AJ was tired and he wasn’t sure why he was exactly. Maybe it was due to the fact that they had lost the second game to the Islanders. Yeah that was probably it. Well actually he couldn’t even blame it on that because they had won the last two games 5-1 over the Wild and 3-1 over the Thrashers. Nah he was betting it on the fact that the team wasn’t acting the same anymore. Boosh was back but had sat the game he came back against the Thrashers while Brian played. Eric Dejardens was out with a broken finger and Justin had sustained a sprained shoulder against the Thrashers. Wonderful the lines finally come together and they finally get Boosh back and then BAM everything gets screwed up. Wonderfuckingful. AJ was tired, very very tired.

The next game was tonight against the Montreal Canadians and AJ was not looking forward to it to say the least. He had a bad feeling about the game. Basically he had a bad feeling about everything lately. Barber’s wife had died an hour before the game against the Wild and Barber had still gone on with the game through it all. AJ gave it to him, the man deserved respect. He had a bad feeling that the team was going to hit a rough spot soon.

So he was sitting in his apartment on his leather couch stretched out with his feet up staring out the window as the rain beat lightly against his windows. The only noise in his apartment once again was the whoosh of his heater every now and again and his heart beating. Professional hockey players can lead lonely lives at times.

AJ reaches down and rubs the outside of his right ankle and sighs. His ankle hurt. It hurt badly now after any sort of activity he did. It wasn’t sprained he knew that much, but it wasn’t normal for it to swell up as much as it. He decided to just tape it like he normally did before each practice and game and go on. He had missed enough time with all his other ailments. AJ locks down at his watch quickly and stands up. He needed to get out.

AJ stares at the small ice rink in front of him and smiles as a number of small kids skate around falling every once and a while. A class trip. He ties up his skates tightly and pulls his hat over his ears. That was all he needed was to get sick. He walks past the one small rink and stops in front of the second. A peewee team. Those were the days. He continues down to the third small rink and steps inside the room, which was completely empty. He walks over to the ice and takes a step out onto it. This was where he belonged and he knew it. The ice was his real home and he would die before he was forced to give it up.

AJ skates around the ring turning around and crossing his skates one over the other fooling around. It had been a long time since he had just taken the time to skate around on the ice and not worry about pucks or sticks. It had been years since he had done it. Years since he had just had time to himself.

Years since he had gotten on the ice and flied. The ice that have never failed to surprise him. The ice that would always be there. The ice that gave him so much. The ice that had taught him to fly.

“Booshhhhhhhh,” Kevin says walking over to him in the locker room and messing up his hair, “How you been man? How ya feel?”

“I’m fine Kev,” Boosh says, “Just a little over excited to get back into the game.”

“Brian is playing tonight though,” Kev says.

“I know,” Boosh says, “But at least I’m on the bench now.”

“That’s something you don’t hear out of his mouth everyday,” AJ says, “Ph no wait I must be confusing you with some other goalie who yelled at me in the minors to “Get my fat ass back to the blue line,” while he threw a puck at me.”

“Could be,” Boosh smirks.

Kevin shakes his head and continues to walk around the locker room stopping to talk to each player for a few minutes. He was trying to act more like the captain of his team now. He knew he wasn’t going his job as well as he could and he wanted to try and help Barber out any way he could now.

Kevin locks over his shoulder at Nick and shakes his head. Nick had lost his other half with Williams being out. The two of them confused the living hell out of Kevin. In the beginning they hated each other and now they were best friends. Kevin didn’t know if this was a good or bad thing. On top of the Five he had to watch out over Nick and Willy now too and the Five was bad enough.

AJ was currently singing a song with Fedoruk and Boucher while tying up his skates. AJ was one of the players who had come back with a renewed sense of spirit. One of the few who needed it though. Kevin was noticing that some of his teammates just seemed to be going through the motions lately. They would go out and just do what they had to do to get back by and never put in the extra effort that was needed. That’s why the loose of Williams was going to affect them and he knew it. The Williams, Gagne, Roenick line was one of the top scoring line and that come from the fact that each person on that line hustled each game for every inch they got.

Kevin loved playing in Philadelphia for the Flyers and loved the guys like family, but he hated knowing that guys on the team were playing without their hearts in it. AJ had told him before that “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” and he shouldn’t expect them all to come out and be something that they aren’t yet. They weren’t the perfect hockey club and they needed to work up to it. Sometimes regardless of how odd AJ sounded he made perfect sense and that was one of those times.

“We’re losing to the CANADIANS,” AJ yells from the bench at everyone who was listening.

Nick could only roll his eyes though.

