Arctic Thunder (21 page)

Dazed, Mike sat on the floor as the Rams player who had hit him loomed over him. “Welcome back, homeboy!” the guy said, smirking. Turning, he jogged over to the Rams bench. Warchuk was written across the shoulders of his jersey.

Stumbling to his feet, Mike headed back toward the Thunder bench. “Who the heck's that?” he asked as he ran past Cayln.

“Eric Warchuk. He's a really great player. Moved here from Vancouver a few months back.”

“Well, he better keep his head up!” Mike shouted back.

“He's a good guy, Mike. It was a clean hit. He was just showing you that you have to keep your head up.” Under all the anger and frustration, Mike knew Cayln was right. He likely would have done the same thing if he had a chance for a great hit like that. But it still sucked!

The rest of the period didn't go much better than the first few minutes. By the time the buzzer sounded to signal the period was over, the score was 7–0 for the Rams. The Thunder didn't even have a shot on net. Warchuk had three of the goals. The team sat dejectedly in silence on the floor along the boards, guzzling water during the break. Donnie seemed close to tears.

Ben walked back and forth, then halted in front of Mike. Catching his son's eye, he winked, then became very serious. “Mike, that has got to be the worst period of lacrosse I've ever seen you play. It was pathetic! You owe this team an apology. If you were trying as hard as everyone else, we'd be in this game instead of behind by seven. And what's this trying to win it all on your own crap? This is a team sport, and you know it. You're the only guy who's actually been in a game before, and instead of showing everyone else how to settle things down, you're setting the wrong example.”

“Coach!”

Everyone turned to see Gwen standing at the end of the line of players sitting on the floor.

“We're all letting you down,” Gwen said. “We all need to do better. We seem surprised at how fast this is and how good these guys are. We shouldn't be. We knew this wasn't going to be easy, and if we thought it was, we were dreaming. Mike might be trying to do too much, but we have to do more. Now let's go!” As if to emphasize her point, she slammed her stick against the boards and marched back to the bench.

The other players jumped to their feet, and with yells of encouragement, headed to the bench as the referee blew his whistle to announce the start of the second period.

“How you holding up, Donnie?” Ben asked as Donnie wandered over to put on his mask and gloves.

Donnie shook his head. “Jeez, I suck! I bet you're wishing Grant never got hurt and you didn't have a big fat goof in net like me.”

Ben gripped Donnie by the shoulders and stopped him in his tracks. Standing over him, he gazed into the boy's enormous eyes. “Donnie, I wouldn't want anyone else in net but you. This isn't hockey. The scores are higher, and when a team like ours is adjusting, the goalie takes a bit of a beating. You're getting better with each minute of this game. Having you in net means a lot to this team. Now get in there and knock 'em dead.”

Donnie's eyes narrowed to normal size, and he tightened his lips until they became a thin line. Determination in his face, he pulled his mask on and strode defiantly toward his net. “It's Donnie's turn now!” he growled.

The team settled down, and the second period was much better than the first. Donnie adjusted to the speed of the passes and began to make save after incredible save. Ben shifted things around and came up with player combinations that seemed to work well. He kept Mike at point with his basketball line of Mitchell and Tyler on crease. Bobby at point with Gwen on crease worked extremely well, and he rotated Mark and Tommy at the other crease position. As shooters, he paired Joseph with Dennis and Billy with David. That seemed to create a strong balance.

With time winding down in the second period, the Rams had only scored one additional goal, but Warchuk was still doing a great job of getting under the Thunder players' skins. He was a strong, lean, quick player with fantastic stick skills. Warchuk was always in the action, and when he battled Joseph a little too vigorously and stripped him of the ball, the big boy lost his temper. Chasing Warchuk into the corner, Joseph levelled him with a check from behind and got a five-minute penalty.

Ben put out Ricky, Mitchell, Bobby, and David. Mitchell and Ricky did a sensational job of ragging the ball. With his long rock-star hair flowing behind his helmet, Mitchell frustrated the Rams as he dodged around the net. His hours of training for snowshoe races had given him a supply of energy that seemingly had no end. Ricky was like an evil twin but without the long hair. When the Rams did get the ball, Bobby and David did their bit defensively, and Donnie stopped everything that got past them. All the same it was five-on-four, and in lacrosse that made a huge difference in five minutes. The Rams scored two more goals before the end of the period to make it 10–0.

