Drop the Hammer

Tap,tap,tap Ben tapped his stick on the ice signalling the end of the Oklahoma City Barons' powerplay. James hated when Ben did that, but he loved watching him play. The Barons dumped the puck into the Marlies zone and James cringed as Ben went around the net to play the puck. Ben may be a good goalie, but he's shit at playing the puck. No matter how many times James told him to stop, Ben never listened. The Barons gained control of the puck when Ben made an errant pass right to the Barons' Jordan Eberle. Ebs passed to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who was standing right in front of the net, screening Ben. The puck was right in Ben's reach, so he poke-checked it. The puck broke free and cleared the blue line. The crowd erupted in applause and cheer as the Marlies captain, Ryan Hamilton, stole the puck and headed down the ice towards the Barons' goalie, Yann Danis.

"What a poke-check by the Marlies' goalie, Ben Scrivens! Now that's what he calls 'Dropping the hammer!' " said the announcer. James smiled crazily at Ben's play. He was proud if Ben - he always was - even though Ben made a few mistakes earlier that game.

The goal horn went off as Nicolas Deschamps netted the puck. The whole crowd at the Ricoh Coliseum was on their feet, for the Marlies had taken the lead! It was late in the 3rd, and there was 3 minutes from the end if the game. The Marlies were 3 minutes away from winning the Calder Cup! Everyone was ecstatic. James was so proud for Ben. Ben was accomplishing something James dreamed of doing his whole career. James loved the Marlies and wanted to win the Calder with them. Almost as much as he wanted to win the Stanley Cup with the Leafs, but James knew that dream would never become a reality.

The clock ticked down and the crowd fell silent as they were all holding their breath. The Barons were pressing and were pouring the shots on Ben. Ben battled hard for vision and saved the puck, again and again. 30 seconds left on the clock, the whole Coliseum was still silent, praying. All the Marlies needed to do was gain control and send it down the ice, towards the empty net. An empty netter would guarantee the victory.

Taylor Hall shot the puck, and it hit the crossbar. The crowd cringed as they thought Hallsy had scored in the dying seconds of the game.

After the puck hit the crossbar, it rolled onto Korbinian Holzer's stick. Holzer skated up to the blue line and battled his way to centre ice. He quickly shot the puck into Oklahoma's zone, and it slid into the Barons' net. The Ricoh screamed with joy as the Marlies had secured the win.

James cheered and cheered until he couldn't cheer no more. He was so happy for Ben.

The players skated to centre is for the final puck drop.

10 seconds...

The ref skated over and dropped the puck.

9 seconds...

Joe Colborne and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins attacked the puck, fighting for control.

8 seconds...

Joe won the faceoff and passed it back to Holzer.

7 seconds...

Korbinian Holzer passed up to Jerry D'Amigo.

6 seconds...

The Marlies advanced into the Barons' zone.

5 seconds...

Jerry passed cross-crease to Joe.

4 seconds...

Joe shot the puck at the Danis.

3 seconds...

The puck was saved, rebounded.

2 seconds...

Nicolas Deschamps got the rebound.

1 second...

The horn sounded signalling the end of the game. All the Marlies jumped off the bench and ran to each other. They piled on their team mates, cheering and yelling in joy. The crowd was deafening. Everybody was on their feet, cheering wildly with excitement.

The Toronto Marlies had beaten the Oklahoma City Barons and were now the Calder Cup Champions!

The cup was now being passed around from player to player. Ryan Hamilton was the first to receive the cup. Hammy passed to Mike Zigomanis, then Ziggy passed to Nazem Kadri. Next in line was the MVP - Ben Scrivens.

James was standing beside Ben. James was so proud of Ben that he was crying. He wiped a tear away before Ben could see, but he was too late.

"Jimmy, are you crying?" Ben asked James.

"No..." James lied.

"Don't lie to me, James." Ben smiled.

"Ok, ok, I was." James replied sheepishly.

"Awe, babe. How come?" Ben asked, placing hid hand on James' shoulder.

"Because I'm so happy, Ben." James blushed. "And I'm proud of you."

“Jimmy, don't cry!” Ben said sympathetically. He reached up and wiped away James' tears. Ben smiled at James and James smiled back at him.

“I love you, Ben.” James whispered.

“I love you, too, Jimmy.” Ben whispered back.

Nazem Kadri skated over to Ben and handed him the cup. Ben lifted the Calder high over his head and gave a victory howl. The crowd roared as the MVP celebrated the win.

James was so proud of Ben. He planned to do dirty things to him that night to reward him.

Ben passed the cup over to Joe Colborne, then he skated over to James. James opened his arms and Ben jumped into them. They embraced for a minute or so. Finally, they let go and James planted a quick kiss on Ben's cheek. Ben glared at James. James blushed, remembering that to the world, Screims was just a goalie tandem. But to James and Ben, Screims was them. They were lovers, best friends. Ben meant the world to James, and James was Ben's everything.

They quickly looked around to see if anyone had saw the moment. No one had seemed to; all eyes were on the cup and it's holder.

All eyes, except for Jake's.

Jake Gardiner skated over to the two. He was finished with the cup so he didn't need to worry about waiting for it. He stood in front of Ben and James and stared hard at them.

“Hey James. Long time no see.” Jake said to James.

“Yea man, good game ya had.” James responded.

“Thanks Reims.” Jake turned his attention to Ben. “Great game, Ben.” Jake said. “You played really well. You deserved MVP.”

“Thanks, Jake. I appreciate it. If it wasn't for a solid D in front of me I'd have no chance” Ben replied.

Jake skated right up close to both men. He leaned in close enough for both James and Ben to hear him quietly say: “I saw it, the kiss.” He glared into their eyes before continuing. “But, don't worry. Your secret is safe with me.” Jake said to them.

All Ben could do was nod while James just hung his head.

“I'm sorry, babe.” James whispered shamefully.

“Hey, don't worry about it. They're gonna find out sooner or later.” Ben replied. “Now, wait here.” Ben told James as he skated off to take the team picture.