Higher Than Hope
Chapter 6
"Today's the first intrasquad scrimmage, the coach is going to split up the team into two and we play each other with Dubnyk and Khabibulin as our goalies. If you score against the other team, don't get too carried away", said Ryan dryly.
"Da, I know better than that. I did celebrate a bit much after my first goal during the first training camp with Sarnia, I went back into the locker room and the other guys put Vaseline in my shoes. I think I know better now", he chuckled.
"The girls are joining us later on, their dad is going to some meeting. He's a member of this group called New Dawn, I think they're members of the Wild Rose or something. That's this party that's really conservative, they're for stuff like owning guns and they want all the oil money to stay in the province, stuff like that. I don't care either way, I'm not an Alberta citizen anyways", said Ryan with a shrug.
Nail said nothing as he filed away this new information. "Okay, but each province has its own government? Tatarstan is an independent republic with our own parliament and all, but the governor answers to Moscow", replied Nail.
"Awesome, I totally flunked social studies and civics in high school. Yeah, all the provinces have their own government and legislature and all that stuff, I'm from British Columbia and our capital is in Victoria. When we play the Canucks in Vancouver, my whole family is going to come out and cheer on us. Vancouver's a great city and a lot of fun, but the fans aren't the best, they're bandwagon people at the best and at worst they riot, like when the Bruins won the cup there. I saw it on TV, damn", said Ryan, shaking his head.
Nail nodded in agreement as Ryan parked the truck in the player's lot and the two of them walked towards the arena. The security just nodded and let them through as they walked towards the dressing room, the massive blue and orange doors opening up as more of the players started trickling in. "Hey guys, glad you could make. Nail, dude, if you score don't do a stupid touchdown dance", laughed Jonesy as he tied his hair back with a rubber band.
"Dude, that's what my sisters do", teased Jordan as he started putting on his underarmor with his street clothes hanging neatly in his locker.
"Ebs, it's either that or have my hair flopping around and going in my face. And no way I am going to cut any of it, I got the best flow on the team", he boasted.
"But you're not skating anyways, what's the point?", retorted Taylor.
"Yeah, like the big-ass cast on my leg was a giveaway, Hallsy. I'm stuck with this thing for at least one more week, and then I got more physical therapy after that so I can get ready for the home opener. And I'm going to be stuck here while you guys go to Sweden and Finland, that would have been awesome", said Jonesy, pretending to pout.
"They don't have country music in Scandinavia, Jonesy. Unless you like death metal or ABBA or Ace of Base", teased Magnus as the other man looked horrified.
"No fucking way, dude. ABBA is seriously old people shit and Ace of Base are lame, and didn't some of those death metal guys kill one another?", asked Jonesy.
"Ja, but that was in Norway, that Burzum guy just got out of prison. And that music is no good, it's just a bunch of screaming. Anyways, let's get on the ice before the coaches start to fine us", he said dryly.
Everyone laughed as they got ready for practice. Nail changed into his underarmor and practice uniform as he followed his teammates onto the ice, their skates scraping against the concrete floor. The coaches were on the ice with Dubnyk and Khabibulin on opposite ends of the ice in their respective goals as the players skated onto the ice and stood in a semicircle, not unlike the way kids choose sides for gym class. "All right, teams are going to be divided into ones and two, the ones with Dubnyk as the goalie and the twos with Khabibulin as the goalie", said Coach Krueger.
Nail found himself on the same team with Magnus on left wing and fellow rookie Kristians Pelss as his center and Dubnyk as the goalie. He skated over to the center line next to Pelss as the coach skated in between Pelss and Ryan, dropping the puck and quickly getting out of the way as Ryan gained possession and skated towards Dubnyk, passing it to Taylor who was open. Nail managed to force a turnover and skated towards Khabibulin, passing along to Magnus as the big Swede unloaded a backhander that the aging Russian goalie couldn't stop from going into the net as the linemates embraced.
On the next faceoff, Pelss won possession and skated towards Khabibulin as he passed to Nail who was open. He skated furiously towards the goal with the defense in hot pursuit, rearing his stick back and firing a slap shot that went past the goalie as Magnus and Pelss embraced him and his arms went up in triumph.
"Dude, you had a great game for a noob", said Jonesy, putting an arm around his shoulders and rubbing his head.
"That hurts, Jonesy. And thank you", said Nail.
"Dude, don't be so nice. We're only doing this because you're a noob", he teased.
"You did really good, Nail", said Kristians Pelss in his slow, heavily-accented English.
