AJ stares at Ruslan as he continues to beat Jeremy Roenick’s bobble head doll with his stick.
“Rusty do you have some anger problems that we need to talk about?” Kevin asks.
“Huh?” Ruslan says looking at him.
“Nevermind Rus,” Kevin says shaking his head.
AJ smirks and shakes his head and looks up at JR walks in and Rusty bolts of into the corner of the locker room.
“Heyyyyyyy who did this,” JR says looking down at his miniature self and looking up at AJ.
“What?” AJ asks, “Hey it wasn’t me for once…don’t look at me like that I mean it.”
“Fridge!” JR yells.
“Whatever it was I didn’t do it,” Fedoruk yells out from the bathroom.
“Nick?”
Nick looks at him with a shocked face, “JR would I ever do that? Justin keep your mouth shut,” Nick snaps as Justin looks at him from across the room and shuts his mouth before saying something.
“It was the Ukrainian,” AJ says pointing at Ruslan from across the room.
“Rusty, I’m shocked,” JR says, “I expect this from AJ and Fedoruk, but you?” he says shaking his head.
“How come I don’t get a bobble head?” AJ asks, “No wait I want one of those celebrity ducks like Allen Iverson has.”
Kevin looks at him oddly and shakes his head.
“What?” AJ asks looking at him.
“Nothin…your just AJ.”
AJ nods, “Damn straight.”
Brian starts pulling on his gear and starts humming to himself.
“My gift is my song. And this ones for you,” Boosh sings from the seat next to him, “And you can tell everybody that this is your song. It may be quiet simple, but now that it’s done. Hope you don’t mind. I hope you don’t mind. That I put down in words how wonderful life is now you’re in the world. Sat on the roof and I kicked off the moss. Well a few of the verses well they've got me quite cross. But the sun's been quite kind while I wrote this song. It's for people like you that keep it turned on,” Boosh sings as Brian joins in, “So excuse for getting, but these things I do. You see I’ve forgotten if they’re green or blue. Well the thing is what I really mean. Yours are the sweetest eyes I’ve ever seen,” he sings.
“And you can tell everybody,” AJ butts in, “This is your song. It may be quiet simple, but now that it’s done. I hope you don’t mind. I hope you don’t mind. I hope you don’t mind. That I put down in words. How wonderful life is now you’re in the world…”he sings waving his arms in the air. “ Hope you don’t mind. I hope you don’t mind that I put down in words. How wonderful life is now you’re in the world.”
“Beautiful boys,” Kevin says, “You should think of starting up a boy band if your career ever falls through.”
“Hey they’re not boy bands,” AJ says, “they’re “vocal groups”. Get it right.”
“Jesus Kevin don’ t you know anything,” Nick says shaking his head.
Kevin looks at them all oddly then over at Jeremy.
Jeremy shrugs, “Hey it was the only good part in that whole movie.”
“That was one bad movie,” AJ says looking through his bag for his skates, “The sad part was I knew all the words to all the songs.”
“Yeah that is pretty said,” Fedoruk says walking by him to his locker.
“Ha,” AJ says looking up at him as he walks by making a face, “You know I’ve come to the conclusion that some Leaf fans are the worst in the league.”
“Oh trust me I knew that,” Kevin says.
“You know they’re putting bets on me and Brashear about whose gonna fight Tie Domi…of course the funny thing is they think Domi is gonna win.”
“Domi pulled a fan over the glass last year when he was in the penalty box,” Kevin says, “Trust me he’s capable of pissing anyone off…personally I think he’s a wimp though. He’s got no real talent aside from his fighting skills, which are lack luster.”
“Oh lack luster big description,” Brian says looking at Kevin.
Kevin nods, “I just wanna shut up the Leaf fans right now. We need to beat these guys.”
“I’ll try my best,” Brian says smiling.
“In the name of love. One night in the name of love,” AJ sings grabbing his chest.
“AJ you should be in a musical,” Ruslan says looking at him.
“Do I get a celebrity duck if I do it?”
Ruslan stares at him oddly.
“What?” AJ asks.
“You’re just AJ,” Rusty says.
“That’s only way to describe you AJ,” Nick says as Justin nods in agreement.
“Oh be quiet Jason Williams,” AJ says.
Justin stares at him, “Is it that hard for people to get my name right? I’m not a baseball player.”
“Thank God,” Nick says.
“Haha,” Justin says sarcastically.
“Ah c’mon frenchie it’s gonna be one hell of a game tonight,” AJ smirks.
Nick stares at the ice and couldn’t help, but think about how perfectly AJ predicted games. Two seconds into the game and Brashear and Domi had gotten into a fistfight. Three seconds later Fedoruk got into one. The Leafs weren’t playing as well as Nick expected though. Of course they were coming off a losing streak. The poor team had lost to the Nashville Predators. Nick thought Nashville didn’t even deserve to have a hockey team. The Leafs had gotten a 5 on 3 chance and still nothing had come of it.
