AJ’s eyes scan the magazine article that is sitting in front of him on the table before shoving it away from him and throwing his feet onto the small coffee table. Oh if his mother could see him now feet on the table while the rest of him sat on his back letter couch. So the Cheks were favored to win the Olympic gold medal, then the Canadians and then finally the USA, ridicules. Now something had to be gone about this. Of course he had to keep his mind on the Flyers for now.
His Flyers who were not getting half the attention they deserved in the city. Ohhh the Eagles are in the playoffs, well he could see that. Hell he had even begged for people to get him playoff tickets. But to take a back seat to the Sixers? The Sixers who were being severely beaten in their games by small teams. Hell they deserved the minutes of discussion on Comcast on the sports show at 5 pm.
The Flyers were suiting up to play a total of thirteen games over the course of twenty-three days. They were going to have one hell of a long stretch before the Olympic break. With AJ being the “golden child” of the game much was expected of him, too much by AJ’s judging.
Being small in the game of hockey in height makes it hard as hell to progress from minors to pro. AJ had come onto the team as a draft pick from the Phantoms and left most of the critics, fans and players alike wondering where the hell he had come from and why had he been in the minors so long. The truth was being 5 foot 9 in the minors hurt a guys chance to move up. AJ had his legs that seemed to glide over the ice almost, dodging checks and players until he reached the goal. But the truth was without his legs AJ might as well not even play. He couldn’t afford to get tired and the coach of the USA team knew it and ran him ragged.
Marty Murray knew how he felt. AJ and Mur would go out after practices or before them in their free time and just skate around the rink timing how long it would take them from blue line to blue line. Both were small, but AJ even smaller in the weight department.
In high school AJ had been the skinny kid and no matter how hard he tried he could never gain weight. Surrounded by football players and basketball players he seemed even more out of place…until he put on his skates and hit the ice. Making varsity freshmen year he had started his career before even he knew it. Upon graduating he was presented with a dozen qualifications for scholarships to his choice of colleges and one letter that his mother had kept from him until he found it one day shoved in a cupboard. The letter was from the Phantoms organizations and it was offering him a chance to come and play in Philadelphia in the minors. His mother had opposed it right from the start, but knowing his decision before he even voiced it she gave up and tried to help him. Now four years later…four years on a small salary, harsh traveling conditions, a small apartment he never saw, and time with some of the finest hockey players he had ever met in his life…he was finally a pro. The rookie “golden child” of a team he had dreamed of playing on in the minors. The thing was AJ still wasn’t sure if he was even ready for the role everyone had already made for him.
AJ sighs and rubs his temples with his hands before opening them again as he hears his answering machine pick up. After the message plays there is a short tone and he breaks into a smile as a voice floats from the machine.
“AJJJJJJJJJJ get off your ass I know you’re not out,” Fedoruk says, “C’mon man I’m freezing my ass off at my place right now…I think my heat broke…and I need to get out of here. So call me back…when you actually find the need to get off your ass…or come on over to my house.”
AJ shakes his head and stands up. He had nothing better to do he might as well go visit Fedoruk. He needed to take his mind off of hockey for a little…of course that probably wouldn’t happen.
The Flyers were tied for first in their division and that team was coming to their house with a former player for the next game on Saturday at 1pm. It was the return of a lost teammate and the showing of a new rivalry on the east Coast. The New York Rangers and Eric Lindros were coming back to town and the Flyers couldn’t wait for a piece of them.
Nick looks out from the Philadelphia bench as Theo Fleury goes soaring down the ice towards Brian Littrell in goal. Brian dives on top of the puck as Theo takes a few pokes at it and then falls down on top of Brian as Flyer gather around them. The next thing Nick saw was Brian kneeling above Theo who was laying on the ice and continuing hitting him in the head with his blocker hand. Well Brian was pissed off that much he could tell. Of course this one was going to lead to a New York power play.
This was going to be one hell of a game and Nick knew it. AJ was on a full rush of adrenaline the moment he stepped out onto the ice like most of his fellow players. Jeremy had said that some people were going to end up going to an insane asylum after this game and Nick agreed with him. The moment Lindros hit the ice the stadium filled with boos echoing off of the walls. The fans made it out like he was a wanted man here in Philly.
