10 days later


* * *

"Tell me we don't look ridiculous right now."

"We look ridiculous."

Sidney let out a loud laugh as he, Jeff James, Tyler, and Ryan all walked from their locker room to the ice rink.

"Well, at least no one will see us," Ryan pointed out.

"'No one'?!" Tyler cried. "Are you kidding? There are, like, ten cameras in front of us right now.

Tyler extended out his glove covered hand to the numerous cameramen in front of the hockey players as they walked through the sidewalks of Pyeongchang in their full hockey gear from head to toe, with the exception of their skates.

In place of their hockey skates, they wore athletic flip flops. This created quite the odd combination when paired with bright red socks and oversized, bulky padding. In their hands, they carried their hockey skates and stick.

"Admit we look ridiculous," Tyler concluded flatly.

"No. We look like we're prepared to go win a gold medal match!!" Jeff exclaimed as he turned to his teammates. "Come on, guys, we made it past the group stages. We won the playoff qualifications by a landslide. The quarterfinals were brutal, but we survived. Winning the semifinals felt like a dream. And now we're about to play in the gold medal match!! What we look like is the last thing we should be thinking about right now."

"Jeff's right," Tyler said with a nod as he slipped his skates through his hockey stick and held it in front of him. "What we really should be thinking about is hitting those high notes in the national anthem when we get the gold medal and the Canadian flag goes up." He turned to his teammates with a wide smile. "Riiight??"

"Get outta here!!" James playfully shoved Tyler as they arrived at the arena.

"Hey, there he is!! Mr. Gold Medal Skinner!!!" shouted several Canadian hockey players as Jeff entered the locker room with Tyler, James, Sidney, and Ryan behind him.

"Hey, what's up, guys?" Jeff greeted them with a wide smile as he plopped his stick and skates down on the bench.

"Ready to win another gold medal, Skins?" asked Carey Price, the goaltender, as he pulled his red jersey over his head.

"Come on," Tyler began as he stepped next to Jeff and swung his arm around his shoulder. "We were born ready. We're Canadian!!"

"Ayyyy!!" the teammates all cheered as the locker room erupted into whoops and hollers while the players finished gearing up.

The cheers continued, but this time, from the crowd, as the hockey players marched out of the locker room and through the dark tunnel in a single file line before stepping out onto the ice.

The arena was brightly lit as the crowd roared with applause upon seeing their native team skate in front of their very eyes. Countless flags of red and white flooded the stands, bringing a smile on the Canadian hockey players' faces as they skated around the rink to warm up.

"I'm so nervous I can't even think right now!" Tyler yelled loudly over the thunderous crowd as he skated to Jeff.

Jeff let out a laugh as he skated along Tyler. "I can't even hear what you said! It's so loud in here!"

"What?!" Tyler asked back loudly before his expression fell behind his transparent visor. "Oh no, I don't think I can hear either. Why am I so nervous?!" he cried before skating off.

"Hey, Skinny!!" a familiar voice called out.

Jeff turned around to see Elias, his friend, wearing a blue and yellow jersey on the other side of the ice.

Jeff quickly skated to center ice where Elias met up with him.

"Congratulations on the gold! It's nice color for you," Elias told him with a big smile.

"Thanks, man!" Jeff nodded at him with a grin before patting his back.

"Yeah, but I think silver is a nice color for you too," Elias told him proudly, his Swedish accent embellishing his words.

Jeff raised his eyebrows at his friend before letting out a chuckle. "Oh, that's what you think, eh, Lindy? Funny, I was thinking the same thing about you."

Elias let out a laugh. "Best team win, Skinny."

Jeff nodded at his friend with a smile. "Yeah, best of luck to ya, Elias"

"Elias!!" a deep voice called out causing both of the hockey players to turn around.

A tall, burly player wearing a yellow and blue jersey skated over to them. Jeff quickly recognized him as Victor Hedman, a well-acquainted rival in the league back home.

Jeff knitted his eyebrows as he watched Elias talk with his teammate in their native language.

Elias shrugged and nodded his head before looking over at Jeff.

Victor turned to Jeff. "Skate?" he asked.

Jeff nodded. "Yeah, I skate."

A smile creeped onto Victor's lips before the loud sound of the horn filled the arena, indicating the game was about to begin.