With a short bench of only twelve players, the Thunder were beginning to feel fatigue as they sat down for the break between the second and third periods. Ben got to his feet to provide some words of encouragement when a ruckus broke out near the closest gate leading onto the floor. All the players looked up as a face with a thick walrus-like moustache appeared through the Plexiglas.

The gate swung open, and Todd Lorenz marched across the floor. Patting Ben on the back, he turned and shook his head at the players. “That's got to be one of the best comeback periods of lacrosse I've ever seen. You guys … and gal —” he winked at Gwen “— are amazing! Keep adjusting to the game and stay calm. You're incredible athletes. And you've got a terrific goalie in net.” He looked at Donnie. “Where in the world did you come from? You must've been hiding when I was in Inuvik.”

The players all smiled, including Donnie, who had seemed as if he were about to die a moment earlier.

“But, Mr. Lorenz … Todd,” Gwen said quietly, “isn't your son on the other team? What are you doing here?”

“Man, this isn't hockey or football or any other sport,” Todd said. “This is lacrosse! In lacrosse we help each other out because it helps the game. And the game is what we play for. You gotta love it!” He grinned from ear to ear.

The referee blew his whistle, indicating the start of the third period. The players stood and gathered around Ben and Todd.

“Now put it in here, Thunder, and give 'em hell!” Todd yelled.

“One, two, three, Inuvik!” the team shouted.

The third period was beautiful. Halfway through no one had scored, and the play had shifted to a more even distribution of shots on each net. With about eight minutes left the Rams took a rare penalty, and Ben called the players back to the bench.

“Okay, guys, let's really take our time and set this up. I want Mike, Gwen, and Bobby up front. Mark, I want you out with Joseph as shooters. Control that ball, move it around, and shoot when you get your chances. Let's go!”

The Rams won the faceoff, and Warchuk scooped the ball up at full speed. Lifting his head, he was met straight on by the Inuvialuit bowling ball. Mark had read the play, and much like the earlier hit on Mike, he clobbered the Rams player as soon as Warchuk had the ball. Warchuk hit the floor hard, his head snapping back as he fell. The ball popped out of his stick, and Joseph scooped it up, quickly passing to

Bobby as he entered the Rams' zone.

Warchuk shook his head as he ran past Mark.

“Nice hit.”

The Rams set up their box as the Thunder moved the ball around the outside. Bobby passed back to Joseph, who moved it quickly to Mark. Mark threw the ball to the corner where Mike picked it up. The Thunder's captain faked a shot and passed to Mark on the point. Mark jogged behind the net, stopping just outside the crease near the post. He passed to Joseph, who quickly threw the ball to Bobby. Gwen had broken free and was cutting for the net. Bobby passed the ball as she rushed past Mike toward the other side of the net. The Rams' goalie, Kirk Miles, shifted across as Gwen caught the ball, expecting her to shoot. Mike stood ready, and when she passed the ball over her shoulder, he fired it into the open side of the net. The Thunder's players went wild on the bench as Bobby, Gwen, Mark, and Joseph mobbed Mike. It was 10–1 for the Rams, but the Thunder felt as if they had just won the championship.

“Whooooo!”
rang out above the other polite cheers and clapping in the crowd. Turning toward the stands, the Thunder players spotted Todd Lorenz standing with both arms stretched above his head. Holding a thumb up, he nodded at the team.

Their first goal seemed to inspire the Thunder. They dominated the last five minutes of the game, winning every loose ball and getting some great chances on net. With one minute left in the game, once again they had the ball controlled in the Rams' zone. The clock was ticking down the final minute when Dennis fired a laser pass to Tommy in the corner. Faking toward the net, he ran behind and pulled back his stick, ready to pass to Gwen, who was streaking toward the net. Instead, he pulled his stick down, coiled his legs under his body, and launched himself into the air. Sailing over the crease horizontally, he caught Kirk by surprise and popped the ball into the far side of the net before landing on the floor. This time there were more than a few gasps from the crowd, and the applause was quite a bit louder.