Jeremy had a mike strapped to him from ABC sports for the game and they had picked up him saying, ‘That this was the type of game you dream of playing in when you were a kid,’ and he was right. Nick could actually feel the energy rushing through his body and God forbid they lose this game in their own house…they would be crucified.
Once again Brian was put in goal against the Rangers. To some this move had come as a surprise, especially Brian himself, but others could see it coming. Boucher was an amazing goaltender and in their last game against the Thrashers he had led them to a 7-4 win over them, but he was still shaky. He almost didn’t see sure of himself and you could tell that and more then anything you needed confidence to play a game against the Rangers. Right now both their goaltenders were playing amazing and neither one now showed to be better then the other. But once again Brian had gotten the call to play between the pipes after being benched in favor of Boosh for the last two games.
Nick watches the ice as LeClaire skates over to the penalty box as Brian draws a penalty on the team. AJ was on the ice still arguing with the referees about the call, while Kevin pulled him away from the argument trying to get his head back in the game. Not even a minute into the NY power play a slap shot is taken from the corner and goes sailing in past Brian. Rangers were up 1-0 now. Brian was fuming in the net.
The first period had to be one of the most physical that Nick had ever played in. Penalties were happening all over the ice and Brian got side swiped by a Ranger down near their net during a Philadelphia power play. Brian was already worked up about the first goal and he had slammed his goal stick onto the ice and then onto the cross bar screaming at the ref for an interference call. It never came. Fedoruk had hit the ice with fists flying and had gotten into a fight with Barnaby sending Barnaby crashing to the ice. The officials were playing tough though since anyone on the ice could tell you this was going to be one of the games of the year where energy was going to run extremely high. They were just trying to keep everyone in check now.
It was a few minutes until the end of the first and AJ, Roenick and LeClaire were on the ice for a power play with Dejardins and Kevin. They got set up into their positions and began pounding the net. Roenick though was the only one who had gotten one in. 1-1 tie now. The First Union Center echoing with the cheers from the fans as he scored and AJ ran over to hug him. And that was how the first period ended in a 1-1 tie. One down two more to go.
AJ stares at the ice as Brashear and McCarthy start to struggle with each other and the linesmen were really letting them go at it. It was the third period by now and the two teams were still deadlocked in a tie, but both were up two with a 2-2 tie now. AJ had gotten a goal in the second to put them up by one, but it had been answered by a New York goal a few minutes later. The Flyers had the upper hand though. So far they had been the better team and AJ loved the fact that there was so much energy in this one building. This was the kind of game he lived for.
AJ watches as Fedoruk rails a guy into the boards. You never wanted to mess with a 250 pound white male hockey player who was trained in the marital arts and already lost two front teeth. The fact was you would never win. Nick passes the puck back to Kim Johnnson and Kim lets off a quick shot sailing one past the goaltender into the net for the Flyers to regain the lead, 3-2. The Flyers defiantly had the upper hand and AJ would love to see the faces of the New York fans if the winning goal was from Kim the guy they traded for Lindros.
AJ knew what to expect from this game though. The moment these two teams hit the ice they had it out for each other. In warm up and stretching both teams all came together in a pushing and shoving argument along the boards. Not that AJ and Fedoruk had anything to do with starting it…no they would neverrrrrr shove a Ranger. This was going to be AJ’s type of game.
Four minutes left in the third and LeClaire, AJ and Williams were on the ice now. AJ travels down the ice with the puck and passes it to Williams. Williams skates towards the puck and goes to pass to LeClaire faking out the goaltender and then sending in his own shot. It goes through the five hole and into the back of the net, 4-2 Flyers in the lead. Williams had three game scoring streak.
Forty seconds left in the game and LeClaire, Roenick and Nick were on the ice skating around their own net. Roenick becomes tied up on the side of the net arguing with a Ranger. Nick sees one glove drop, but the two continue to skate down the ice, Roenick missing a glove. Before he knew what was happening Roenick drops the other glove and punches the Ranger catching him off guard. As soon as the two break apart a Ranger comes sailing across the ice crashing into Roenick sending him falling to the ice. Nick looks over at them as the officials pull the Ranger off Roenick and Kevin skates up to him to see if he is ok. AJ, of course, was on the bench fuming along with Fedoruk waiting for their chances to get back on the ice.
