when I set my mind to something, but I wanted to let you know how much the players would love to have you around for some practices. And I don’t know if this is even a vague consideration for you yet, but I’m going to shoot my shot while I have the chance. If, somewhere down the line, you decide to retire here, please remember we’re always on the lookout for new coaches. With pay!” Jake huffed a laugh. “It’s not anywhere near what you’re used to making, I’m sure, but...well, with your experience, you could help give these kids a real shot at making a career out of hockey. I mean, I’m sure you would’ve loved to have a Stanley Cup champ as your coach when you were on a junior team, am I right?”
“I would’ve been thrilled.” Daniel’s junior coaches had been great, but none had played in the NHL for as long as he had, and there’d been no Stanley Cup champions either.
“You’re from Miami but you didn’t play on the junior team here, yeah?”
“Right. I think this was all in its infancy when I was hitting my teens. I didn’t even know this organization existed until Demetrius told me. I spent my junior years in Chicago.”
“Well, here we are,” Jake said, grinning. “And we’re only going to get better, if I have anything to say about it.”
“I promise I’ll try to make a few practices, even if I can’t commit to anything more for now.” Daniel turned his attention back to the kids. “Brayden,” he called, “keep your head up and bend your knees a bit more! It’s important, pal. We’ve talked about this.”
“Yes, Coach!” Brayden yelled back. He leaned forward and started skating again. As of yet, he was the weakest skater on the team, but he’d made huge strides over the last couple of weeks.
Daniel nodded approvingly. “Good job, buddy. Keep going just like that.”
“I’ll leave you to it,” Jake said. “Hope to catch you at a Strikers practice soon.”
Daniel had to smile. The guy was relentless, that was for sure. He shook the hand Jake had extended. “I’ll check my schedule. Good to meet you, Jake.”
“Same here.”
Jake wandered off, and Daniel refocused on his group. He clapped, drawing their attention. “Okay, kiddos, let’s start cleaning up these cones. It’s time to get ready for the practice game. Who’s ready for some three-on-three?”
Chapter Twenty
Micah took a seat next to Daniel, looking around the small arena. They were here to check out a team called the Strikers, a developmental league for potential future NHL players, the coach of whom had personally invited Daniel to come and observe.
“Are you going to try and recruit these guys to the Thunder?” Micah asked, glancing around. “They’re definitely bigger than the Rumbles.”
Daniel laughed. “They need a few years, yet.” He was looking around the small arena, smiling. He had a notebook and a pencil, the huge dork.
“Are we gonna have a test, later?” Micah teased, nodding at the notebook. “I am going to fail if I need to do that diagram thing with the circles and lines.”
“You can cheat off me,” Daniel said, but shook his head. “And no, but I thought... Well, Jake mentioned something about wanting my opinion so I figured I better be organized if I was going to talk hockey.”
They were here to watch a practice, not a game, and most of it made little to no sense to Micah. It was a lot of people in lines, skating from one side of the ice to the other and then back again. It was ridiculous how much time hockey players spent standing on skates, listening to a guy with a whistle and clipboard, and then suddenly moving fast and skating down the rink like they were being chased by a bear.
Even more mystifying was how Daniel just sort of knew what was going on. He didn’t look surprised at the sudden takeoffs or the truly terrifying moment when the entire team, or so it seemed, skated hell-bent toward the poor goalie and shot puck after puck at him.
“What is going on?” Micah asked, under his breath. “Is this what you do? All the time you’re at practice?”
“This, shooting drills, yeah, and stretching, then there’s skate drills and conditioning.” Daniel looked over at him and smiled. “You couldn’t swim with a dolphin before you could swim, right?”
“I think that’s not applicable, buddy, but thanks for trying.” Micah watched a little longer. “I have to say,