It was quiet a first period to say the least eleven minutes into it and McCabe had taken down Fedoruk by the knees after a play and of course Fedoruk proceeded to go after him. Nick had never seen someone change his mind so fast as McCabe did. McCabe decided quickly he made a mistake and tried to skate away, but Fedoruk kept a hold of him by the back of his jersey. Three minutes later another fight broke out between Brashear and Domi again. Of course two players with two fights each wasn’t a good thing. One more fight for each and they got kicked out and other then that nothing came of the first period for the Flyers and it remained scoreless.
Second period and three minutes into the game Domi got a break away…thank God it was Domi and even though Brian was down on the ice he was still able to make the save somehow. Brashear got the first goal of the game ripping one form the blue line after coming out of the box for a penalty. Brian came away with a number of great saves proving even more that he belonged in the net against this team. Other then the Flyers goal the second period wasn’t that eventful as the first, but hell they were up.
The third period came and six minutes into the game Fedoruk was busy fending off two players in the corner somehow managing to get the puck free and passing it to Williams. He took a shot which was blocked, but came back quickly to pick up his own rebound and made the score 2-0 in favor of the Flyers. The kid continued his streak, as the announcers put it. As a last resort the Leafs pulled their goalie. Nick had really never seen pulling the goalie work and well it didn’t this time either. Fedoruk got the empty net goal making the game 3-0. AJ was sitting next to Nick the last minute of the game singing the “Cha Cha Slide” as John LeClaire stomped his feet and clapped his hands.
Brian got another shut out against one of the team’s rivals and the Leaf fans were not happy. And Fedoruk got his first goal of the season…a well-deserved one at that. The winning streaked continued to eight games.
“Up wait for it. Wait for it,” AJ says as a Dodge Toyota commercial comes on and Jeremy Roenick fills up the screen, “There it is,” he says as Todd Fedoruk comes out of the corner and gets knocked to the ice by JR, “Wait wait there it is again,” he says as Justin comes out of the corner and gets knocked to the ice as well, “JR how come I didn’t get to be in your commercial?”
Because frankly AJ I hate you,” JR says.
“See I knew it,” he says as Nick stares at him and shakes his head, “The Canadians are always favored especially frenchie.”
“AJ Jeremy is American,” Kevin says.
“I know that,” AJ says, “It’s Todd and frenchie who aren’t”
Justin stares at him and rolls his eyes.
“Still haven’t heard about my celebrity duck either.”
Nick shakes his head and smirks. AJ was going to dwell on not getting a celebrity duck for the rest of the road trip and he knew it. That and he would probably continue to sing Moulin Rouge songs. God Nick hated that movie. Boosh would be getting his first start in a long time tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Kasperitis was going to be a free agent and some talk was going around about him coming to Philadelphia. AJ said he would boycott the team if he came. Nick could see why. AJ and Kasperitis didn’t seem to get along well and Nick could see why. Kasperitis had a tendency to take cheap hits and try to take out people at the knees. Nick wasn’t anymore thrilled since he owed his first concussion to Kasperitis. Hopefully nothing would come of this trade rumor.
“Love lifts up where we belong. Where an eagle cries on a mountain high. Love makes us act we are fouls. Throw our lives away for one happy day,” AJ sings.
Nick wished he had AJ’s thirst for life. He had never met anyone who seemed to love life more then AJ. AJ lived for the game of hockey, but he also one of those people lived a day at a time. Nick wished he could have that outlook on life. Nothing seemed to bother AJ for long. He didn’t seem to hold grudges and lived life by a series of moments.
Nick’s father had been thrilled that his son was chosen for the young stars game. Of course he wasn’t as thrilled with the fact that Justin was going as well. Nick was just glad that he would know someone on his team since Justin had also been placed on the same team. The two figured they would room together for the time there and then try there best to win against the second young stars team. To say the least it would be interesting. Who knew maybe one day one of them would get a bobble head or celebrity duck.
“AJ they want you to pose for a picture with McAllister,” Kevin says.
“Why?” AJ asks, “Do I get a celebrity duck out of it?”
“No,” Kevin laughs, “It’s just a picture I think measuring you and McAllister.”
“It’s because I’m short and thin isn’t it?” AJ jokes.
“Yeah I think so,” Kevin says as AJ’s mouth drops, “Well you are 5 foot 9 AJ and he is 6 foot 8 what to you expect?”
“I better get a celebrity duck out of this one,” AJ says crossing his arms across his chest and puffing before breaking out into a smile.
“C’mon Boosh put your head into the game,” AJ mutters sitting on the bench next to Kevin and staring out onto the ice.
Kevin shakes his head and they were down 2-0 after the first period. Both were weak shots with almost nothing on them that had somehow managed to get by Boucher easily. Kevin thought by now that Philadelphia was just not a good place to be a goalie. If one of their goalies was good the other one was in a slump. There was never a happy medium. It was a win or lose situation.
