s k a t e

Jeff and Sidney, along with the two defensemen, followed Tyler onto the ice to continue the third period.

The minutes dwindled down while the score remained the same.

Canada and Sweden tied at the final minute of the Olympic goal medal match.

"I hate intense games. I did not want this to be an intense game," James grumbled as he skated over to the bench after his shift.

"Hey, you're doing great out there, man," Jeff patted him on the back before skating off to the faceoff.

As soon as Jeff skated up next to Tyler, the puck dropped and the play had begun.

Jeff quickly straightened up and skated down the ice to find an open spot.

"Skinner!!" Tyler called out.

Jeff turned his head to spot his teammate among all the other players on the ice, before the puck hit against the blade of his stick.

Jeff rapidly looked down before lifting his head and pushing his foot off the ice.

With large strides, he charged down the ice. Keeping light on his feet, he swiftly dodged the opponents rushing toward him, leaping and spinning in the air. Jeff kept steady control of the puck at the blade of his stick as he advanced toward the goal net.

The cheers of the crowd grew louder as Jeff approached closer to the net.

Using all of his force, Jeff brought his stick behind him before swinging it all the way in front of him and launching the puck into the air.

Jeff held his breath as the puck seemed to move slower and slower through the air while time seemed to run down faster and faster.

Suddenly, the crowd erupted into a loud roar and Jeff was pulled into a tight embrace.

"You did it!!!" Sidney exclaimed over the loud goal horn.

"It went in?!" Jeff asked with excitement as he pulled away.

"Sickest breakaway goal of all time, man!" Tyler told him with a grin as he skated up to him and held out his fist.

Jeff eagerly responded with a fist bump before craning his neck to look up at the screen. A smile spread on his face as he watched the replay of his goal. The puck being shot into the air, flying past the goalie's glove and into the net.

"Yeah!!" Jeff held his stick in the air as he skated over to the team bench.

"Thirty more seconds, boys! Just hold on for thirty more seconds!!" Sidney told his team as he climbed over the boards and sat on the bench.

Jeff and Tyler followed him, sitting next to him to watch the final thirty seconds of the match.

"Nice goal, Skinner." A firm hand grabbed Jeff's shoulder.

Jeff turned around to see Coach nodding at him. "Thanks, Coach," he told him with a wide grin.

"You're real light on your feet out there. Keep it up."

The smile on Jeff's face grew. "Yes, sir."

"Ten! Nine! Eight!" the crowd cheered loudly, causing Jeff to turn around.

"Just five more seconds left! Come on!!" Tyler exclaimed as he and Sidney and the rest of the team stood up from their seats.

Jeff looked at the digital scoreboard to see the final seconds winding down before standing up and sitting on the edge of the boards.

"Three! Two! One!!" all of team canada and the fans cheered. As the final horn buzzed, the Canadian players hopped onto the ice.

"Yeahhhh!!!" Jeff exclaimed as he jumped over the boards and onto the ice to celebrate with his teammates.

Countless black gloves, helmets, and sticks littered the ice as the players tossed them in the air in celebration.

Team Canada huddled around the goalie, jumping on top of him in excitement until he was brought to the ground and even more players piled on top of him.

"We wonnn!!"

"The gold is our's, baby!! We got the gold!!"

"We're getting the gold!!"

The teammates cheered excitedly from their huddle.

After congratulating the goalie for their win, the players dispersed to collect their gloves, helmets, and sticks and line up to shake hands with Team Sweden.

Jeff scrunched his nose as he fiddled with the strap of his helmet and skated behind James in line.

Murmurs of "good game" and "congratulations" could be heard among the players as the two teams shook hands.

"Skinny!!" an excited accented voice cried out.

"Hey, Elias! Good game out there, man!" Jeff shook his friend's hand before pulling him into a quick hug.

"You deserve gold, Skinny."

"Thanks, Lindy. Sweden put up a good fight."

Elias let out a laugh before continuing down the line.

Jeff shook each of the remaining players of Team Sweden's hands firmly with a smile before skating off to the bench. He removed his helmet, placing it on the bench before he heard a deep chuckle.

Jeff looked up to see Victor Hedman standing not to far away from him.

"Figure skater," he taunted with a sly smile.

"Hey." Jeff looked at him, before nodding over to the scoreboard above them. "Look at the score."

The smile on the Swedish player's face fell as he glanced up and read the digital numbers in the scoreboard that indicated Sweden had scored one goal and Canada scored two.

"Final score, buddy," Jeff told him with a smile, before jumping into the air, spinning three complete turns and landing perfectly one foot.

The Swedish player simply remained silent as he eyed Scott sternly.

Jeff let out a laugh. "Good game, pal," he said to him before skating off to join his team.

"What was that about?" James asked as Jeff skated up next to him.

"Nothin'." Jeff shook his head with a shrug. "He thought he could keep bugging me about my figure skating so I was just telling him to look at the scoreboard. "

James let out a laugh as he shook his head. "That's awesome."

"This is awesome," Jeff corrected as he watched the Canadian flag be raised up high to the rafters of the arena.

"Gentlemen," a deep voice spoke.

Jeff looked up to see an older man in a suit, holding a gold medal up.

A smile spread across Jeff's face as he bowed his head and the medal was placed around his neck.

"You got two gold medals, Skinner," Tyler said as he skated up to him, a gold medal of his own already around his neck.

"And it was fun!" Jeff exclaimed as he admired the gold medal around his neck.

"Really?" Ryan skated over to him, holding onto his gold medal.

"Even with all that teasing?"

"All of that isn't relevant if I'm having fun. And no one else really gets to decide if I'm having fun or not. Figure skating is fun and that's why I do it."

"Spoken like a true champ," Sidney said proudly as he skated up to Jeff and patted his back.

A familiar tune soon began to play over the speakers as the crowd began to cheer.

"Sing it!!!" Tyler exclaimed loudly.

Jeff smiled widely at his teammates as he clutched onto his gold medal before lifting his eyes to the red and white flag of his native land.

"O, Canada!"

*

*

*

The End.

Notes

Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know what you think :) Hope you enjoyed :)