caught up to Dad, Daniel, Conner, and Andrew, skated past them, and turned to skate backward, facing them. I still had it.
“Show-off,” Andrew said.
I grinned. “Who, me?”
“Wanna race?”
“Ha. I know you can beat me. I’ll only race you if you’ll try a singleaxel.”
“Nope, nope, nope. So much nope.”
I laughed.
“
You
do an axel,” he urged. Somehow he and I had separated from the others. “Let’s see what you can still do.”
I took off and got a little speed, launched myself up on the forward outside edge of my right foot, and landed on the back outside edge of my left. God, it felt good! I pumped my arms in the air and glided toward Andrew. He caughtme by the waist, smiling, and spun me around.
“You look so happy,” he said. “You love skating, don’t you?”
“Yeah.” We both skated slowly now, doing lazy circles around each other.
“Why’d you quit?”
“You know why.”
He nodded. “I guess. But that was one bad competition.”
“It wasn’t just one. I loved skating, but I could never conquer my nerves.”
“You could’ve maybe seen a sports psychologist.There are things you can do to overcome nerves.”
I looked at him curiously. “I guess I could have. Have you done that?”
“Yeah, and it really helped. There are mental skills you can learn to help stay relaxed under pressure. Learning to focus on what’s important and let go of everything else. Learning how to rebound from mistakes, how to handle the self-doubts and negative thinking.”
“Is thathow you became a Stanley Cup champion?”
“It’s part of it, definitely. It’s easy to beat yourself up when you screw up, but you have to be able to put that behind you and focus. The pressure can be intense, but you need to concentrate on the game and ignore all the other stuff going on—worrying about the opposing team and where you are in the standings and the fact that you haven’t scored a goalin four games.”
“I admire that so much. It was where I was lacking. And maybe some coaching about that stuff would’ve helped me, but I don’t know if it would have been worth it. I wasn’t
that
good. It wasn’t like I was going to be world champion or anything.”
“You were really talented.”
“Aw. Thank you.” And I’d always admired his talent. He too was a great skater, even if he couldn’t do a tripleaxel. I’d been in awe of how fast he could skate, while controlling the puck and reading the game at the same time.
“I always…well, it was fun watching you. I still don’t know how you do those jumps.”
“Like this!” I took off and this time did a single loop. Easier than the axel. Laughing, I skated back to him.
Just as I got close, some boys who were horsing around skated near us. One of themgoing backward came right at me and before I could get out of his way, he crashed into me, knocking me to the ice. I went down hard on my hip and slid.
“Jesus fucking Christ!” Andrew skated up fast, stopped hard in a snow shower, and dropped down beside me. “You okay, Jenna?”
I shook my head, stunned. “I think so.” I didn’t seem to be in too much pain. I moved my limbs and Andrew helped me up.“Yeah. I’m okay. Damn.”
“Those assholes,” he muttered, looking around. He spotted the kids and then he was off, chasing after them. I watched in shock, brushing snow from my butt as he skated up to them, said something with some sharp gestures, and then returned with the kid who’d hit me.
“This dude wants to apologize to you,” Andrew said, his jaw tight.
“Sorry,” the kid muttered. “We werejust playing around.” He paused. “Are you hurt?”
“I think I’m okay.”
He nodded. Andrew released his grip on the kid’s jacket and the boy skated away.
“Be more careful,” Andrew yelled at him, then turned to me and set his hands on my hips. “Fuck. You sure you’re all right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
Dad, Daniel, and Connor skated up, obviously having seen
“Show-off,” Andrew said.
I grinned. “Who, me?”
“Wanna race?”
“Ha. I know you can beat me. I’ll only race you if you’ll try a singleaxel.”
“Nope, nope, nope. So much nope.”
I laughed.
“
You
do an axel,” he urged. Somehow he and I had separated from the others. “Let’s see what you can still do.”
I took off and got a little speed, launched myself up on the forward outside edge of my right foot, and landed on the back outside edge of my left. God, it felt good! I pumped my arms in the air and glided toward Andrew. He caughtme by the waist, smiling, and spun me around.
“You look so happy,” he said. “You love skating, don’t you?”
“Yeah.” We both skated slowly now, doing lazy circles around each other.
“Why’d you quit?”
“You know why.”
He nodded. “I guess. But that was one bad competition.”
“It wasn’t just one. I loved skating, but I could never conquer my nerves.”
“You could’ve maybe seen a sports psychologist.There are things you can do to overcome nerves.”
I looked at him curiously. “I guess I could have. Have you done that?”
“Yeah, and it really helped. There are mental skills you can learn to help stay relaxed under pressure. Learning to focus on what’s important and let go of everything else. Learning how to rebound from mistakes, how to handle the self-doubts and negative thinking.”
“Is thathow you became a Stanley Cup champion?”
“It’s part of it, definitely. It’s easy to beat yourself up when you screw up, but you have to be able to put that behind you and focus. The pressure can be intense, but you need to concentrate on the game and ignore all the other stuff going on—worrying about the opposing team and where you are in the standings and the fact that you haven’t scored a goalin four games.”
“I admire that so much. It was where I was lacking. And maybe some coaching about that stuff would’ve helped me, but I don’t know if it would have been worth it. I wasn’t
that
good. It wasn’t like I was going to be world champion or anything.”
“You were really talented.”
“Aw. Thank you.” And I’d always admired his talent. He too was a great skater, even if he couldn’t do a tripleaxel. I’d been in awe of how fast he could skate, while controlling the puck and reading the game at the same time.
“I always…well, it was fun watching you. I still don’t know how you do those jumps.”
“Like this!” I took off and this time did a single loop. Easier than the axel. Laughing, I skated back to him.
Just as I got close, some boys who were horsing around skated near us. One of themgoing backward came right at me and before I could get out of his way, he crashed into me, knocking me to the ice. I went down hard on my hip and slid.
“Jesus fucking Christ!” Andrew skated up fast, stopped hard in a snow shower, and dropped down beside me. “You okay, Jenna?”
I shook my head, stunned. “I think so.” I didn’t seem to be in too much pain. I moved my limbs and Andrew helped me up.“Yeah. I’m okay. Damn.”
“Those assholes,” he muttered, looking around. He spotted the kids and then he was off, chasing after them. I watched in shock, brushing snow from my butt as he skated up to them, said something with some sharp gestures, and then returned with the kid who’d hit me.
“This dude wants to apologize to you,” Andrew said, his jaw tight.
“Sorry,” the kid muttered. “We werejust playing around.” He paused. “Are you hurt?”
“I think I’m okay.”
He nodded. Andrew released his grip on the kid’s jacket and the boy skated away.
“Be more careful,” Andrew yelled at him, then turned to me and set his hands on my hips. “Fuck. You sure you’re all right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
Dad, Daniel, and Connor skated up, obviously having seen
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