It was one hell of a game, probably their best of the season so far and with the win over the Rangers, 4-2, the Flyers took the first place in their division.
“Where you going so fast?” Nick asks AJ in the locker room.
“Running over to the Eagles game,” AJ says, “C’mon we just won one hell of a game and now the Eagles are gonna beat the Buccaneers…THEN I’m coming back later tonight to watch my boys on the Phantoms play.”
“AJ pace yourself,” Kevin says walking by.
“I’m pacing myself…somewhat,” AJ says.
Brian looks at him and only shakes his head.
“Smile Boosh I know you were restraining yourself out there when Brian got that goal for New York,” AJ says looking at Boosh as Boosh smiles slightly.
Yes it was the opposing team, but Brian’s best friend, yet another Brian, AJ swore that that name had to be stopped in the hockey league, was on the Rangers. Brian had suffered every player’s worst nightmare. Still in his early twenties he had been hit smack in the face with a stick in a game. The result was every player’s nightmare, an almost career ending injury. Berard had to sit out the whole last season trying to recover. Almost every other player who had suffered a similar injury was out from the game…the rest of their life. Of course Berard was one of the few to come. And tonight he had gotten his first goal since his return. Hell AJ figured any person who had to go through that deserved a goal.
AJ looks around the locker room as he begins to get changed into his clothes. The same locker room that Eric Lindros had looked over so many times before. Hell the same city he had looked over so many times before. And now he was probably the most hated person in this building. AJ never really understood what made people hate Eric so much. He had to be one of the most amazing players AJ had ever seen touch the ice some days…others he wasn’t. AJ also saw him as a waste of God given talent though. He was brilliant, but he was made of glass it almost seemed like.
Yes his parents had taken control of a lot of his career, but it was his family for God’s sake. Yes he was picky, but hell so was AJ. But hell the beating that Lindros had taken from Ed Snider, the owner of the team, and Bobby Clarke, the general manager, was ridicules. The team that had once nurtured him had his turned their back completely on him. All he wanted to do was play.
AJ had been picking up a lot of steam recently and more and more people were beginning to call him a new Lindros for the team. Kevin told him to take it as a complement and AJ knew it was one. AJ had always wondered what it would be like to just sit down and talk to Eric Lindros. Talk to the man he was supposed to be so much like now. The man who, like AJ, just wanted to play the game he was born to play. The man’s whose shadow he was living behind. The man’s whose shadow he hoped to overcome.
Brian looks across the ice as a Canadian player gives up the puck and AJ heads down the ice towards the opposite goal. It was the third period and they were tied now 3-3. Brian could feel a slight pull in is shoulder and he figured it was from coming in not warmed up. Boosh had been pulled again after letting in three goals in the first and second period. It wouldn’t have been that bad if you didn’t count the fact that there were only eleven shots taken on him.
Brian knew the feeling well enough that Boosh was feeling right now. Oh yeah Barber would say to the press that he was just trying to mix things up and get something started when they were down 2-3, but Boosh and him both knew the real reason why Barber pulled goalies. Brian also knew that Boosh had a tendency to look down on himself. Brian couldn’t recall more then five times that Boosh had been actually happy with the way he played in game this season, all of the five were shutouts he made.
Brian snaps back into reality as a Canadian comes flying down the ice towards him letting off a quick shot as Brian blocks the shot with his blocker. The rebound came quick and Brian had to throw himself onto the ice onto his back spreading out his arms catching the puck beneath his body. He could feel the players’ sticks poke at him trying to dig the puck free until finally a whistle is blown to call the play dead.
He was going to have a few bruises from that one.
The Flyers would go on to win the game 4-3 with a late goal from Justin Williams. They were on a six game winning streak, at the top of their division and the top of the East Coast division. And with each passing game Brian was beginning to take more and more of Boosh’s ice time away.
“Can we please listen to another song?” AJ asks as Fedoruk and JR run around the room before the game playing music from a boom box with a small ball that resembled a disco play and flashed different colored lights around the room.