The team tonight was also playing very sloppy. The defense wasn’t near what Kevin was used to seeing from his team. The offense was passing too much and they weren’t getting their shots finished. Boosh was having a hard enough time in net and the fact that he had no back up wasn’t good either. Kevin could see the signs of fatigue crossing over his team. This road trip was too long with too many games. 13 games in 23 days wasn’t exactly the easiest thing to do and his team was tired by now. They had played a good stretch and now they were tired. By the end of the second the score was 2-1 with a nice goal from Fedetenko.
Four minutes into the third period though they found their equalizer with another goal from Fedetenko. It was now 2-2. Boosh had his moments with very good saves and showed signs that he was still able to play like the Boosh he was three years ago, but he seemed almost unsure of himself and uneasy to go down for saves. Hot on the heels of bad defense was a shot and the Penguins scored their third goal of the night. Kevin could see his team starting to slow down with every passing minute and he knew it was bad when even AJ was slowing up. By the end of the third the game was 5-2 in favor of the Penguins. Lemieux was running circles around them the whole game and Kevin was glad he was doing alright, but 5-2 was never a score you wanted to see.
The next night they would be playing a game against the Ottawa Senators, a night after that they would be playing the Nashville Predators, the night after they would be playing the Hurricanes and Kevin was hoping that the day in-between each of those two last games would help…any rest was good right now.
Boucher shakes his head and puts his mask into his bag.
“You ok man?” AJ asks him walking up and sitting down next to him.
Boucher shrugs, “Tell me this AJ. Was I always like this?”
“Like what?”
“Did I always suck when I wasn’t at the top of my game?”
AJ shrugs, “before this I’d never seen you suck,” he smirks.
Boucher shakes his head and sighs, “If I don’t pull out of this slump I’m screwed. Two years in a slump isn’t going to help my career. I’m gonna get traded and I know it.”
“Don’t you understand Brian? You’re the Boosh. I can’t even explain it, but for some reason a lot of the fans just want you to get better. I don’t know why they seem to prefer you to Brian even though Brian is hot as hell now in the net. And people know you can do it. You were fucking brilliant in the beginning of the year. We saw signs of the Boosh and the fans loved it. You were Olympic material, best goalie in the league, player of the week and then you got hurt and you fell. You fell hard.”
“I always fall.”
“You need to wake up Brian. You’ve got so much potential and I’ve known you for years. Longer then I’ve known Brian and I know you’re better then him. He’s a great guy, but you stand on your head when you play good and I know the heart you have in the game. For the love of God the moment you put on that Phantoms mask in the playoff games two years ago we knew you were playing for the right reason. Hasek plays to win and money. You’re one of those few people who play for the game man.”
“Don’t compare me to Hasek.”
“Why?”
“I do not dive like that man.”
“First off I have seen that man play amazing and then he goes and throws himself on the ice and rolls. He just doesn’t fall the ass rolls across the ice. See that’s what happens when you’re a Saber…you lose it,” he says taping his head.
Boucher shakes his head and looks into his bag, “Maybe I should bring that mask back.”
AJ nods, “Maybe you should. Boosh I know you and I know you take this way too seriously. I mean the whole country saw you cry when you lost in the playoffs to the New Jersey Devils your rookie year.”
“Don’t remind me. I let that slip away.”
“All those people also saw you play in a seven game over time and not let one goal in or falter once. They know you’re potential…you just have to show them you can do it.”
Boucher nods, “Well I’m not going to be starting for a while.”
“Don’t count your chickens before they hatch,” AJ says standing up, “When we get back me and you are gonna go practice with the guys ok.”
“The Phantoms?”
“No the Sixers,” AJ smirks.
Boucher nods standing up and picking up his bag, “I don’t think you’re tall enough AJ. I mean you are only 5 foot 9.”
AJ stares at him and shakes his head, “Remind me to never give you a pep talk again.”
Boucher puts an arm around his shoulder as they walk out of the locker room and shakes his head, “Melissa is gonna wander what’s wrong with me.”
“Your wife always worries about you. She tells me these things.”
Boosh rolls his eyes and sighs.
“You know those Leaf fans are still pissed off about us beating them,” AJ smirks, “Motivation such an aggravation. Accusations don’t know where to take them. Inspiration getting hard to fake it. Concentration never hard to break it. Situation never what you want it to be,” AJ sings walking down the hall away from the locker room. Amazing how Sum 41 can actually mean something during some moments.
The Flyers would go on to tie the Ottawa Senators 1-1 the next night with one goal from AJ and Brian Littrell in net. Next came the Nashville Predators. And eight game winning streak had turned into a two game winless streak. Kevin was only hoping something would snap the team out of this slump and get them back on their game.
