returned her attention to the practice and Doug shrugged.
A few moments later she grabbed a T-square and held that up.
Now what the hell is she doing? Even through Brendan’s goalie mask, Sebastian could see the same question in his expression, but Brendan didn’t ask questions and quickly returned to his task.
Sarah let the T-square dangle. Then her gaze shot between the tool and Brendan.
An unhappy-looking Jon skated over, and Sebastian braced himself to watch Sarah get yelled at. “Can you either put that stuff down or tell me what you’re doing? You’re distracting the players.”
“Oh. Sure. Well, I’ve been watching Brendan and he’s not square.” Sarah didn’t appear fazed, or if she was, she hid it well, and Sebastian was proud of her for standing her ground. Many would’ve retreated when faced with Jon’s wrath.
“Square to the shooter? Of course he is. Brendan has excellent technique.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about.”
Based on the way he was repeatedly tapping his stick on the boards, Jon was losing patience.
“Do these guys see chiropractors?” Sarah asked.
Several of the players in the area had stopped what they were doing to listen to the exchange and Sebastian felt a little better about eavesdropping.
Jon’s eyebrows drew down, seemingly confused. “Yeahhhh, if they need to.”
“I know this sounds crazy, but could you send him and ask that the chiro check out his hips and shoulders?”
“Sure.” Jon smirked. “Since he’s not square, you said?”
Sebastian tamped his annoyance. Sarah needed to keep her cool, even if she was being made fun of, or she’d never get taken seriously, but it wasn’t cool for Jon to treat her like that.
“If he’s leaning one way, even unconsciously, it’s affecting his ability to make saves, to handle the puck—”
Jon held up a gloved hand. “Fine. But you can be the bearer of good news that the kid’s crooked.” He skated away and Sarah now focused on Doug, who shrugged.
“With any luck you’re right about Brendan like you were about Sebastian,” Doug said, “and then maybe they’ll see there’s something to all this math stuff after all.”
And if she’s not right, she’ll look like an idiot…but if she says Brendan’s “crooked,” he probably is. Sebastian trusted her judgment. His slap shot was noticeably more accurate with the change she’d made to his stick.
“I believe in this stuff, even if he doesn’t.” She glanced up and Sebastian caught her eye, giving her a reassuring smile. Her face relaxed and she smiled back.
It was the best thing that had happened to him all day.
The next morning before the team took the ice, Jon came into the video room. “You were right. Brendan’s hips weren’t square.”
Sebastian watched Sarah’s face and saw the play of emotions across it—she was pleased, surely, but also a little surprised. Probably since Jon had admitted publicly she’d been right. Sebastian couldn’t recall any other time the coach had done so since Sarah had been there.
“The doc did an adjustment. I have no idea if it’ll make a difference one way or the other, and I’d prefer it if you didn’t start getting out all sorts of complicated tools during practice, but good job anyway.”
Sebastian, for one, was eager to get to practice to see how Brendan did. Some of the other players were intrigued too, which was a good thing. This could be the start of the other guys developing faith in Sarah’s ideas.
It was difficult to discern a difference, but after practice ended Brendan lumbered over to Sarah. Sebastian not-so-subtly eavesdropped on the conversation. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think that adjustment yesterday worked. I couldn’t tell you for the life of me why, but I hadn’t been entirely comfortable in the net. I felt much better today.”
Jon joined them. “How’d it go?”
“Great. I was just telling Sarah there was something just a little
A few moments later she grabbed a T-square and held that up.
Now what the hell is she doing? Even through Brendan’s goalie mask, Sebastian could see the same question in his expression, but Brendan didn’t ask questions and quickly returned to his task.
Sarah let the T-square dangle. Then her gaze shot between the tool and Brendan.
An unhappy-looking Jon skated over, and Sebastian braced himself to watch Sarah get yelled at. “Can you either put that stuff down or tell me what you’re doing? You’re distracting the players.”
“Oh. Sure. Well, I’ve been watching Brendan and he’s not square.” Sarah didn’t appear fazed, or if she was, she hid it well, and Sebastian was proud of her for standing her ground. Many would’ve retreated when faced with Jon’s wrath.
“Square to the shooter? Of course he is. Brendan has excellent technique.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about.”
Based on the way he was repeatedly tapping his stick on the boards, Jon was losing patience.
“Do these guys see chiropractors?” Sarah asked.
Several of the players in the area had stopped what they were doing to listen to the exchange and Sebastian felt a little better about eavesdropping.
Jon’s eyebrows drew down, seemingly confused. “Yeahhhh, if they need to.”
“I know this sounds crazy, but could you send him and ask that the chiro check out his hips and shoulders?”
“Sure.” Jon smirked. “Since he’s not square, you said?”
Sebastian tamped his annoyance. Sarah needed to keep her cool, even if she was being made fun of, or she’d never get taken seriously, but it wasn’t cool for Jon to treat her like that.
“If he’s leaning one way, even unconsciously, it’s affecting his ability to make saves, to handle the puck—”
Jon held up a gloved hand. “Fine. But you can be the bearer of good news that the kid’s crooked.” He skated away and Sarah now focused on Doug, who shrugged.
“With any luck you’re right about Brendan like you were about Sebastian,” Doug said, “and then maybe they’ll see there’s something to all this math stuff after all.”
And if she’s not right, she’ll look like an idiot…but if she says Brendan’s “crooked,” he probably is. Sebastian trusted her judgment. His slap shot was noticeably more accurate with the change she’d made to his stick.
“I believe in this stuff, even if he doesn’t.” She glanced up and Sebastian caught her eye, giving her a reassuring smile. Her face relaxed and she smiled back.
It was the best thing that had happened to him all day.
The next morning before the team took the ice, Jon came into the video room. “You were right. Brendan’s hips weren’t square.”
Sebastian watched Sarah’s face and saw the play of emotions across it—she was pleased, surely, but also a little surprised. Probably since Jon had admitted publicly she’d been right. Sebastian couldn’t recall any other time the coach had done so since Sarah had been there.
“The doc did an adjustment. I have no idea if it’ll make a difference one way or the other, and I’d prefer it if you didn’t start getting out all sorts of complicated tools during practice, but good job anyway.”
Sebastian, for one, was eager to get to practice to see how Brendan did. Some of the other players were intrigued too, which was a good thing. This could be the start of the other guys developing faith in Sarah’s ideas.
It was difficult to discern a difference, but after practice ended Brendan lumbered over to Sarah. Sebastian not-so-subtly eavesdropped on the conversation. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think that adjustment yesterday worked. I couldn’t tell you for the life of me why, but I hadn’t been entirely comfortable in the net. I felt much better today.”
Jon joined them. “How’d it go?”
“Great. I was just telling Sarah there was something just a little
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