"Spasibo, and you did very good too, you got a few assists", he replied.
"Da, thank you", he replied.
"Looks like you got another person here to speak Russian with you, dude", teased Jordan.
"I am not Russian, I am Latvian. It's just that everyone speaks Russian in Latvia, nobody else in the world speaks Latvian", he joked, taking off his helmet and shaking loose his long straight blond hair. Kristians was over six feet tall and a bit on the thin side, his straight blond hair almost reaching his shoulders and his pale blue eyes a bit shy.
"I suck with geography, dude. And haven't girls tried to hook up with you?", joked Taylor as they headed to the locker room.
"I have a girlfriend actually, she's going to the University of Edmonton and she gets out of class soon", he replied.
"Awesome, we're all going out in a bit and you ought to invite her", said Magnus as Kristians nodded.
"Anna and Larissa are coming along, Nail. Their dad is probably going to find out but I told the girls that if anything happens, they can stay at my place. Anna has a key and her dad doesn't know where my place is", said Ryan.
"Nuge, are sure that's a good idea? What if her dad finds out and shit, I don't like the dude", said Jordan.
"I know, but they're over eighteen so he can't do anything about it. And when we go on the big trip to Sweden and Finland, they are going to stay at my place", said Ryan.
"You're one brave dude, Nuge", said Taylor in admiration.
After the shower, Ryan was drying his hair with a towel when his phone beeped with a text from Anna. "Good, the girls are waiting by the exits. When we do the open practices with the fans coming, the girls are going to be in the stands cheering us on. Trust me, that is awesome", he laughed.
Nail nodded as he changed into jeans and a green polo shirt, adding a generous amount of gel to his thick black hair. He followed his teammates out towards the exits where Anna and Larissa were waiting for them, not being able to help the big smile on his face as she gave him a hug. He took her hand and followed Ryan and Anna towards the truck in the parking lot, waving goodbye to his teammates as Magnus helped Jonesy with his crutches as the found their truck. "Ladies, too bad you couldn't see practice because Nail scored two goals today in scrimmage", said Ryan.
Larissa giggled as she leaned over and kissed his cheek. "That's a great thing to hear, Mr. Yakupov", she teased.
"And you are a very forward girl, Rissa. What are you going to do if I score a goal in a real game?', he chuckled.
"Nail, trust me, it's going to be awesome", said Ryan dryly.
Ryan buckled up as he turned on the engine, the radio turned onto the ever-present country station as it played Watermelon Crawl by Tracy Byrd: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_SiEWWJzBg
I was driving thru Georgia in late July
On a day hot enough to make the Devil sigh
I saw a homemade sign written in red
Rind County Watermelon Festival Ahead
Well, I wasn't in a hurry so I slowed down
Took a two lane road to a one horse town
There was a party going on when I got there
I heard a welcome speech from a small town mayor
He said we got a hundred gallons of sweet red wine
Made from the biggest watermelons on the vine
Help yourself to some but obey the law
If you drink don't drive do the watermelon crawl
When the band started playing the watermelon queen said
Let me show you something that you ain't never seen
She grabbed me by the arm said come on let's go
She dipped down spun around and doe-see-doed
She rocked back on her heels dropped down to her knees
Crawled across the floor then she jumped back on her feet
She wiggled and she giggled beat all you ever saw
Said this is how you do the watermelon crawl
She said we got a hundred gallons of sweet red wine
Made from the biggest watermelons on the vine
Help yourself to some but obey the law
If you drink don't drive do the watermelon crawl
Well if you're ever down in Georgia round about July
If you ain't in a hurry then you oughta stop by
I can guarantee that you're gonna have a ball
Learning how to do the watermelon crawl
Well we got a hundred gallons of sweet red wine
Made from the biggest watermelons on the vine
Help yourself to some but obey the law
If you drink don't drive do the watermelon crawl
Do the watermelon crawl
Have fun you all
Do the watermelon crawl
"Ryan, this is the silliest song", chided Anna as he sang along.
"I know, but it was hugely popular when I was a kid and I knew how to do the dance too, I think my Mom filmed me doing it", he laughed.
"What is this supposed to be about?", asked Nail.
"It's about a watermelon festival with people getting drunk on watermelon wine and doing a dance, there's a dance for this song called the Watermelon Crawl. I know how to do the dance and my Mom filmed me doing it when I was a kid", he said, a slight blush on his cheeks.
"That sounds like a very strange song, I don't think I've heard anything like that in Russia", said Nail.
