Frozen in Ice

Chapter 58

Luke's POV

Coach called me into his office in the beginning of December and I couldn't figure out why. I pushed the door open and found him smiling at his desk.

"What did you want to talk about?" I asked.

"I got a call about you today," he said.

"What about?" I asked.

"You have been invited to the training camp for the United States Junior World Champs team," he said.

I gaped at him and he continued.

"It's in two weeks for five days and then the actually event is for ten days at the end of the month and into January if you make it."

I nodded and he continued to talk about the details of it. I was really excited for it and the days seemed to fly by. The training camp was in Denver so I was going to be travelling tomorrow and I couldn't believe that I was going since a lot of the players were older and had already been drafted.

I had been packed for a while and was now sitting on my bed, texting a bunch of guys. There were a couple of my teammates going to training camps but for Canada instead since I am playing in a Canadian Junior league.

I didn't really know anyone going but I was so excited. The main tournament would be in Sweden if I made it. I wasn't sure if I even had a chance to make the team but a lot of people around me seemed to think I had a chance.

My flight was super early in the morning and Richard dropped me at the airport.

"Just remember you can call when you want," he added.

I nodded and hugged him tightly.

"You are going to do amazingly," he said before he had to leave.

I headed through security before taking a seat to wait. There was at least an hour before my flight so I grabbed my English work out and started to write. I was missing the last couple of days of school before Winter Break.

The airport was busy but it was mostly quiet as people kept to themselves. I had one headphone in and half listening for the call for my flight. I got a bit of work done before my flight. It was almost a three hour flight but I couldn't work on a plane so I just leant back and listened to music to try and distract me from what I was going to be doing today.

I was lucky that my bags was one of the first of the plane and I was lucky that I didn't need to bring any of my own gear because I would have had to bring another bag. I turned around just as I heard my name being called.

I headed over to a guy in a very official looking United States Hockey jacket and there were about five guys around him.

"You must be Luke, you are the last one in this group so let's go," the guy said.

I nodded and fell into step with one of the guys.

"I'm Luke," I said to him.

"Tyler Thurston. Apparently we are roommates here," he said.

I nodded and we started to talk about hockey. We got into a van with the other four and the official guy drove us away from the airport and he started to talk.

"So, welcome, most of the players from this camp are going to make the team since it is in two weeks but we still want to see 100% effort. We will be watching you at all times and we expect you to behave well," he said.

We all nodded and we didn't talk much more about the camp. Instead we all started talking about our own hockey teams for the rest of the trip. As soon as we arrived we were ushered in some direction and started to be give gear.

It was kind of weird to me give Unites States jersey but I was brightly smiling. I could see the same smile on the faces of my new teammates. All the gear seemed to fit well and as soon as we were done we were able to head out onto the ice.

I was one of the first ones onto the ice, just because I was one of the first ones to get my gear. I started to skate and slowly warm up as more people joined me on the ice. Tyler joined me in skating slow circles before we were all pulled together to start.

In some ways it was just like training back in Flint but tougher and faster. Everyone was really good but I found that I could keep up and the Coaches seemed to like me. Tyler and I combined well on one line as we worked.

I couldn't really help the smile on my face as we worked because I loved it. I was very sore once we finished and I could see the same pain on everyone else's face.

We all changed we started to get to know each other even more. A lot of the players knew each other from different events but this was the first time that I had played with all of these guys. I stretched out on the floor and listened to everyone talk.

We decided to hang out together and get food so we could get to know each other. A couple of players disappeared to get food and the rest of us headed up to one of the hotel rooms. I didn't know whose it was but it wasn't mine.

We all started to talk as the food arrived. I got to know more of them the longer that we spent together. I was talking to Tyler, Drew, Jack and Evan.

"It's so cool that we are here," Drew said.

"I know. I can't believe that last year I was playing high school hockey and now I'm here," I added.

The other four nodded and we continued to talk. I found that I could fit in well with them despite them all being drafted last year. As it got later Tyler and I headed o our room.

He collapsed on the bed and I started to organise all my stuff. I had got a whole lot of new stuff and I could see that Tyler had just dumped his on the ground.

"I'm going to be sore after this week," he groaned from his bed.

"I know, we don't work this hard in Flint," I complained.

"Same, so this is your draft year?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm kind of nervous about it."

"Clearly since you are here you are a really good player."

"What was it like for you?"

"It's nerve-wracking and scary but it is really cool at the same time," he said.

We didn't talk much more as we were both tired and knew that we had to sleep so we both did our own thing and I started to mentally prepare for tomorrow

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More hand-waving at details around hockey events. I hope that you still like it.

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The Wise One