Chapter 88: Game Misconduct
Rhys
As soon as the puck dropped, the atmosphere in the arena shifted from anticipation to pure violence among both teams.
The Southern Stallions lived up to their name; they weren’t just big, they were built like brick walls, and they played like they had something to prove against our winning streak.
I settled into my position at Right Defense, skating toward Kayden who was to my left.
Kayden was already in motion as he passed towards Miller, who was at the center. Immediately as the puck hit his stick, Leon lunged at him, clashing sticks with him.
As soon as Leon got the puck, the Stallions didn’t waste time; their right winger took it from Leon and headed towards our net, but he was blocked by Kayden.
My eyes widened and I felt my hands shaking on my stick as the Stallion tried to push Kayden. Instead, Kayden slid below him and passed towards Luca, who fired it toward Miller.
Miller headed to the net and hit it right there.
We won the first point.
Screams broke through the arena with the fans chanting our team name.
Miller raised his stick happily while we joined and Circled him.
"That was a great pass, Kayden," Miller pointed his stick toward him, panting as he sat down for a second.
Kayden smiled and raised his stick. "I was just doing my job," he muttered, and then his eyes met mine.
I didn’t say anything because I was still worried about him. Now that we had the lead, the Stallions would look for a way to get Kayden out of the game by harming him, and I had to protect him to make sure he wasn’t targeted.
The game continued for another few minutes until the referee blew the whistle for a break.
As we glided toward the bench for a change while listening to the Coach arranging for the next set of players, the arena’s lighting suddenly shifted and the Jumbotron came to life.
The announcer’s voice sounded, making the hair on my neck stand up.
"Avalanche fans, please look to Suite 4 as we are joined by the pioneers of the Northern Avalanche, the legendary hockey gods themselves—Rami and Richard Calder!"
The roar was deafening at the mention of my grandfather and father’s names.
What the hell? I thought as I looked toward the suite. My grandfather, Rami, sat like a king on a throne, waving. Beside him was my father, looking as stoic as ever as he waved. And then I saw him, and I frowned.
"We also have the youngest Calder son here, Raymond Calder. He has led the Junior Avalanche team to victory for two years, and there is a special announcement—he will be joining the Avalanche next season, becoming the next generation of the most powerful hockey players in the country!"
Raymond stood up and waved. His mother was beside him also waving on the screen, but the announcer didn’t mention her, and I couldn’t be happier. She didn’t deserve to be mentioned because she was a leech. Now that my father had allowed her to start attending events, I knew she was looking to enter into the high-society lifestyle, which was not befitting for her.
"We have another Avalanche King in the building tonight, the best goalie in the 90’s, Federico!" the announcer screamed as the camera panned to my grandfather’s friend and Elian’s grandfather.
The frown on my face grew, wondering what they were all doing there tonight. I didn’t need anyone to tell me; I already knew their plan
when the camera shifted towards him and I saw the blonde hair first before the small figure.
"Oh wow, the omega Rhys Calder helped that night during his heat is also in the building! I heard his name is Elian! Did he come to support Rhys for helping him?"
Elian stood up, brushing a strand of hair from his face, and waved to the camera.
The crowd went feral for him, and I could hear some chanting his name.
I knew what my grandfather was doing. The video released that day during the press conference—the lies—it was all to get the public to notice him. From there, my grandfather would announce the engagement thereby creating the new generation of calders.
"What a fucking mess," I muttered under my breath, clenching my fists tightly as I looked away from them and instead focused on Kayden.
I couldn’t help but wonder how he was feeling, seeing everything my family was doing, but instead, I found him chatting with Leo, who was checking the team members’ pulses.
Then Leo left his side and reached my side, clearing his throat to gain my attention.
"Rhys..." he began.
"Not now, Leo. You don’t need to check anything. I am fine."
Leo shrugged and turned around, though not without saying something. "Well, don’t die on the ice, Mister ’I Am Okay’."
I ignored him and instead focused on Kayden, who still didn’t look like he was affected by my family being there.
Then the ref blew the whistle again, signaling the end of the break, and we returned to the ice.
The second the puck hit the ice for the second period, the game devolved from hockey into a street fight on skates.
The Southern Stallions had realized they couldn’t out-skate us, so they decided to try and break us instead. It was brutal. Every whistle was followed by a shove; every corner battle involved a hidden elbow or a kick to the shins.
I played like a man possessed, trying so hard to prove to my family that I was not failing on ice, and at the same time, I was putting my body between Kayden and the Stallions each time he was about to pass.
"Stay in your lane, Rhys!" Miller shouted at me, but I didn’t listen and did all I could to protect him.
Minutes into the period, the Stallions grew even more cruel and increased how they pushed us while we tightened our defense.
During a scrum near our net, their enforcer who was playing toward us didn’t aim for the net. I had seen him targeting Kayden’s knee instead.
Immediately, I sprung into action. I dropped my stick and lunged, grabbing the enforcer by the jersey, but I was pushed backwards. The enforcer shoved me and I stumbled, skating without control and slamming straight into Miller, who didn’t see me coming.
We both collided, and Miller’s body twisted before he hit the boards with a thud that echoed through the entire arena.
"Miller!" I screamed.
The whistle blew immediately.
I turned around to see Miller crumpled on the ice and the enforcer who had caused the accident standing over him with a smug grin.
I saw red. I didn’t wait as I stood up from the ice rushing towards him not caring that the fans, medias were watching.
"You fucking coward!" I roared as I lunged at him. I grabbed him by the throat of his jersey, slamming him back against the glass right in front of the suite where my father and grandfather were sitting. "You want to play dirty?" I snarled, my voice cracking with rage as I shoved him again. "I’ll show you dirty!"
"Calder, get back!" the referee yelled, grabbing my arm, but I ripped it away.
Even Coach Reddick tried to stop me.
I heard Kayden calling my name, but I didn’t care.
I lunged at the enforcer again and was about to hit him when the ref shouted, "Misconduct!" He pointed towards the tunnel. "Rhys Calder has been assessed a five-minute major for fighting and a Game Misconduct! He has been ejected from the game!"
"What the hell! He targeted him!" I shouted, pointing towards Miller as the medics surrounded him.
The referee didn’t argue and said nothing. He raised his arm and made a sharp, final gesture towards the tunnel.
"You are kidding me!" I screamed, but Jaxson grabbed my jersey before I could move closer to the referee and pulled me away.
"Rhys! Go, just go!" Jaxson shouted.
I tried to speak, but then saw Coach Reddick shaking his head in disappointment. I turned towards Kayden, but his eyes weren’t even on me—they were on Miller.
"Fuck this!" I shouted as I skated towards the tunnel. "Fuck this!" I repeated, almost kicking the board as I walked out of the rink.