"Hey, guys. Any news from Rupper?"
"No. Why?" Rosser and Stoyker exchanged a look.
"Sidney went into labor last night."
"Holy shit!"
"Yeah. That was"-he glanced at his watch-"twelve hours ago. Baby should have been born by now."
"Maybe not," Stoykers said. "My sister was in labor for a week."
"Nobody can be in labor for a week," Rosser protested.
"Okay, maybe not. But it was a long time. Ended up having a C-section because the baby was in distress."
"Ugh." Tanner grimaced. "Hopefully everything's okay."
"I'm sure Coach will know."
The rest of the guys rolled in and no one else had heard anything either, but as they moved into the weight room to warm up, Coach appeared. "Rupper's out today," he announced, then grinned. "He and Sidney are proud parents of a little girl."
Cheers erupted.
Coach peered at a piece of paper he held. "Born at six-fifteen this morning, seven pounds, ten ounces, name is Aubree Anna. Mom and daughter are doing fine."
Tanner grinned. "Awesome."
"Called up Chase Hartman from Rockford," Coach announced. "He'll play tonight. Nik, you move up to play the wing with Marc and Julien. Jeff will join Olaf and Steve."
Tanner nodded and resumed his bike ride. Harts was a good young player with a bright future, the Aces' first-round draft pick last year who was just waiting for a chance to show what he could do with the big dogs. He'd played a few games early in the season but then had been sent back down.
After warming up on the bike, Tanner went through a series of stretches, then changed and headed out onto the ice for the game-day skate. Early in the season, Coach had asked the team if they wanted to continue to do a game-day skate. There'd been mixed feelings. It was kind of a tradition more than a necessity, but hockey players hated messing with a routine, so in the end they'd voted to continue it.
Tanner had his routines and superstitions, like most hockey players, so although he did think it was a waste of time to come to the rink twice on game days, he went along with the majority and showed up as expected. The skate was easy and standard, followed by the special teams meetings. Coach had been using him and Rosser a lot on the penalty kill, usually with him in front of the net.
"The Blades' power play is crap," Coach stated. "Currently sixteen point eight percent, which puts them at twenty-fourth in the league. They're too impatient, and they try to make perfect plays instead of simple ones. They hold the puck rather than shoot it. That said, we still need to outwork them. Win face-offs. In the defensive zone, you guys know the rule-eyes and asses."
Tanner nodded. If the opposing player with the puck was looking right at him-as in, he could see his eyes-he would move to a containing mode, but if he could see the guy's ass-as in, his back-he would go for maximum pressure.
"Remember," Coach said, "once one player moves to pressure, every pass after that has to be pressured."
Tanner hung around for the lunch provided by the team, carb loading with some pasta with chicken, and a big salad with lots of avocado, his favorite, then headed home for his nap. Another routine, another tradition that some of the guys-including team captain Duper-had questioned. Yet they all still did it. Tanner smiled as he settled himself into his king-size bed, blackout shades drawn on the window of his condo bedroom. What would it take to get these creatures of habit to shake things up? Probably a helluva lot of losses.
The alarm on his cellphone went off two hours later. Damn. He loved sleeping. He rolled out of bed, yawned, and stretched as he crossed the room naked to his big closet. There he selected a dark blue suit, a white shirt, and a nice blue-and-purple tie. He wasn't a crazy dresser like some of the guys-especially Rupper, who wore designer clothes all the time, and Pilker, who had a European flair to his style-but he liked to have fun with ties. As he left his condo, he pulled on a knit cap to hide the fact that he had bedhead and hadn't bothered combing his hair.
It was about four o'clock when he arrived back at the arena, where he hung out with the guys kicking a soccer ball around, then had a bowl of cereal with some almonds on top just before the game. Adrenaline started coursing through his veins as they dressed and stepped onto the ice for the warm-up. His love for the game filled him with energy.