A few days later, Violet, Benny, and Grandfather were sitting in the stands for the first Polar Bears game. Jessie was in the locker room with the rest of the team, putting on her uniform. She was excited to be wearing her blue-and-white Polar Bears jersey. Henry was on the ice with the coach, getting ready for the game.
Benny and Violet looked around at all the people in the stands. There were parents, grandparents, sisters and brothers, and friends of the players. Benny spotted Mrs. Davidson sitting with her husband. Violet noticed Scott Kaplan and Tracey Lippert sitting together.
“Hey, look, there’s Jessie!” Benny shouted when he saw his sister skate onto the ice.
“She looks like a real hockey player in her uniform,” said Violet, smiling proudly.
When all the Polar Bears were there, Henry led the girls in a quick skating and shooting drill to warm up. Then it was time for the game to begin. The other team was called the Cobras, and their jerseys were red.
Beth was playing center, with Cathy on her right wing and a girl named Joanne on her left. Each girl skated mostly in her own area of the ice, according to her position. As forwards, Beth, Cathy, and Joanne were supposed to lead the way up the ice, getting the puck away from the other team and shooting at the other team’s goal.
Allison and Kaitlin were playing defense. They were taller than most of the other girls and very strong. Their job was to stay behind the forwards as the team moved up the ice. If the forwards lost control of the puck, the defense tried to get it away from the other team.
A girl named Susan was the goalie. She wore heavy pads over her legs and a mask to protect her face if someone shot the puck high into the net. Her gloves were different from the other girls’, since she used them to block or catch the puck. Her stick was also different. It was flat and wide, because she used it to keep the puck from going in the goal.
As center, Beth began the game with the opening face-off against a tall girl from the Cobras. She and the Cobras’ center stood in the middle of the ice. The referee dropped the puck and Beth got it. She drew it back to Allison, who quickly passed it to Cathy.
Cathy was a fast skater. She moved quickly up the ice. Beth and Joanne kept up with her. The three Polar Bears forwards passed the puck back and forth a few times as the Cobras tried to protect their goal.
Polar Bears fans in the seats yelled, “Shoot it!”
Coach Reynolds called out, “Good passing, girls. Now take a shot!”
At last Cathy saw an opening between two Cobras. She shot the puck, snapping her wrists hard, sending the puck toward the goal. It slid past the goalie’s legs and into the net. The Polar Bears had scored! They were winning, one to nothing!
The Polar Bears fans roared from the stands. The extra Polar Bears players who had been sitting on the bench all stood up and cheered.
“Great shot!” said Beth.
“Good job!” Joanne added.
Cathy just gave a small smile.
The Polar Bears changed lines—a new group of girls came in to relieve the tired players. Skating up and down the ice was tiring. Unlike other sports, hockey players replaced each other frequently, only playing for a couple of minutes at a time.
“Jessie, play left wing,” Coach Reynolds called. Jessie got up off the bench and took a deep breath. She felt nervous but excited.
The referee dropped the puck. This time the Cobras got control of the puck and began skating toward the Polar Bears’ goal. But a moment later, one of the Polar Bears stole the puck away and the players moved back the other way.
“Jessie!” a girl named Shannon shouted, passing the puck to her.
Jessie stretched out her stick to catch the puck, but it slid just out of her reach. Jessie skated fast to try to catch it, but one of the Cobras got there first. The play moved back in the other direction. Jessie was disappointed she had not been able to get Shannon’s pass. She knew she’d have to try harder.
When Jessie saw Coach Reynolds wave to her, she skated over to the side and Joanne went onto the ice to replace her. Jessie was glad, because she was breathless from skating so hard.
Over the next few minutes, the Cobras scored two times, but Shannon scored to tie the game. Then Cathy scored again, breaking the tie. Once again, the Polar Bears were winning.
A moment later the whistle blew, and the first period was over. The Polar Bears grabbed their water bottles and gathered around Coach Reynolds. “You’re doing a great job,” he told them. Then he gave them some pointers to improve their game in the next period. “We’re winning by one goal,” he reminded them. All the girls smiled.
Beth called out, “Hooray for Cathy and Shannon.”
Jessie noticed that while Shannon was grinning from ear to ear, Cathy was frowning again!
Coach went on, “Keep up the good playing. Let’s try to get a couple more goals.”
The whistle blew, and it was time to start the next period. The Cobras scored in this period, tying the game. The Polar Bears struggled to score another goal but failed. When the period ended, the score was tied.
In the third period, Jessie was determined to do better. She concentrated on controlling the puck and didn’t miss any more passes from her teammates.