It was time to play the Atlanta Thrashers again tonight and on top of all the insanity that usually happened in the locker room before games, it was probably doubled tonight. Not that the Atlanta Thrashers worried the, but it was the simple fact that it was Jeremy Roenick’s 32nd birthday today. Let the insanity begin. JR had gotten a few different cakes so far today. One from the Comcast crew equipped with candles that wouldn’t blow out, one from Coatsey that Fedoruk gave him during a taping of Coatsey’s corner, it ended up in his face, and one from the team. Of course Nick and Justin had ruined it by somehow managing to spell Jeremy’s name wrong. They both blamed it on the cake makers, but they were the two idiots who were in charge of telling them how to spell JR’s name.
Now JR had been playing music in the locker room before every game since the beginning of the season, but since Christmas he had also had his lights to go along with it. Not that AJ didn’t appreciate the fact that someone other then himself got as much into the spirit, but he could only take so many playings of old disco songs. A man can only take so many spins of the song “Boogie Nights” with JR and Fedoruk dancing around before he lost all sanity.
The Flyers were at their top of their game now. They were the contenders that everyone had pictured them out to be in the beginning of the year. They had three players going to the All Star Team including AJ, Kevin and Jeremy Roenick…Gagne was jobbed and Johnnson according to AJ and most of the other players. Justin Williams and Nick were going to the Young Stars game prior to the All Star game for players 25 and younger. AJ, Jeremy, John LeClaire, Simone Gagne, Kim Johnnson, Kevin Richardson and Ruslan Fedetenko were all going to the Olympics.
They were the team to beat now.
They would go on to beat the Thrashers 6-3 with Justin Williams continuing is scoring streak and getting the number one star of the game…AJ got the second.
From the Philadelphia Flyers Web Page:
Questions for AJ McLean:
What was the worst thing about playing in the minors? The best?
The worst thing by far was those God awful road trips were we spent hours upon hours on those buses. The best thing was the God awful road trips we took…I know I’m an oxymoron, but when you take trips like that you bond with guys, you get to know what they’re like, you realize you’ll make friendships that will last a life time.
Is it true that you are up for the most valuable player award
I have no idea…I think I should be asking that question.
How do you feel about the Lindros controversy?
Errrr…am I gonna get beaten if I answer this? Ok I think Lindros is a brilliant player…I think that this club is better because of him and the Rangers are now better because of him. Do I think he pushed the boundaries to far dealing with his power over his career? Yes, but when you’re that much of a legend, e it for a good or bad reason, you can choose who you want to play for. He got what he wanted and he’s happy. Just let him go. Let him play. He’s going on with his life and I don’t see why some people can’t as well. And he is defiantly not the bad guy that everyone made him out to be.
Who’s your favorite band?
Hmmm I’m not sure. Right now I am really into the Smashing Pumpkins and the Foo Fighters, but you probably know me well enough to know they’ll change in a few days.
What do you think is the best advice you can give to younger players who are smaller and trying to move up in the hockey league?
Size doesn’t matter…why does that sound so wrong? You need to have speed if you aren’t big. You need to not be afraid to take and give a hit. You need to believe that you are bigger then you really are. Yes a guy might be bigger then you, but there is no way in hell he can keep up with you if you have speed. Play your game and play it well. Let everyone else try and catch up to you.
If you weren’t playing hockey what would you be doing?
Life…without hockey? That’s purgatory for me. I’d probably be in college still or just getting out of it. I always liked the idea of owning my own business or practice, so I’d probably be working on that.
Is it true you still sleep with a security blanket?
I have no idea what you’re talking about…
If you could pick any two people to play on the same line as you who would they be?
In the league now? Hands down my line mates Gags and JR. I wouldn’t trade my line mates for anyone. A player is only as god as the line he plays on and those guys are most of the reason I am doing so well. Besides it wouldn’t be the same without JR dancing around to locker room to disco songs before games.
What is your favorite saying?
“Besides the fact that I hate them…there is nothing special about the Rangers,” Ron Hextall.
Just kidding…that is my favorite hockey quote though. My favorite quote would be this though:
“All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost,” JRR Tolkein.
And of course you can’t forget:
“Long live the orange and black.”
