New People, New Places
3
The Next Day
Marc's pov
I hadn't told any of the guys about the call from yesterday, I would do that later today, we had to go to the iceoplex. We had a special practice today because the winners of some under 18’s hockey tournament were going to be with us today, and then afterwards a bunch of us are going to go get some food with them. I am excited because I always love to meet new fans. When I got there the frown on coach Bylsma’ s face told me I was late. I went into the locker room and saw both teams just milling around. I went over to Brent Johnson, he was already with a couple of people. “Hey Marc,” he greeted, “This is Eric, he’s a goalie” he introduced the kid standing with him, who was about seventeen, and like everybody else in the room was already dressed ready to go. I nodded at both of them and started to get ready. A man, I presume coach of the other team was talking to one of the boys, and I couldn't help but hear, like many others in the room.
“Do you know if he’s coming Max?” the coach asked the kid, Max
“I think he is, he’s probably just late.” Max tried to reassure the coach, who just sighed and walked over and started talking to our equipment manager. “What’s going on there?” I asked Eric, who rolled his eyes. “ They're talking about Senna, our other goalie.” He said. I nodded, but Brent is more curious than I am, “Why would he think he isn't coming?” he asked him, Eric sighed, irritably, he clearly didn't like talking about Senna. “He didn’t want to come, coach had to make today mandatory so he would show up. I don’t know why he wants him here so bad; he doesn’t even like the Penguins.” Eric said. Their coach and Dana Heinze, our equipment manager, left the room.
“What are they doing now?” Brent questioned to nobody in particular, but Eric answered him,
“Probably gone to see if you have some spare pads laying around somewhere, Senna doesn’t have any, coach usually scrounges some up from somewhere for him, if not he has to use mine.” He snorted, “What kind of goalie doesn’t even have his own pads? He’s obviously not dedicated enough.” I could see the resentment Eric had towards Senna, so I tried to make him feel better, “Well, I can see how that would be annoying, but he is just the back up goalie, and you have your own pads.” I grinned at him, but he just frowned at me.
“yeah, it would be fine, but it’s me who’s the backup goalie.” He muttered to himself how it wasn’t fair and I concentrated on putting all my gear on right. A couple of minutes, someone came in, I didn’t see who because my back was to the door, but I heard Max say, “Senna! You came.” I didn’t hear him respond, but I heard his coach open the door, “Come on, you’re late, I've got some pads you can use, let’s go.” There was silence in the room for a second, I wondered where the other team got changed, this place only had one changing room as far as I was aware. Then Geno spoke up, “Was that kid wearing a caps hat?” he sounded incredulous. Both Max and, surprisingly, steve Sullivan laughed. I turned around and saw Max shrug, “What you gonna do?” he said with a big smile on his face.
We all filed out to the ice, with Eric still muttering about Senna, and how unfair everything was. To be honest I felt sorry for the kid. I knew what it was like to work hard and have someone else get all the ice time and recognition. Senna obviously didn't care that much if he didn’t even own his own pads, or bother to turn up on time. People like Senna really made me mad, if Eric is the guy who works hard, he should be the one to play, and Senna wasn’t even out on the ice yet. Everyone was just skating casually around, or stretching. I sat down to stretch when Steve (Sullivan) skated up beside me and sat down on the ice. “Hey, you look like you’re thinking hard.” He said. I shrugged. I didn’t want to judge someone without meeting them first, but i was having a really hard time. Steve nodded, accepting that I didn’t want to talk about it. That’s what I really liked about Steve; he respected your decision to not talk if you didn’t want to, but was always there to listen.
Marc's pov
I hadn't told any of the guys about the call from yesterday, I would do that later today, we had to go to the iceoplex. We had a special practice today because the winners of some under 18’s hockey tournament were going to be with us today, and then afterwards a bunch of us are going to go get some food with them. I am excited because I always love to meet new fans. When I got there the frown on coach Bylsma’ s face told me I was late. I went into the locker room and saw both teams just milling around. I went over to Brent Johnson, he was already with a couple of people. “Hey Marc,” he greeted, “This is Eric, he’s a goalie” he introduced the kid standing with him, who was about seventeen, and like everybody else in the room was already dressed ready to go. I nodded at both of them and started to get ready. A man, I presume coach of the other team was talking to one of the boys, and I couldn't help but hear, like many others in the room.
“Do you know if he’s coming Max?” the coach asked the kid, Max
“I think he is, he’s probably just late.” Max tried to reassure the coach, who just sighed and walked over and started talking to our equipment manager. “What’s going on there?” I asked Eric, who rolled his eyes. “ They're talking about Senna, our other goalie.” He said. I nodded, but Brent is more curious than I am, “Why would he think he isn't coming?” he asked him, Eric sighed, irritably, he clearly didn't like talking about Senna. “He didn’t want to come, coach had to make today mandatory so he would show up. I don’t know why he wants him here so bad; he doesn’t even like the Penguins.” Eric said. Their coach and Dana Heinze, our equipment manager, left the room.
“What are they doing now?” Brent questioned to nobody in particular, but Eric answered him,
“Probably gone to see if you have some spare pads laying around somewhere, Senna doesn’t have any, coach usually scrounges some up from somewhere for him, if not he has to use mine.” He snorted, “What kind of goalie doesn’t even have his own pads? He’s obviously not dedicated enough.” I could see the resentment Eric had towards Senna, so I tried to make him feel better, “Well, I can see how that would be annoying, but he is just the back up goalie, and you have your own pads.” I grinned at him, but he just frowned at me.
“yeah, it would be fine, but it’s me who’s the backup goalie.” He muttered to himself how it wasn’t fair and I concentrated on putting all my gear on right. A couple of minutes, someone came in, I didn’t see who because my back was to the door, but I heard Max say, “Senna! You came.” I didn’t hear him respond, but I heard his coach open the door, “Come on, you’re late, I've got some pads you can use, let’s go.” There was silence in the room for a second, I wondered where the other team got changed, this place only had one changing room as far as I was aware. Then Geno spoke up, “Was that kid wearing a caps hat?” he sounded incredulous. Both Max and, surprisingly, steve Sullivan laughed. I turned around and saw Max shrug, “What you gonna do?” he said with a big smile on his face.
We all filed out to the ice, with Eric still muttering about Senna, and how unfair everything was. To be honest I felt sorry for the kid. I knew what it was like to work hard and have someone else get all the ice time and recognition. Senna obviously didn't care that much if he didn’t even own his own pads, or bother to turn up on time. People like Senna really made me mad, if Eric is the guy who works hard, he should be the one to play, and Senna wasn’t even out on the ice yet. Everyone was just skating casually around, or stretching. I sat down to stretch when Steve (Sullivan) skated up beside me and sat down on the ice. “Hey, you look like you’re thinking hard.” He said. I shrugged. I didn’t want to judge someone without meeting them first, but i was having a really hard time. Steve nodded, accepting that I didn’t want to talk about it. That’s what I really liked about Steve; he respected your decision to not talk if you didn’t want to, but was always there to listen.
