Today was the day, the time I get to play in the championship game. It all started when I forgot to wake up early. My dad showed up in my room and said
“we leave in ten minutes!!”
I woke up and got everything together ate breakfast and ran out the door like a bat out of hell. On the way out the door I grabbed my hockey bag chucking everything in the bag. My dad was waiting for me in the truck. I threw the bag in the bed of the truck and jumped in the truck and my dad waste no time and flew out of the driveway. While i'm finishing my breakfast my dad is going fifty out of the neighborhood.
When we got to the rink we made good time and were only ten minutes late. I saw my coach standing by the door greeting people as they enter the rink. When I go to get my bag I notice that the tailgate was down. At that very second I felt like I was going to throw up, as I round the truck praying to see my bag but it wasn’t there. All the sudden I felt a tear slide down my face. I was so sad I couldn’t begin to find words to tell my dad what I had forgot to do... shut the tailgate. Somehow my sticks had made it through the half an hour ride down the expressway. I walk in the rink crying as all of the parents asking me where my bag was. While my dad turns around and goes back down the road looking for the bag. My dad told me to join my team in warm ups and he will find the bag.
After warm ups I head to the locker room anxiously wiping the sweat off my forehead, waiting for my dad to come running in the locker room with my bag but I knew it would be a miracle. As my whole team finishes getting ready I think to myself, I'm not going to play. Then the door opens and it's my dad with my bag. The whole locker room starts cheering. I started to smile just thinking about the odds of finding my bag. He threw down the bag and told me that my mom found the bag in the neighborhood on the way here. I began getting dressed knowing that there is only moments til puck drop. I have never gotten dressed that fast in my life, slapping on the velcro straps just hoping they will stick. I even was dressed before coach's pre game talk. So after all of this I needed to focus on my game.
The game was underway and I was somehow more than ready to play. My team the; Lakeland Hawks were very dominant this year we only lost a few games the whole season but we have never beat the team we are playing for the championship. After the first period we had a two nothing lead and we seemed to be dominating the game. During the second period the game had seemed to change. We started to underestimate the other team. They took advantage, and held the puck in our zone the whole period. Somehow we pulled through without getting scored on though. As our coach was yelling at us in between the second and third period
“get your s*** together!!” he told us.
After my he said that I knew this was going to be a hard lead to keep. As we begin to line up for the third period faceoff I looked to the crowd and see my whole family cheering me on. Both of my grandpas and grandmas and my mom and sisters. Which gave me chills instantly. A few minutes in the other team snuck a goal past our goalie. Now we could feel the pressure. In the last minute of the third we couldn’t buy a goal but the other team was on fire, we couldn’t get the puck out of our zone once again. This time they decided to pull the goalie. As the clock goes down slowly the crowd is getting more and more into it, yelling and screaming. I was on the ice taking the faceoff that could make the difference in winning or losing. I call my wingers over and tell them to get out to the point and block every shot they take. I set my stick down showing the ref I was ready for the faceoff. No one really won the faceoff, it just was stuck in our feet but their team came flying in for the puck. They got the puck back to their defenceman and a shot it as soon as he got it came sliding toward our net. Our goalie made the first save but within seconds one of their six guys found the opening and scored to tie the game and force over time. I felt like I just got shot, furious at myself that I didn't get a clean faceoff win I smacked my stick on the ice. Thinking to myself I underestimated them.
Now the most important period yet, overtime. Since i've been on the ice back to back with the other stacked line on my team I needed to rest for one shift. So I was praying my teammates can hold them off. After a minute of rest I got a chance, a chance to win the game. The faceoff is in their zone this time. I was determined to beat this guy this time. When the ref dropped the puck I won it straight back to my defencemen perfectly. without hesitating I went to the net. The defencemen shot it at the net, through all the big blue body's it came right to me as I stopped it and went backhand to forehand and faked the goalie out and put it in the back of the net, I scored. I looked to the crowd as they start to stand up and cheer, each sweaty face changing emotion to happy or devastated. I skated back to our side of the ice as I throw my gloves, stick, and helmet into the air, Every pad on my teammates seemed to jump up in the air to join my pads. I meet the rest of my team who all jumped the boards to tackle me. I went to my knees sliding into fifteen of my teammates who mobbed me. My coach ran on the ice and told us to go get that trophy. While my team frantically fought over who gets the trophy I thought to myself, I scored it, I really scored the winning goal for the championship. I was like a kid who just got a new toy.
After all the celebrating my team got undressed and went to go visit with families. In the madhouse of a lobby I found my family and they were all congratulating me. My mom said
“you made both grandpas crying when you had scored, and they never cry!” My mom also said “good thing I found your bag.”
“Thanks mom, I think next time I should double check the tailgate.” I told her.
Later in the car my dad was talking to me about the game. He was the assistant coach of the team so I would always hear what the coach says to my dad. Coach told my dad and I after the game that I finally got what I deserved when I scored that goal. Not really sure what that meant but my dad told me that the coach said that I was the one who always went to the hard areas of the ice to get the puck and pass it to someone else and they would score. They would always get the credit for it not me. Now after hearing this it makes me realize that I shouldn’t worry about how many goals I have because,  it doesn't matter how many goals you score, your hard work will get rewarded when the time is best, so keep working hard. Even if you think your hand work is going unnoticed.