The Goal

The Goal

Written By

Jeannette Campbell

The sounds in the locker room were overwhelming. Twenty-five kids and parents talking at once, equipment being dropped, the coach yelling that we only had five minutes and then we needed to be on the ice. The excitement was thick. Hockey had been new to me two years ago when my family came to Canada from Syria.

“I think we should give the puck to Sayeed.” I looked up and saw Sean speaking to a group of players.

“I agree,” said Jordan. The others nodded.

“I don’t agree.” I heard myself saying. "You know I am not the best or fastest skater on the team, and I certainly cannot get a goal. “

“Look Sayeed,” said Sean, “you are the only one on the team who has yet to get a goal. It’s the Championship game and the last game of the season.”

“You’ve helped all of us get ours,” Mack added. The others agreed. “It’s time for us to help you.”

“Even Miguel has a few goals, and he is worse than you,” said Sean. Miguel grinned from ear to ear.

“Look guys I really appreciate it, “ I said, tightening my skate laces with the lace tightener. “I would love to score a goal, but we all know I am better on open ice than close to the goal or other skaters.” I was shaking my head.

“You just believe that” said Jordan.

“Tell you what” said Sean, “when we are ahead by a couple of goals, we will start feeding you the puck. Does anyone have a problem with that?” He raised his voice in question. There were a bunch of “Sounds good to me,” and “We can take them,” all around me. I just shook my head. These guys had taken me in and got me into the game. I did not want to let them down.

Sean looked at me. “I know you can do it, Sayeed. You just have to believe.”

“Yeah, think of them as obstacles on a soccer field,” said Miguel.

As everyone filed out, I looked at my skates and said, “You heard what they said. I need to score a goal.” I took my seat on the bench. Coach Branson put on the first line.

The referee blew his whistle and then motioned the centers forward. He dropped the puck, and the game was on. The other team got the puck, and they started passing it up the ice. Mack intercepted the puck and he and Miguel broke for the opposing players’ goal. We started cheering from the bench. He set up Miguel perfectly and then the buzzer sounded indicating a goal. We cheered and fist bumped the guys on the ice as they skated by. It is kind of hard to do high-fives with hockey gloves on.

The game teetered back and forth between us. We were evenly matched in my opinion. At the beginning of the third period, we were up by two goals.

“It’s your turn now,” said Sean, “you can do this. “Other players agreed. My stomach felt like I had eaten butterflies. Everyone’s eyes were on me as I clambered over the boards and took up my position.

“Ready,” said the referee and he dropped the puck. Jordan shot it to me, and I started up the ice.

“Come on Sayeed, you can do it," yelled someone on the bench. The whole bench was cheering me on. That is when an opposing player lifted my stick and stole the puck. I chased them toward my goal trying to catch up. They scored on us. I groaned and couldn’t look anyone in the eyes.

“Good try,” said Coach Branson. I slumped on the bench. A minute later I felt a tap on my shoulder.

“Are you ready for another crack at it?” asked Coach Branson.

“Oh yes,” I said going over the boards.

“Coming your way!” shouted Jordan. The puck hit my stick and bounced off. I chased it towards the blue line.

“Who’s with me?” I cried, looking for a teammate.

“You take it and I’ll follow you,” called Jordan.

“Got it,” I said, “I hope.” The last spoken only to me. I skated towards the goalie, took a deep breath and aimed for the goalie's blocker pad. He seemed weakest there. The puck went up and struck the cross bar, “DING” and then bounced out. I heard the bench go from a cheer to a “good try.” I was disappointed.

“Try again,” said Jordan, skating past me and dropping the puck in front of me. There were opposing players coming at me from all directions. I swung my stick and ended up on my butt, the puck skittering past everyone and over the blue line.

“Oh no,” I cried trying to get up quickly and failing.

“This one’s mine,” said Samuel, an opposing player as he rocketed past me after the puck. I tried to skate faster once I was on my feet, but they scored on us again. Only one goal difference.

I felt defeated and headed towards the bench. I couldn’t let my team lose because of me.

“You should put someone better on in my place.” I said, “I don’t want to lose us the game.”

“Are you tired?” Asked Coach Branson.

“No,” I answered.

“Remember the first rule of the game,” said Coach Branson, “is to have fun.” He looked at me and then at the other players. “Anyone want to take Sayeed up on his offer?”

“Not me, man, I’m tired,” said Sean. A “me, too,” came from everyone on the bench. I looked at them and then at the coach. They believed I could do this.

“I’ll give it another shot,” I said, “pun intended.” He groaned and waved me away.

“I can do this,” I told myself as I took my place beside Samuel. He smiled at me and then the puck was dropped. I stuck my stick out towards the puck and then as Miguel suggested, thought of the others on the ice as obstacles to go around.

“Way to go, Sayeed!” Someone shouted as I got the puck from Samuel and started towards their net. A defender skated backwards in front of me and tried to swipe my stick away from the puck.

“Not this time,” I said turning my back to him and taking the puck with me. Glancing at the clock I realized there was less than a minute to play. I did not think this time, I just shot it. The goalie lunged forward trying to decrease the angle. The puck went in over his glove. The goal buzzer sounded.

"Whoo Hoo!" I shouted surrounded by hugging line mates. We skated back to the bench and bumped fists. The coach changed lines again. I was exhilarated. My teammates were patting me on the back and congratulating me. I felt a warm glow as I realized, I had finally scored my first goal. The buzzer sounded, ending the game.

"Feels good, doesn't it?" Sean said as he jumped over the boards, grinning. All I could do was smile. Yeah, it felt really good. Winning the championship was bonus.