The final score was 10–2, but the Thunder held the Rams scoreless for the entire third period and won some fans in the process. As the teams lined up and shook hands, the Rams stopped and talked to Mike and the other Inuvik players.

Warchuk stood next to Mike and slapped him on the back. “You're all right, man! You guys are gonna do okay in the tournament.”

Mike grinned. “I can still feel that hit you gave me.”

Warchuk groaned. “You can feel that hit? Jeez, my teeth are still loose from that Kikoak guy hitting me.

Man, is he strong for his size.”

Mike shook his head. “You have no idea.”

Mike was proud of his team, but there wasn't much time to dwell on the finer points of this game. Tomorrow morning they played Leduc.

CHAPTER 24

T
he mood in the dressing room the next morning was light and fun. Tyler was dancing in the middle of the dressing room when Jimmy Quinlan came quietly though the door. Holding his fingers to his lips, he snuck up behind Tyler and jabbed him in the ribs. Tyler almost jumped out of his skin as the other boys killed themselves laughing.

“Hey, guys!” Jimmy said, waving.

“Hey, Jimmy!” they all called back.

“I hear you boys looked pretty good at the end of the game yesterday.” Jimmy glanced around the room, then turned to Tommy. “And I hear the NLL scouts are looking for
you
because
you're
trying to take my job again.”

Tommy shrugged and smiled.

Ben came through the door to the dressing room with Gwen who had put her equipment on in another area they had set aside for female players. She sat next to Mike.

“Look, everybody,” Jimmy said, “Todd and Ben tell me you showed incredible courage yesterday, and an incredible will to keep going no matter what. You shut down the Rams in the third period. They're favoured to win this tournament. I think you have them looking over their shoulders now. If you win against Leduc, you can get into a rhythm that any other team is going to have trouble stopping. So have some fun, knock some Leduc players on their butts, and win this game!”

“Yay!”
Donnie shouted in his usual overenthusiastic style.

“All right!” the other players cried, jumping to their feet and high-fiving Jimmy on the way out to the playing surface.

The game against Leduc was an entirely different story from the lopsided affair against the Rams the day before. On the third shift of the game the Thunder penned Leduc in its own end. Joseph, Dennis, Gwen, Bobby, and Mark moved the ball around the perimeter. Each time Joseph passed the ball, he moved a step closer to the Leduc net. Just as the thirty-second clock hit three seconds, he caught the ball, reared back, and fired. The goalie didn't even move as the ball ripped under his arm and into the net. The Thunder had their first lead of the tournament.

Joseph raised his arms and pumped his fists as his teammates rubbed the top of his helmet. There was a decent-sized crowd for a morning game, and the cheer that went up was loud. A lot of people had heard about their finish the day before and wanted to see the team from the Northwest Territories do well.

“Man, that felt good,” Joseph said as he passed Mike on the shift change.

“Get used to it,” Mike shot back. “I've got a feeling you're going to get a few more of those.”

The period was close, but the Thunder had the edge. Bobby scored their second goal on a breakaway when a Leduc defender misjudged his, what Ben called, “put you to sleep” speed. Their third goal came on a nifty passing play between Mike, Mitchell, and Tyler that Mitchell finished with a nice bounce shot between the goalie's legs. It ended 3–1.

The second period was a back-and-forth affair that saw Mike and David score goals but Leduc answered with two of their own. The teams entered the third period with the score 5–3 for the Thunder.

Halfway through the third period, with the Thunder gaining momentum, the game took an ugly turn. Mark went into the corner with a Leduc player after a loose ball. With his amazing strength Mark held the much taller player off and battled until he had the ball. Suddenly, the Leduc player stopped, leaned close to Mark, and said something. Mark straightened and stared at the player in disbelief. The referee, who was close to the play, immediately shot his arm into the air to signal a penalty. Gwen had been hurtling in to help Mark, and as the referee readied himself to blow his whistle, she flew past, dropped her stick, and hit the Leduc player with a flurry of punches. The linesmen rushed in quickly to pull the players apart, but the damage had been done. Both the Leduc player and Gwen were sent to their dressing rooms, finished for a minimum of the rest of the game.