AJ had something to say to the team every time they were losing in a game. He was pissed off though. The refs were some of the worst they ever had calling every little thing. With Williams out of the game Fedoruk was finally able to come back only to get kicked out of the game in the first period. Fedoruk had been pushed by two Canadians while skating by one in the front the next in the back one after the other. Then he did the only thing he could do…he nailed the one in front of him, Gatone, with a right hook. One punch and Gatone fell to the ice. BAM lights out. AJ thought it was great until the ref kicked Fedoruk out and he proceeded to yell every curse Nick had ever heard from the bench at the refs. AJ was lucky that they hadn’t ejected him too. God you had to love the game for those reason alone.

Brian was having a tough time though. The score was 3-1 in the favor of the Canadians in the beginning of the third period and they had hit the ice with Boosh coming in for Brian. Brian wasn’t too happy about it, but he had seen it coming well he told Nick that at least. So once again the First union spectrum rang with the echoes of Boosh and only amplified Kevin scored the Flyers second goal on a slap shot in the last nine minutes of the game. It wasn’t a normal thing for defensemen to get goals and Kevin had finally gotten his first goal of the season.

Boosh was keeping them in the game not letting any more shots get past him and when the first power play came and went with nothing to show for it no one was happy about it. Then the second power play came and it went by with nothing to show for it. It was the last two minutes of the game and Nick could see his teammates scrambling all over for the loose pucks. Please God just let us get a goal, was all Nick could think. Twenty-nine seconds left in the game and Boosh was off the ice in favor of an extra attacker. Penalty…on Gagne. This wasn’t good.

DAMN. Canadians had won six straight.

“Nice goal Kev,” Nick says to them walking down to the locker room.

“To bad it wasn’t on better circumstances right?” Kev smiles.

Nick shrugs, “We got the Bruins on Saturday.”

AJ looks at them as he walks up next to them, “Barnaby is a Ranger.”

“What?” Kevin says.

“Yeah found out this morning. Felt like sharing now,” AJ shrugs, “Where’s Fedoruk? I gotta give him props for that right hook. That was the play of the game right there,” he smiles and begins to walk ahead of them.

“He’s right,” Nick says.

“Oh defiantly,” Kevin smiles, “You don’t want to mess with someone who has already lost two front teeth.”

“Let’s see that again,” AJ says looking up from the bench at the First Union replay as Fedoruk nails an Oilier in the head with a right hook and his helmet flies off.

Nick makes a face, it even look like it really hurt. He thanked God after every game that he was playing on the same team as Fedoruk. The guy brought it on himself though. He nailed Fedoruk after he tripped over the Oilier goalie. So Fedoruk hit him back…hard. They nailed each other with a few punches and were pretty even until Fedoruk nailed the guy with his right hook in the head. Nick couldn’t really see it at the time because the two continued to fight, but once the linesmen pulled them apart blood was all over Fedoruk only it wasn’t his own. Yeah Fedoruk had done it again. The Oilier was bleeding all over himself and Fedoruk from a huge gash in his head. And the people in the booth seemed to like to play the fight and its one hit over and over and over again.

“Let’s see that again,” AJ says again as they play the hit again.

Fedoruk topped the team off with 76 penalty minutes so far. What a team.

They were losing nonetheless though. They had one the game the night before against the Bruins with a score of 5-2, but it was a different story now. It was the second with the score 2-1 with the one goal from Recchi. Boosh was in goal and he didn’t seem happy. It was expected for it to be a tough game though. The Oiliers were the leaders in their division and were a hard team to beat. Both goals had come off of interceptions too. They were working well together tonight. In Williams’s absence the lines had been shuffled around and he was now on front line with AJ and LeClaire, Roenick, Gagne and Fedetenko were the second line, Recchi, Primeau and Nick were the third while Dopita, Fedoruk and Havlac were the fourth.

By the third period they were down 3-1 after another failed clear was given over to an Oilier and sent into the net past Boosh. With only seven minutes left in the game though they came back with a quick slap shot by AJ and they were back in the game. The game ended with two back-to-back Flyer power plays, but none resulted in the one needed goal. They lost the game 3-2.

Life in the pros was a bitch at time.

Flyers Online Journal:

Hello everyone AJ McLean here checking back in again. Anyway as you all have seen the Boosh is back and we are ready to go again. Congrats to my man Gags for making the Canadian Olympic team. I’ll see you at Salt Lake, Gags. Gags things he’s better then me because he’s a Frenchie. Big deal. I’m the one who will be wearing the red, white and blue come Olympic break with Roenick, LeClaire and there is a good chance that Boosh will be there too. Best goalie in the whole damn league after all.

Anywhoo back on track again. We won last night again. Yes I know we lost, but let me atleast think we won. Dejardins is going to be out for a while though, Willy will be back for the next game and Tocchet was skating around with us in practice today. Maybe for once we will actually have the whole team in good health. Of course it wouldn’t be the Flyers Organization then would it.

