Who Do You Think You Are?
chapter trois
Alyssa grabbed a pair of black dress pants and a green silk halter top and went into the bathroom to change. She straightened her hair, since it was a dressy occasion and even decided to put on some make-up, which she seldom did. Alyssa looked at her watch, she had 5 minutes left. She checked her appearance in the mirror and was satisfied, so she left the bathroom.
Alyssa was planning on ignoring John completely, but that didn’t work. As soon as she stepped out of the bathroom, his eyes were glued to her body. Alyssa wasn’t the type of person to be self conscious, but John’s stare made her. She was about to say ‘take a picture, it lasts longer,’ like he told her last night. But there was a loud banging at the door. John immediately shifted his gaze away from Alyssa.
Alyssa went to the door to find Zack, Cody and most of the team waiting outside. She smiled and joined the group. “Hey Al, you look good!” Zack said, with a wink. Alyssa groaned, soon the whole team was complementing her.
“Ah! Stop already! I swear the next person to complement me is getting hit,” Alyssa said, annoyed by the attention she was receiving.
The group went along, picking up more of the players and they stopped at Evander’s room which he shared with Angelo Esposito and Ryan Ellis. Alyssa saw Evander’s eyes light up when he saw her, she prayed he wouldn’t say anything.
“Alyssa,” Evander said with a big smile, “You look great.”
Alyssa groaned. “Sorry Ev,” Alyssa said before whacking Evander in the head. Evander then turned and attempted to hit her back.
“I don’t know why you’re so annoyed by people complementing you,” Evander said.
Alyssa sighed, “This is when I wish I was a boy.”
The whole team erupted in laughter. “What?” Alyssa asked, “That why I’d have nobody telling me how good I looked.” Alyssa paused, “Except for Tavares, he can’t keep his eyes off me.” The whole team hooted and hollered, as John grew even more frustrated. He purposefully walked into Alyssa, and then whispered harshly, “In your dreams.”
The team finally made it to the dining hall which consisted of one long table for everyone to sit at and another table that had the buffet. Pat made a quick speech on how happy he was with the team and that he believed would do very well at the tournament. He saw how restless the group was getting so he let them go for dinner, but kept Alyssa back.
“So how’s everything working with John?” Pat asked.
Alyssa rolled her eyes, “Fine.”
“That’s not what I heard.”
Alyssa huffed, “Okay, so I maybe told him that he’s not the next Sidney Crosby and stuff. And we may have played a couple of pranks on each other. Basically, I try to stay away from him. Can I eat now before all the food is gone?”
Pat looked at his daughter, she reminded him so much like he used to be, “Of course. Don’t forget to e-mail your notes tonight. Next, I want you to look at Sweden, Finland and Slovakia.”
Alyssa nodded and bee-lined it to the buffet table, thankfully there was more than enough food for the entire team. An hour later, the team returned to their respective rooms and had an early night as they had early morning practice the next day. The practice went well, the boys were still getting used to each other and the different coaching styles. Everyone was exhausted and went to bed fairly early.
The next day, practice was a little more intense as Canada had their first pre-competition game against Sweden in Toronto. Alyssa continued to research their opponents and decided to focus solely on Sweden. She found out that they had a player that was battling with John for the number one draft pick, his name was Victor Hedman; a 6’6 defenseman that was good on the penalty kill and was known to score short-handed goals. The practice was soon over and the team filed off the ice, her father skated up to her, holding a pair of skates.
“How ‘bout some one-on-one? We haven’t played in a while,” Pat said with an eager smile.
Alyssa couldn’t resist, it had been awhile since she last played, “Sure.” Alyssa laced up her skates and leaped over the boards, taking a couple of laps she was ready. It wasn’t an intense game, seeing as her dad was getting older, but he still had some hockey in him. Pat stole the puck and was half way done the ice when Alyssa realized what had happened. She raced after him and poked the puck out from his reach; she recovered the puck and sprinted back down the ice, tapping the puck in the net. Alyssa celebrated and then looked down the ice to see her father leaning against the net.
“What happened old man?” Alyssa jeered.
“You’re too fast for me now,” Pat said with a smile.
“Where’d you learn to play like that?” someone asked from the bench.
Alyssa turned to see almost the entire team, and they most likely had seen the game, “I…uh…my father is Pat Quinn.”
“Oh, that makes sense,” Ryan Ellis said, sheepishly.
“Alright boys, off to the meeting room. Alyssa has some information for us,” Pat said, in a coach voice.
Alyssa turned to look at her dad, “I’m…I’m supposed to talk in front of them?”
“Why not? They’re your friends, right?”