"If you hang around these guys long enough, you'll know all the country songs and all the country dances by the time the playoffs roll around", said Anna dryly.
"Da, I know better than that. I did celebrate a bit much after my first goal during the first training camp with Sarnia, I went back into the locker room and the other guys put Vaseline in my shoes. I think I know better now", he chuckled.
"The girls are joining us later on, their dad is going to some meeting. He's a member of this group called New Dawn, I think they're members of the Wild Rose or something. That's this party that's really conservative, they're for stuff like owning guns and they want all the oil money to stay in the province, stuff like that. I don't care either way, I'm not an Alberta citizen anyways", said Ryan with a shrug.
Nail said nothing as he filed away this new information. "Okay, but each province has its own government? Tatarstan is an independent republic with our own parliament and all, but the governor answers to Moscow", replied Nail.
"Awesome, I totally flunked social studies and civics in high school. Yeah, all the provinces have their own government and legislature and all that stuff, I'm from British Columbia and our capital is in Victoria. When we play the Canucks in Vancouver, my whole family is going to come out and cheer on us. Vancouver's a great city and a lot of fun, but the fans aren't the best, they're bandwagon people at the best and at worst they riot, like when the Bruins won the cup there. I saw it on TV, damn", said Ryan, shaking his head.
Nail nodded in agreement as Ryan parked the truck in the player's lot and the two of them walked towards the arena. The security just nodded and let them through as they walked towards the dressing room, the massive blue and orange doors opening up as more of the players started trickling in. "Hey guys, glad you could make. Nail, dude, if you score don't do a stupid touchdown dance", laughed Jonesy as he tied his hair back with a rubber band.
"Dude, that's what my sisters do", teased Jordan as he started putting on his underarmor with his street clothes hanging neatly in his locker.
"Ebs, it's either that or have my hair flopping around and going in my face. And no way I am going to cut any of it, I got the best flow on the team", he boasted.
"But you're not skating anyways, what's the point?", retorted Taylor.
"Yeah, like the big-ass cast on my leg was a giveaway, Hallsy. I'm stuck with this thing for at least one more week, and then I got more physical therapy after that so I can get ready for the home opener. And I'm going to be stuck here while you guys go to Sweden and Finland, that would have been awesome", said Jonesy, pretending to pout.
"They don't have country music in Scandinavia, Jonesy. Unless you like death metal or ABBA or Ace of Base", teased Magnus as the other man looked horrified.
"No fucking way, dude. ABBA is seriously old people shit and Ace of Base are lame, and didn't some of those death metal guys kill one another?", asked Jonesy.
"Ja, but that was in Norway, that Burzum guy just got out of prison. And that music is no good, it's just a bunch of screaming. Anyways, let's get on the ice before the coaches start to fine us", he said dryly.
Everyone laughed as they got ready for practice. Nail changed into his underarmor and practice uniform as he followed his teammates onto the ice, their skates scraping against the concrete floor. The coaches were on the ice with Dubnyk and Khabibulin on opposite ends of the ice in their respective goals as the players skated onto the ice and stood in a semicircle, not unlike the way kids choose sides for gym class. "All right, teams are going to be divided into ones and two, the ones with Dubnyk as the goalie and the twos with Khabibulin as the goalie", said Coach Krueger.
Nail found himself on the same team with Magnus on left wing and fellow rookie Kristians Pelss as his center and Dubnyk as the goalie. He skated over to the center line next to Pelss as the coach skated in between Pelss and Ryan, dropping the puck and quickly getting out of the way as Ryan gained possession and skated towards Dubnyk, passing it to Taylor who was open. Nail managed to force a turnover and skated towards Khabibulin, passing along to Magnus as the big Swede unloaded a backhander that the aging Russian goalie couldn't stop from going into the net as the linemates embraced.
On the next faceoff, Pelss won possession and skated towards Khabibulin as he passed to Nail who was open. He skated furiously towards the goal with the defense in hot pursuit, rearing his stick back and firing a slap shot that went past the goalie as Magnus and Pelss embraced him and his arms went up in triumph.
"Dude, you had a great game for a noob", said Jonesy, putting an arm around his shoulders and rubbing his head.
"That hurts, Jonesy. And thank you", said Nail.
"Dude, don't be so nice. We're only doing this because you're a noob", he teased.
"You did really good, Nail", said Kristians Pelss in his slow, heavily-accented English.
"Spasibo, and you did very good too, you got a few assists", he replied.
"Da, thank you", he replied.