Brian Boucher would like to take this time to ask you, “Have you hugged your goalie today?”

Yeah Boucher is an idiot. He just tackled me away from my laptop and wrote that. LOSER! I hope Fedoruk decks him. Well actually no I don’t because Todd is a BIG guy at 245 and man can he hit. Did you all see the hit he made on the guy last night? BAM, one right hook. It was great. Two for two now boy. Ok I’m done now. Anyway Christmas is around the corner and I am here to ask you all who are going to the game against the Blues to bring a toy to donate to some kids who really need it. Yeah I know I’m getting sappy, but you really can’t help it when you have the song “Christmas Shoes” playing in the background. It’s such a sad song ~sigh~.

Well I am working on looking through those questions you all sent in for me and frankly some of them are just disturbing…Boosh just told me Havlac was just traded for some big guy whose name I didn’t catch, an enforcer. Havlac is going up to Vancouver, damn. I’m not supposed to state my opinions on these sorts of things, but this is a joke.

Well I better shutup and go before I end up getting in trouble for voicing my opinion yet again.

P.S. “I am mountain. I am a tall tree. Ohhh I am a swift wind sweeping the country. I am a river down in the valley. I am a vision I can see clearly. If anyone asks you who I am just stand up tall look them in the face and say. I’m the star up in the sky I’m that mountain peak up high. Hey I made it. I’m the world’s greatest. I’m that little bit of hope when my backs against the ropes. Oh I can feel it. I’m the world’s greatest. ~Yeah I know it sounds like I have a big ego, but you gotta love that song and video~

Nick sits by a window looking down at the parking lot of the Flyers Skate Zone, where they practice, as Havlac packs up his things and dumps them into the trunk of his car then speeds off. Havlac wasn’t doing bad either and Nick knew that Justin had told him a few times rumors were going around that Havlac and him were going to be traded and now Havlac was gone. Justin was probably having an aneurysm somewhere.

Nick sighs and backs away form the window and throws a puck he is holding in his hands up in air and catches it again. The puck could make or break you depending on how you played. God he needed to get a goal soon or else he risked….

“Nick check this out!” a voice yells from down the hall and Justin runs up carrying a few pieces of paper.

“What is it?” Nick stares at him as he stops next to him and takes the papers to read them, “For Christmas…Brian Boucher, a spot on the Olympic team where he deserves to be…AJ McLean, a team that is as energetic as him…Marty Murray, a medal for courage…Kevin Richardson, two good knees…Rick Tocchet, two good knees…Brian Littrell, six more inches of height…Fedetenko, the credit he deserves…John LeClaire, a…”

“No no no this,” Justin points.

“Justin Williams, a gift certificate to GNC and a life time membership to Gold’s Gym,” Nick says and starts laughing.

“They all say that,” Justin says, “I gained fifteen pounds in the off season already.”

“Where’d it go then?” Nick laughs.

“I dunno maybe I threw it all up when I had the flu,” Justin says.

“Where’d you get these?” Nick asks flipping through the papers.

“AJ found them on a message board. He always finds the most interesting things.

Nick shakes his head and smiles staring down at the paper, “Nick Carter, a spot on the second line and the credit he deserves. I think they sound pretty good.”

“Oh shutup, they don’t think you’re a twig,” Justin says.

“Gain some weight then.”

“I can’t I tried. I’m telling you,” Justin says, “Look at that one,” he points.

“Justin Williams, some of that stuff Mark McGwire was on,” Nick says and cracks up again.

“This isn’t funny Nick.”

“Yeah it is,” Nick laughs putting an arm around his shoulder, “C’mon Wills I’ll buy you a cheese steak.”

“Very funny. Haha,” Justin says as they start walking down the hall both falling over to the floor as their ankles snag on something.

Nick looks over and focuses his eyes and then plucks a thin string of fishing string and a bucket of water falls on him and Williams.

“Way to go genius,” Williams says.

“AJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ!” Nick yells.

“Fedorukkkkkk,” Williams yells at the same time.

“This mean war,” Nick says.

“Oh yeah,” Williams says.

“Beer?” AJ asks Fedoruk putting his feet up on the seats around the rink.

“Why thank you,” Fedoruk says taking it and leaning back like AJ, “You think they found it yet?”

“I dun…” AJ stops short as he hears Nick and Justin screams, “Yeah they found it,” he smirks opening his own beer.

“One nothing us,” Fedoruk says.

“Oh yeah I’ll drink to that,” AJ says and hits his beer can against Fedoruk’s, “God I love this team.”

Twenty-Three

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