I shook off all this introspection and dragged my gaze back to the ice. Axel’s line was out there, skating hard, and they were battling the Sidewinders with everything they had. Axel stole a pass and raced up the ice, showing that blinding speed that would someday establish him as one of the elite players in the league. I expected sparks to be flying from his skate blades. He was that fast. Dom Gianni, the Sidewinders premier defenseman, was a half step behind him, but Axel had the edge.

I held my breath as he came into the net too fast and sent a shot flying toward the Sidewinder goalie, Karl Martensson. It bounced off Martensson’s pads a split second before Axel put on the brakes and piled into the net, knocking the goalie on his ass.

I held my hands up to my mouth to stifle the cry that threatened to escape. Cheering for the team was one thing, but crying over an on-ice wreck involving my boyfriend was unprofessional. Play stopped, and Axel disentangled himself from the net, reaching down to help Martensson to his feet. The Sidewinders didn’t appreciate our rookie almost taking out their star goalie. Gianni, their huge defensemen, streaked toward the pair. The man was huge and towered over Axel.

I held my hands to my face and stifled the cry threatening to escape.

Gianni’s gloves came off and, and he swung at Axel, who turned his body just in time to deflect the blow. His punch bounced off Axel’s shoulder pads. Shedding his gloves, Axel’s own punch didn’t connect either.

Their teammates stepped in and pulled them apart before anything else happened. Injuries caused by fighting were not something you wanted to see in the playoffs.

A few seconds later, the refs intervened. Head down, Axel skated to the penalty box, while Gianni held up his head in defiance as he skated off the ice. He lost steam after that. He skated too carefully, as if afraid of another penalty. The all-out determination he’d shown early had been replaced by too much caution. The second line appeared to follow his lead, and the game started to unravel, despite the play of the first line. The defensemen on the second line tried too hard, missing opportunities to deflect the puck and stop any scoring.

We lost again with a score of two to three. Losing three of our best players was a handicap we hadn’t been able to get beyond.

Coach Gorst didn’t chew ass after the game. He told the team to go home and get some rest. They’d talk about next steps in practice tomorrow. I applauded his decision not to demoralize these guys any further. They needed their confidence built up, not broken down. There wasn’t anything wrong with their try, but luck wasn’t on their side, and their confidence was waning.

After the game, Axel and I went to his condo. He didn’t feel like going out. His roommates also went home and straight to their rooms.