damn near impossible.

"Well son of a bitch" said Whiteside looking at Team Marchand. He watched their clock ticking away.

"How in the hell did you guys figure it out?"

"Cheerleading" smirked Brad "God Bless the University of Kentucky!"

Their clock expired and Whiteside declared them the winner of the first round. He made them all sit on a log and wait for the other teams to finish. They laughed at the piles of falling Bruins. After 45 minutes, Whiteside made them go demonstrate how to stand on the brick. They showed the others what to do. Whiteside then made them all hold the brick pose together for 2 minutes.

As they headed to breakfast Chara asked how Brad knew what to do. He explained that Kayleigh had told him about it. Chara shook his head and laughed. Brad smiled, he couldn't wait to tell Kayleigh. Breakfast was a lively affair. Everyone talking about who was going to win the next round. Kevan opted for his usual protein shake. He wasn't sure what they would be doing.

Once they finished breakfast they were lead into a hanger. They were told to reform their teams.
Everyone but Brad was blindfolded and lined up at one end of the hanger. They had to make it to the opposite end of the hanger without tripping over any obstacles or stepping out of their lane. The only thing guiding them was Brad's voice. But all four teams were doing it at the same time. It would be easy to get confused. You had to focus on your captain, and only yours.

"Millsy, you go first!" yelled Brad "The lane is directly in front of you. Take 5 big steps and stop."
Kevan did as instructed. "Okay, now move to your right and then come another 5 steps." He complied "Now, left and 3 steps. Back to the right and go 4 steps. Okay, you’re surrounded by balloons. You need to step over the one directly in front of you." Kevan stepped over the balloon. "Good Millsy, now run straight ahead to me." Kevan crossed the line and Brad slapped him on the back. Miller pulled off his blind fold and sat on the bench. He watched as Brad brought Dougie, Smith, and Gears across. If they could get Bart across the line before Spoons got Rask over they would win. "Follow my voice, Bart. Right, now forward. Left, forward, stop. Step two paces right. Now, over the balloon." Bart and Tuukka both stepped over the balloon at the same time. "Run, Bart!" yelled Brad "Straight, Run!" Bart fell into Brad as he crossed the line.

"Team Spooner!" called Whiteside.

"Damn it!" said Brad.

"Last event!” called Whiteside. “Follow me." The ventured over to a pool. "You all have to use the materials in front of you to cross the pool. All team members must cross the pool. If any part of your body touches the water. You must reset and all team members must start over. You can all talk to one another for this one."

Kevan was looking at the pile of materials in front of them. This looked impossible. They all had a diving board that gave them a few feet out over the water. They also had lane ropes to keep their belongings from scattering. Dougie was looking at the stuff as well. They had ropes, pool noodles, some wood, an oar, three floating rings, and a huge Styrofoam tanning float. They all looked at Brad.

"Kayleigh failed to mention an ark building challenge." he shrugged.

"We need to make a boat." said Dougie.

"Or a Bridge." replied Bart

Kevan was still inspecting the materials. He grabbed the 6 pool noodles. He and Dougie managed to get them tied together so they appeared to be a raft. Bart then helped them lash the 3 blown up floating rings under the noodles. It felt fairly solid. Smitty and Brad then helped them put the foam tanning float on top of the make shift ring noodle contraption. Once it was tied in place, they grabbed the oar.

"Who's heaviest?" asked Brad. Everyone looked at Dougie and Kevan. After determining that Dougie was heavier by 2 pounds, they voted he had to test the floating monstrosity. Kevan grabbed a long length of rope and tied it to the float. "What the hell?" asked Brad.

"How are we going to get it back?" asked Kevan

"Smart, Miller." said Dougie "If I sink, I'm throwing you in Marchand."

"Don't sink!" yelled Brad. Dougie carefully sat on the float. Once he realized that it would support his full weight he started paddling towards the other side.

"Fuckin' A!" yelled Marchy as Dougie climbed out of the float. Miller and Bart towed it back in.

"Miller!" yelled Dougie “Tie another rope to the front! Then when we get the next person over, we can pull them and make it quicker." Kevan tied it to the front of the raft. They put Bart on raft next. He made it across and grabbed the front rope as they pulled it back to the other side. Gears climbed on and they pulled him across. They heard a splash and curses as Looch went in the water. Followed by a whistle that Team Chara had to start over. They sent Smith across. Miller and Marchand were all that was left.

"I'll go first." said Miller "Then we’ll pull you over." Brad nodded. They hauled Kevan across the pool. Brad pulled the float over and climbed in. They all began dragging the float across the pool. Bart and Dougie pulled him free from the boat. They all collapsed laughing.

"Team Marchand wins!" called Whiteside. They noticed several dripping teammates.

"What do we win?" asked Marchand

"Respect" said Whiteside "Respect."

After lunch they all piled on the bus. Kevan texted Hadlee.

Kevan: On our way. Our team won.
Hadlee: Dinner in the crock pot. Can't wait to see you. I miss you.
Kevan: Miss you too.
Hadlee: What if your parents hate me?
Kevan: I love you. That's all that fucking matters.
Hadlee: Love you too.
Kevan: Home by 6pm

Kevan settled in for the bus ride. The boys were all talking. He was reading on his iPad when Brad told him he needed help. "What do you need?" asked Kevan.

"Kayleigh loves that song Sugar by Maroon 5." explained Brad "I want to make the girls a video of us Lip Syncing to the song. So, you can either video it for me or help me make a fool of myself."

"What the actual fuck?" said Kevan "I’ll video it all day long, but I'm not singing."

About 20 minutes later, Brad had convinced all the guys to help him. Kevan couldn't wait to see Looch singing Maroon 5. Kevan recorded an intro "Hey girls, this is the Bruins team building at its finest. Hope you love it." Kevan then turned the music on as loud as it would go on Brad's phone. The entire team made absolute fools of themselves dancing and singing along to Adam Levine. Kevan was laughing. He couldn't help it, Seids had blown them all away with a solo. He didn’t even realize the German man knew the song. The guys gathered around and watched the playback. Once it was deemed okay Kevan texted to Kayleigh, Caroline, and Hadlee. Looch even asked him to send him a copy for Britt.

Hadlee heard her phone beep. She figured it was a text from Kevan. Hadlee sat down on the couch between Caroline and Kayleigh. They hadn't left her since the test came back positive. She was so glad they were there. She had managed to not cry all day. Dani Grace and the cheer girls had taken the T to Dougie's apartment. Hadlee noticed all three of them in the group message. Hadlee grabbed her iPad and opened the incoming message. All three girls immediately dissolved in laugher as they watched the team singing and dancing to Maroon 5. They watched the entire thing 4 times before they messaged Kevan back.

Was this team building????

Notes