We were getting creamed. It was a full assault, head-to-head, old-fashioned butt kicking.
Having played, coached and observed ice hockey for more than 20 years, I knew there would be games like this. But they seem to come when you least expect it.
It was not yet 7 a.m. and my merry band of players were losing 6-1 in a league game we were supposed to win. The boys gave up at about the 3 minute mark of the first period when we feel behind, 3-0, and things got worse from there. Looking back, it was probably the fact that two lumberjacks were playing for the opposition, two 13-year-olds who, if, rumor had it straight were going on 30, shaved and had families of their own. Nah, they were just big, really big. And mean. And, well, dominating. They were like Godzilla in that they swatted my svelte little munchkins all over the ice.
Nobody likes to lose, but much has been written about domineering parents and their influence over youngsters in sports. In ice hockey, a game where aggressiveness is rewarded and meekness rejected, there is a fine line between heads up, strong play and violence. Witness the Massachusetts case of the hockey dad's conviction for manslaughter of a youth hockey coach after a chippy practice session.
One has to remember, it is just a game. A kids' game at that. It's supposed to be a challenge, sure, but it's also about fun.
Coming off the ice after the 10-1 debacle, one of the parents put it short, sweet and succinct: the kids stunk but you stink.
Ignoring the ignoramus, I charged into the locker room to address the beaten troops. There wasn't much to say, but part of the job of being a coach is to build up the sprits as well as yell and scream. Since I did a lot of the latter during the game I decided to do more of the former after it.
Kids are funny. They come in all hot and bothered, ticked off with the defeat, but within minutes they are throwing tape, joking around and oblivious to the happenings of the game. I attempted to lecture, to do that coaching thing, but realized quickly that would have to wait for another time. The boys' minds were off to the rest of the day and the X's and O's would have to wait for Wednesday's practice.
I finished my speech, left the room, and was immediately struck by the skirt, or lack of, worn by Mrs. Morgan. Her son Josh played for my team, and she was always a pleasure to look at. She stood about 5-3, with long blonde hair and a shapely body to go with it. The wife of an airline pilot, she regularly brought her boy to practices and games and a smile to my face. The woman did not dress for an ice hockey rink, and she always was in a skirt, leaving those long white legs open to the cool rink air and the warm looks from my (and every other male's) eyes. The other moms, I believed, hated her for her flirty behavior, but never said a negative word to her face.
Today Mrs. Morgan looked adorable, but her frown indicated something was amiss in hockeytown.
There were no friendly words, no attempts at small talk. Mrs. Morgan got right to the point.
"Josh didn't seem to play a lot today," she calmly said. "Was he hurt?"
"No Mrs. Morgan, we were trying some things out and I just couldn't work him in," I replied. It was a regular conversation, as young Josh, well, stunk. It was a weak link in a team that couldn't afford the liabilities he brought to the ice.
"He certainly won't get better if he doesn't play. You should know that, coach," said the woman, emphatically speaking her mind.
She was right, but young Josh was a liability to the team. Of course, on a team that lost 10-1 and which is barely above .500 for the season, did it matter? Probably not. But it did give me the opportunity to speak with the mother of all mothers. "He'll get his shot."
She nodded, and I left the rink.
On Wednesday night, while waiting for the Zamboni machine to finish its cutting of the ice before our practice, she again addressed the ice time situation. "We're a development team, and Josh should be playing more to develop his skills," she said, as if reading from our club's mission statement. "He's getting half the ice time and that's not fair."
It wasn't fair, but life isn't fair. I had a particularly bad week at the office, my girlfriend, or should I say ex-girlfriend, told me for the 27th time I was history and not to call her, my two key stock holdings had tanked and now Mrs. Morgan was on my case.
Attractiveness only goes a certain distance, and she felt the brunt of my crappy week.
"Do YOU want to coach this team?" I snarled. "Look, you can double my pay, my zero pay that is, and I will tell you the same thing. Josh is a nice kid, but he doesn't work hard and frankly is a liability on the ice. I will work him in as I can, and I will work with him in practice. But more than that I can't promise..."
I jumped onto the ice and skated to the bench, thinking all the while how unfair of me it was to take out all my frustrations on the woman. Soon 17 kids jumped onto the ice and it was time to work at playing hockey, and thoughts of mothers and fathers and stock investments and ex-girlfriends and unreasonable bosses went by the wayside. We were in our own little world of suggestions, commands and chalkboards. I left the rink after practice, downed a beer at home watching some silly documentary, and then drifted off to sleep.
The following night at practice --- we were on the ice developing our skills two nights a week --- turned out to be a dozy. Midway through the slot I noticed Mrs. Morgan sitting alone in the cold metal bleachers. The other parents had deserted her, moving upstairs to the warm overlook. She stood out even more as she sat in the stands with her short yellow skirt high on her thighs. Her attractive legs caught my eyes and I know she caught me staring. If I didn't know better I would have thought she was trying to entice me with a little glimpse up her thighs.
After practice she pulled me aside. "Will Josh be playing more this weekend?"
I shrugged.
She stared at me. I stared at her. The battle of unrelenting stares.
After a bit she blinked. "What would it take to get him more time on the ice? Is there anything I can do?" she wondered.
"Well, he needs to work harder in practice, he needs to play his position instead of running all over the ice, and he could use some skating lessons," I started my reply. "He needs to get a little more commitment..."
Mrs. Morgan interrupted me. "I know all that, and I will talk with him about it. But what I mean is, what can I do to expedite the process? I want him playing more now."
My eyes opened wide and I looked at the woman with surprise. Was she coming on to me? Was she willing to trade favors for favors? No way. This was only kid’s hockey. I had heard of groupies and loose women around the pros, but this was kids hockey for crying out loud. Still, the woman had made a teasing statement. I decided to call her bluff.
"Where there is a will there is a way, Mrs. Morgan."
She looked at me for a minute and then smiled. We looked at each other for a while, mentally sparring with each other.
Finally she broke the ice with a question. "Have you ever been ejected from a game?" she asked.
What a strange question, I thought.
"No, why?"
"I understand that if you are thrown out of the game you have to leave the rink. Is that right?
Nodding my head, I said yes.