"May the best team win!" Jeff called out as he skated to his team bench.

"Hey, what was that about?" James asked Jeff as he arrived at the bench.

"What?" Jeff asked as he reached over the boards and retrieved a water bottle.

"Those Swedes. What were they saying to you?"

"Oh, nothin'." Jeff shrugged. "I already told you. Elias and I are teammates back home. Just some friendly banter. That's all."

"Alright," James said with a sigh as he climbed over the boards and took a seat on the bench.

"Skinner," a gruff voice called.

Jeff looked up to see Coach standing behind his team's bench in a suit and tie. "Yes, Coach."

"You're on the first line with Tyler and Sid."

"Yes, sir." Jeff nodded before skating off to center ice.

He joined his teammates who were already in position for faceoff against Team Sweden, awaiting the puck to drop.

Jeff stopped next to Tyler, and placed the blade of his stick on the ice, leaning over at the waist as he prepared himself for the gold medal match.

"Alright, Skinner." Tyler turned to him with a sly smile as he also leaned over, keeping his stick on the ice, ready for battle.

"Let's go, boys!!" Coach clapped from the bench, encouraging his team.

"Never done a faceoff against you, Skinny."

Jeff looked up to see Elias right in front of him.

Next to him were with four other players in matching blue and yellow jerseys. They were also leaned over as held their sticks in front of him.

The whistle suddenly blew and the puck hit the ice.

Tyler moved his stick to pass the puck back to Jeff. Jeff quickly received the pass, keeping the puck steadily at the blade of his stick.

The sound of skates cutting through ice sounded closer and closer. Jeff looked up to see a tall player in a blue heading right toward him at full speed.

Thinking quick, Jeff leapt out of the way, twirling in the air, before landing perfectly. Keeping his momentum, Jeff kept skating and took a quick glance down to see the puck still at the blade of his stick.

"I'm open!!"

Jeff looked up to see Sidney tapping his stick against the ice as he skated next to him.

With full force, Jeff swung his upper body to past the puck to Sidney with his stick.

Sidney reached his stick out to retrieve the puck.

Jeff skated alongside him at top speed, propelling his arms at his sides.

Keeping the puck in perfect control, Sidney weaved his way around the opponents until he was right in front of the goal net.

"That's all yours, baby!!" the teammates shouted from the bench.

The goaltender in the net crouched down as Sidney skated closer.

In a flash, Sidney skated to the right, before quickly shifting to the left and shooting the puck.

Jeff watched with wide eyes as the puck drifted over the goalie's glove and into the net.

"Yeahhh!!!" Jeff exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air as he skated over to Patrick.

"What a beauty, Sid," Tyler told Sidney as he patted his helmet.

"That's only one goal. One goal," Sidney said in between shallow breaths. "Come on. Let's get some more in, boys!!" he exclaimed as he skated over to the bench where the rest of the team held their fists out.

Sidney skated along the bench, giving them all fist bumps before climbing over the boards.

Jeff followed his actions, taking a seat next to him as he watched James and Ryan take the ice with the defenders.

"You got this, Nealsy!" Jeff called out from the benches as Tyler sat next to him.

The crowd behind them roared as the announcer announced Canada's first goal scored by the team captain over the speakers.

Jeff watched his teammates pass the puck to each other as they zoomed on the ice. James steadily controlled the puck before lifting his stick up behind him and swinging it with full force, sending the puck flying toward the net . . . and into the goalie's glove.

The crowd behind Team Canada's bench groaned while the crowd on the other side of the arena cheered for their goalie.

The referee blew the whistle and Sidney, Tyler and Jeff hopped over the boards and onto the ice.

"Hey," a deep, accented voice called out as both teams prepared for faceoff position at center ice.

Jeff looked up to see the Victor Hedman grinning at him before looking down at Scott's hockey skates. He then looked up again. "Wrong skates."

The whistle then blew as the referee dropped the puck.

With quick agility, Jeff skated to an open area of the ice so his teammates could pass to him.

However, he could hear the sound of skates cutting into ice quickly rushing after him.

A loud horn sounded through the arena, signaling the end of the first period.

"Let's keep it rolling, boys! Let's keep it rolling!!" Sidney shouted to his team, as he fist bumped each one as they stepped off the ice and headed toward the locker room.

Notes