"Looks like you got another person here to speak Russian with you, dude", teased Jordan.
"I am not Russian, I am Latvian. It's just that everyone speaks Russian in Latvia, nobody else in the world speaks Latvian", he joked, taking off his helmet and shaking loose his long straight blond hair. Kristians was over six feet tall and a bit on the thin side, his straight blond hair almost reaching his shoulders and his pale blue eyes a bit shy.
"I suck with geography, dude. And haven't girls tried to hook up with you?", joked Taylor as they headed to the locker room.
"I have a girlfriend actually, she's going to the University of Edmonton and she gets out of class soon", he replied.
"Awesome, we're all going out in a bit and you ought to invite her", said Magnus as Kristians nodded.
"Anna and Larissa are coming along, Nail. Their dad is probably going to find out but I told the girls that if anything happens, they can stay at my place. Anna has a key and her dad doesn't know where my place is", said Ryan.
"Nuge, are sure that's a good idea? What if her dad finds out and shit, I don't like the dude", said Jordan.
"I know, but they're over eighteen so he can't do anything about it. And when we go on the big trip to Sweden and Finland, they are going to stay at my place", said Ryan.
"You're one brave dude, Nuge", said Taylor in admiration.
After the shower, Ryan was drying his hair with a towel when his phone beeped with a text from Anna. "Good, the girls are waiting by the exits. When we do the open practices with the fans coming, the girls are going to be in the stands cheering us on. Trust me, that is awesome", he laughed.
Nail nodded as he changed into jeans and a green polo shirt, adding a generous amount of gel to his thick black hair. He followed his teammates out towards the exits where Anna and Larissa were waiting for them, not being able to help the big smile on his face as she gave him a hug. He took her hand and followed Ryan and Anna towards the truck in the parking lot, waving goodbye to his teammates as Magnus helped Jonesy with his crutches as the found their truck. "Ladies, too bad you couldn't see practice because Nail scored two goals today in scrimmage", said Ryan.
Larissa giggled as she leaned over and kissed his cheek. "That's a great thing to hear, Mr. Yakupov", she teased.
"And you are a very forward girl, Rissa. What are you going to do if I score a goal in a real game?', he chuckled.
"Nail, trust me, it's going to be awesome", said Ryan dryly.
Ryan buckled up as he turned on the engine, the radio turned onto the ever-present country station as it played Watermelon Crawl by Tracy Byrd: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_SiEWWJzBg
I was driving thru Georgia in late July
On a day hot enough to make the Devil sigh
I saw a homemade sign written in red
Rind County Watermelon Festival Ahead
Well, I wasn't in a hurry so I slowed down
Took a two lane road to a one horse town
There was a party going on when I got there
I heard a welcome speech from a small town mayor
He said we got a hundred gallons of sweet red wine
Made from the biggest watermelons on the vine
Help yourself to some but obey the law
If you drink don't drive do the watermelon crawl
When the band started playing the watermelon queen said
Let me show you something that you ain't never seen
She grabbed me by the arm said come on let's go
She dipped down spun around and doe-see-doed
She rocked back on her heels dropped down to her knees
Crawled across the floor then she jumped back on her feet
She wiggled and she giggled beat all you ever saw
Said this is how you do the watermelon crawl
She said we got a hundred gallons of sweet red wine
Made from the biggest watermelons on the vine
Help yourself to some but obey the law
If you drink don't drive do the watermelon crawl
Well if you're ever down in Georgia round about July
If you ain't in a hurry then you oughta stop by
I can guarantee that you're gonna have a ball
Learning how to do the watermelon crawl
Well we got a hundred gallons of sweet red wine
Made from the biggest watermelons on the vine
Help yourself to some but obey the law
If you drink don't drive do the watermelon crawl
Do the watermelon crawl
Have fun you all
Do the watermelon crawl
"Ryan, this is the silliest song", chided Anna as he sang along.
"I know, but it was hugely popular when I was a kid and I knew how to do the dance too, I think my Mom filmed me doing it", he laughed.
"What is this supposed to be about?", asked Nail.
"It's about a watermelon festival with people getting drunk on watermelon wine and doing a dance, there's a dance for this song called the Watermelon Crawl. I know how to do the dance and my Mom filmed me doing it when I was a kid", he said, a slight blush on his cheeks.
"That sounds like a very strange song, I don't think I've heard anything like that in Russia", said Nail.
"If you hang around these guys long enough, you'll know all the country songs and all the country dances by the time the playoffs roll around", said Anna dryly.