Joanne and a girl named Marisa each scored once, but the Cobras also scored two more goals, keeping the game tied.
Jessie wanted to help her team, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t seem to score.
Soon there was only one minute left to go.
“Jessie!” Beth called, passing the puck.
But Jessie missed the pass. One of the Cobras raced past her and scooped up the puck. Before Jessie knew what had happened, the Cobra player had zoomed by, carrying the puck. Suddenly the girl was in front of the Polar Bears’ goal, shooting. Wham! Before anyone could stop it, the puck slid into the net.
The Cobras were winning. Jessie felt as if it were all her fault.
There were still thirty seconds left in the game. Jessie decided she had to do something.
Cathy faced a Cobra player in the center of the rink. Cathy took the puck away! She skated up the ice with the puck. Jessie and Beth kept pace with her. When they got near the goal, Cathy tried to shoot, but there were two Cobra players in her way.
“Pass it to me!” Jessie called. “I’m open!”
Cathy looked at Jessie and quickly passed the puck.
Jessie pulled back her stick and fired the puck. The puck flew through the air toward the net. But to her dismay, it went wide of the goal. The puck missed the net completely.
The buzzer sounded and the game was over. Jessie had failed to score and tie up the game. The Cobras had won.
After shaking hands with the other team, Jessie and the other Polar Bears skated slowly off the ice. As they walked back to the locker room, no one spoke.
Jessie slowly got dressed and began to pack up her things. She was almost ready to go when Beth called her over. “Hey, Jessie, can you fasten the clasp on my necklace?” Jessie left her bag on the bench and went to help her. Beth’s necklace was a silver skate on a chain, which Jessie had often admired. As she attached the clasp at the back of Beth’s neck, Beth whispered, “Don’t worry, Jess. You tried your best.” She gave Jessie a warm smile.
Jessie gave her friend a weak smile in return. She wished she could have helped her team win. “If only I hadn’t missed that pass!” Jessie said. “If only I had scored at the end!”
“You’ll do better next time,” Beth assured her. “Want to go get something to eat?”
“No, I think I’ll just head home,” Jessie said.
When Jessie went back to get her bag, Cathy was standing right by her locker. When she saw Jessie, Cathy’s face suddenly flushed. She looked as if she were about to say something. But then she seemed to change her mind and turned away. Cathy quickly gathered some things into her bag and left the locker room. She didn’t even say good-bye.
Jessie wondered if Cathy was angry with her because she’d made the Polar Bears lose the game. I’ll just have to try harder, she told herself. Then she began putting the rest of her gear in her bag.
While Jessie was getting dressed, the Aldens were waiting by the rink for her. Henry was helping Coach collect and put away the equipment.
“Can I help?” Benny asked.
Kevin smiled at Benny. “Why don’t you take the pucks back to my office.” He handed Benny a bucket.
Benny reached in the bucket and pulled out a hard rubber puck. “They’re cold.”
“They have to be,” Kevin said. “Otherwise they don’t slide well on the ice. If they’re too warm, they stick. Before the game we ice them down.”
“I’ll come with you,” Violet volunteered.
“Thanks,” said Kevin. “You remember where my office is, don’t you?”
“Sure,” Violet called over her shoulder. She and Benny walked quickly to the lobby. Next to the main entrance to the building, there were two closed doors.
“Do you remember which door it is?” Violet asked. The doors looked exactly the same.
“I think it’s this one,” Benny said, pointing to the door on the right.
Violet knocked on the door.
“Come in,” a voice inside called.
Violet pushed the door open and saw Tracey sitting in a chair, looking at a catalog of skating costumes.
“Oh, hi, Tracey,” said Violet. “Sorry to bother you. I’m looking for Coach Reynolds’s office.”
“You’re Jessie Alden’s sister and brother, aren’t you?” Tracey asked.
“Yes,” said Violet. “We just watched Jessie’s first hockey game.”
Tracey sighed loudly and rolled her eyes. “It worries me that so many kids are playing hockey these days. It’s such a dangerous sport. I’m afraid somebody’s going to get hurt—maybe Jessie. And when you watch the professional games, there’s so much fighting.”
“I love watching hockey,” said Benny. “I love the fast skating.”
“Sometimes players get a little rough, but it’s still a great sport,” Violet added. “And Jessie’s team doesn’t play rough.”
Tracey shook her head. “I’d do anything to steer people clear of that sport. Anyway, Coach Reynolds’s office is next door.”
“Thanks,” said Violet.
“No problem,” Tracey said, turning back to the catalog.
Violet was just stepping out the door when something caught her eye.
In the corner of Tracey’s office, partly hidden behind a chair, was a large stack of orange cones.
|