“Well yah, but I don’t want to get all coachy on them!”
“Suck it up buttercup, that’s why I brought you here.”
Alyssa currently stood in front of 22 boys who were intently staring at her, waiting for her to talk. Alyssa’s mind was working in overdrive just to form a sentence; she was fine talking to the team when it wasn’t in a business situation. She could see the smirk forming on John’s face and he sensed her nervousness. Then, someone started talking.
“So Al…” Evander said, “Whatcha got for us?”
This brought Alyssa back into reality and gave her a lead into her speech. “Okay, you’re playing Sweden tomorrow. You need to be the team to establish the physical play; I want to see a crushing hit within the first 5 minutes. As most of you know, Victor Hedman is on the team; a big defenseman who could go first or second at the NHL draft next year. They also have Oscar Moller who’s playing with the LA Kings, he’s a pure goal scorer, so don’t give him any room.”
Alyssa’s presentation went on for another 10 minutes or so and the boys were actually learning something from the hours of research she had done. As they made their way out to the bus, most of the team came up to her and thanked her. John, on the other hand, just nodded in her direction.
Alyssa exasperated threw her arms up in the air, “Is that all the recognition I’m going to get from him?!?”
The boys around her chuckled, “Most likely, John likes to think he doesn’t need to know the team he’s playing, that he’ll just adapt throughout the game.”
Alyssa huffed, “Whatever, he’ll thank me one day.”
The team had an early night, as they would be driving to Toronto early the next morning. John was surprisingly pleasant in the morning, giving Alyssa first dibs on the bathroom. Alyssa was hesitant to go in.
“What’s the matter?” John asked.
“I’m afraid you booby-trapped it,” Alyssa said groggily.
John growled, “I’m trying to be civil here, but you’re making it very hard.”
Alyssa jumped into the bathroom, muttering, “Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today.”
The bus ride to Toronto was uneventful; the boys played cards, video games and watched numerous movies on the TVs. Her father, on the other hand, was bouncing in his seat or rather, on the inside. He was going back to Air Canada Centre, behind the Toronto Maple Leafs bench that would serve as Canada’s bench. The boys were off to play a game of soccer and get changed for the warm-up skate. Pat pulled his daughter aside.
“Hey Als, I wanted to ask you something,” Pat asked quietly.
“Yeah, sure.”
“Could…would you like to be on the bench with us? We could bring in a chair for you.”
Alyssa was astounded, “I…uh…I’d love to. But is that allowed?”
Pat laughed, “We can sneak you in.”
Alyssa was planning on ignoring John completely, but that didn’t work. As soon as she stepped out of the bathroom, his eyes were glued to her body. Alyssa wasn’t the type of person to be self conscious, but John’s stare made her. She was about to say ‘take a picture, it lasts longer,’ like he told her last night. But there was a loud banging at the door. John immediately shifted his gaze away from Alyssa.
Alyssa went to the door to find Zack, Cody and most of the team waiting outside. She smiled and joined the group. “Hey Al, you look good!” Zack said, with a wink. Alyssa groaned, soon the whole team was complementing her.
“Ah! Stop already! I swear the next person to complement me is getting hit,” Alyssa said, annoyed by the attention she was receiving.
The group went along, picking up more of the players and they stopped at Evander’s room which he shared with Angelo Esposito and Ryan Ellis. Alyssa saw Evander’s eyes light up when he saw her, she prayed he wouldn’t say anything.
“Alyssa,” Evander said with a big smile, “You look great.”
Alyssa groaned. “Sorry Ev,” Alyssa said before whacking Evander in the head. Evander then turned and attempted to hit her back.
“I don’t know why you’re so annoyed by people complementing you,” Evander said.
Alyssa sighed, “This is when I wish I was a boy.”
The whole team erupted in laughter. “What?” Alyssa asked, “That why I’d have nobody telling me how good I looked.” Alyssa paused, “Except for Tavares, he can’t keep his eyes off me.” The whole team hooted and hollered, as John grew even more frustrated. He purposefully walked into Alyssa, and then whispered harshly, “In your dreams.”
The team finally made it to the dining hall which consisted of one long table for everyone to sit at and another table that had the buffet. Pat made a quick speech on how happy he was with the team and that he believed would do very well at the tournament. He saw how restless the group was getting so he let them go for dinner, but kept Alyssa back.
“So how’s everything working with John?” Pat asked.
Alyssa rolled her eyes, “Fine.”
“That’s not what I heard.”
Alyssa huffed, “Okay, so I maybe told him that he’s not the next Sidney Crosby and stuff. And we may have played a couple of pranks on each other. Basically, I try to stay away from him. Can I eat now before all the food is gone?”
Pat looked at his daughter, she reminded him so much like he used to be, “Of course. Don’t forget to e-mail your notes tonight. Next, I want you to look at Sweden, Finland and Slovakia.”
Alyssa nodded and bee-lined it to the buffet table, thankfully there was more than enough food for the entire team. An hour later, the team returned to their respective rooms and had an early night as they had early morning practice the next day. The practice went well, the boys were still getting used to each other and the different coaching styles. Everyone was exhausted and went to bed fairly early.
The next day, practice was a little more intense as Canada had their first pre-competition game against Sweden in Toronto. Alyssa continued to research their opponents and decided to focus solely on Sweden. She found out that they had a player that was battling with John for the number one draft pick, his name was Victor Hedman; a 6’6 defenseman that was good on the penalty kill and was known to score short-handed goals. The practice was soon over and the team filed off the ice, her father skated up to her, holding a pair of skates.
“How ‘bout some one-on-one? We haven’t played in a while,” Pat said with an eager smile.
Alyssa couldn’t resist, it had been awhile since she last played, “Sure.” Alyssa laced up her skates and leaped over the boards, taking a couple of laps she was ready. It wasn’t an intense game, seeing as her dad was getting older, but he still had some hockey in him. Pat stole the puck and was half way done the ice when Alyssa realized what had happened. She raced after him and poked the puck out from his reach; she recovered the puck and sprinted back down the ice, tapping the puck in the net. Alyssa celebrated and then looked down the ice to see her father leaning against the net.
“What happened old man?” Alyssa jeered.
“You’re too fast for me now,” Pat said with a smile.
“Where’d you learn to play like that?” someone asked from the bench.
Alyssa turned to see almost the entire team, and they most likely had seen the game, “I…uh…my father is Pat Quinn.”
“Oh, that makes sense,” Ryan Ellis said, sheepishly.
“Alright boys, off to the meeting room. Alyssa has some information for us,” Pat said, in a coach voice.
Alyssa turned to look at her dad, “I’m…I’m supposed to talk in front of them?”
“Why not? They’re your friends, right?”
“Well yah, but I don’t want to get all coachy on them!”
“Suck it up buttercup, that’s why I brought you here.”
Alyssa currently stood in front of 22 boys who were intently staring at her, waiting for her to talk. Alyssa’s mind was working in overdrive just to form a sentence; she was fine talking to the team when it wasn’t in a business situation. She could see the smirk forming on John’s face and he sensed her nervousness. Then, someone started talking.
“So Al…” Evander said, “Whatcha got for us?”
This brought Alyssa back into reality and gave her a lead into her speech. “Okay, you’re playing Sweden tomorrow. You need to be the team to establish the physical play; I want to see a crushing hit within the first 5 minutes. As most of you know, Victor Hedman is on the team; a big defenseman who could go first or second at the NHL draft next year. They also have Oscar Moller who’s playing with the LA Kings, he’s a pure goal scorer, so don’t give him any room.”
Alyssa’s presentation went on for another 10 minutes or so and the boys were actually learning something from the hours of research she had done. As they made their way out to the bus, most of the team came up to her and thanked her. John, on the other hand, just nodded in her direction.
Alyssa exasperated threw her arms up in the air, “Is that all the recognition I’m going to get from him?!?”
The boys around her chuckled, “Most likely, John likes to think he doesn’t need to know the team he’s playing, that he’ll just adapt throughout the game.”
Alyssa huffed, “Whatever, he’ll thank me one day.”
The team had an early night, as they would be driving to Toronto early the next morning. John was surprisingly pleasant in the morning, giving Alyssa first dibs on the bathroom. Alyssa was hesitant to go in.
“What’s the matter?” John asked.
“I’m afraid you booby-trapped it,” Alyssa said groggily.
John growled, “I’m trying to be civil here, but you’re making it very hard.”
Alyssa jumped into the bathroom, muttering, “Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today.”
The bus ride to Toronto was uneventful; the boys played cards, video games and watched numerous movies on the TVs. Her father, on the other hand, was bouncing in his seat or rather, on the inside. He was going back to Air Canada Centre, behind the Toronto Maple Leafs bench that would serve as Canada’s bench. The boys were off to play a game of soccer and get changed for the warm-up skate. Pat pulled his daughter aside.
“Hey Als, I wanted to ask you something,” Pat asked quietly.
“Yeah, sure.”
“Could…would you like to be on the bench with us? We could bring in a chair for you.”
Alyssa was astounded, “I…uh…I’d love to. But is that allowed?”
Pat laughed, “We can sneak you in.”