By the time the team started filtering into the locker room at nine o’clock, Laurel had had four cups of coffee, eaten breakfast twice, put on makeup, taken it off and put it back on again, and spoken to Dani on the phone a couple of times. She was okay now, more comfortable in any arena than she was outside. She knew Dani’s husband, Sergei, and he was the first to arrive, giving her a big hug.
“It’s good to see you,” he said, his blue eyes twinkling. “Dani’ll be right up. She had to take care of a few things before the meeting.”
“It’s good to see you too.” Laurel looked over as another player on the team, Kane Hatcher, came in, followed by his fiancée, Hailey Dobson.
“Coach!” Hailey had played on the team Laurel had coached to a gold medal last year and they still kept in touch.
“Hailey.” Laurel hugged her too.
“I’m not staying,” Hailey assured her, “but I work upstairs so I thought I’d come down and say hello.”
“It’ll be nice to catch up,” Laurel said.
“As soon as you have a free night, you’ll come for dinner.”
“I’d like that—I can’t wait to meet the twins.”
Hailey laughed. “They’re loud, but I like them.”
“Most of the time,” Kane quipped.
“I’m getting out of your hair,” Hailey said, kissing her fiancé as she walked out of the room.
“Sorry I’m late.” Marshall came in a few minutes after nine, panting slightly. “Car spun out on the road ahead of me and I stopped to help.”
“I hope everyone was okay?” Laurel turned to him with concern.
“Car was messed up, but no serious injuries.”
“Good morning.” Gage came in smiling.
“Hey, Mr. C.” Kane gave him a fist bump.
Other players were filtering in and Laurel did her best to recognize each one. She’d spent half the night studying faces and names, and she knew most of them, though a few eluded her. Luckily, Gage was greeting everyone, saying their names—most likely for her benefit—and making sure she had a chance to get acclimated.
“All right, everyone,” Gage started things off. “I have an announcement. I know you’ve all been wondering what’s going to happen tonight without a coaching staff, so I want to share the plan with you. I’ve asked Laurel Saunders to be our head coach for these next three weeks.”
Laurel nodded her head in acknowledgement as looks of surprise washed over the players’ faces.
“Thank you, Gage.” Laurel walked to the front of the room and looked around. “Many of you know me, but for those who don’t, I’m Laurel Saunders. I played college hockey, I won two silver medals at the Olympics, and I coached last year’s gold-winning women’s team. In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll tell you now that Gage is my ex-husband. It shouldn’t matter but we all know how things get spun in the media in today’s society. Especially since there’s never been a female head coach in the NHL. This isn’t going to be easy, and we don’t have time to get to know each other. You’re going to have to trust me, work with me, swallow your pride, your doubts, and your ego. It won’t work otherwise. Either you’re in or you’re out—and by out, I mean benched until next season. If you have concerns, this is the time to voice them. Once we walk out of this room, I’m your coach until our season is over.” She paused, looking around the room, making eye contact with as many players as she could.
“Come on, boys.” The team captain, Jake Carruthers, looked around. “Speak up. We can’t do this if you’re not honest.”
“I don’t have a problem with any of this,” Sergei spoke up. “Dani won a gold medal with Coach Saunders, so I’m ready to play for her.”
“Same,” Kane called out. “Hailey played with her too, so I’ve heard a firsthand account of how adept she is.”
“How will this work in locker room?” Finnish-born Mikka Lassonen called out in accented English, his face reddening slightly.
“Excuse me?” Laurel wasn’t sure what he meant and glanced at Sergei questioningly.
“I think he wants to know if you’ll be in the dressing room when we’re changing and stuff.” Sergei was trying to hide a smile.
“I’ve played hockey since I was five years old,” Laurel responded calmly. “I’ve seen more guys’ dicks and asses than any woman should in a sports setting, so there’s nothing anyone’s going to do to embarrass me. As a matter of propriety, I won’t go into the shower or dressing areas since I’m not doing any coaching while you’re in there. However, it’s my job to be in the locker room with you and you’re just going to have to get used to me seeing you in your cups and pads and any other half-dressed state you’re in.”
“Okay.” Mikka gave her a thumbs-up.
“No one has time to have doubts,” Jake spoke up. “Either you want to play or you don’t. So let’s get everything out in the open now.”
“I’m ready to play,” goalie Aaron Ferrar said. He was tall, with curly blond hair and striking blue eyes. “I think we all are. Circumstances are a little different, but we can do this. Right, boys?”
There were nods and murmurs as everyone looked at everyone else.
“Marshall Cade will be my assistant coach,” Laurel said, motioning to him. “And for tonight’s game, I’m going to have Dani Petrov assisting as well. I don’t know how long I’ll keep her from her trainer duties, and in an emergency, she’ll fall back to that role, but for tonight that’s the plan. Any non-hockey-related questions?”
No one said anything, but Laurel saw the indecision in their eyes, the questions they didn’t dare ask. For now, she had no choice but to let it go. They didn’t know her and had no reason to trust her, but they were all professionals. She’d get them on the ice and go from there.
“The morning skate might be a little longer than normal,” she said finally. “Just so I can get a feel for the lines and how you work together. Tomorrow we’ll work on specifics after we’ve played a game together. Okay?” She looked around. “Let’s go.”
“You did great,” Gage whispered in her ear as they walked down the hall.
“They’re nervous,” she said as soon as they were out of earshot. “I can see it on their faces. Not about playing, but about me. They don’t trust me.”
“Of course not.”
“I don’t have time to win their trust, not if we’re going to make the playoffs.”
Gage paused thoughtfully as he hit the button for the elevator. “You know what a longshot that is, right, Laurie?”
She met his gaze steadily. “And?”
“I’m just saying, no one is expecting us to make it.”
“We both know this isn’t going to be permanent, so I have one chance to do something memorable. Getting this opportunity is amazing, but not noteworthy because my ex-husband made it happen. Getting to the playoffs, well, I’m the one who can help make that happen. That would be memorable, something to go down in the record books.”
“Then what’s your plan?” Gage asked easily.
“I have no idea,” she admitted just before the elevator doors closed. “Yet.”
The game was a disaster. The only reason the Blizzard didn’t embarrass themselves completely was because of Aaron. He practically stood on his head to keep them in it, but it was like they’d never played together before and Laurel didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Deep down, she’d known this would happen. She’d had a feeling they wouldn’t play well for her, not at first anyway, but it was still hard to watch.
Afterwards, she hadn’t yelled or ranted. She’d said all the right things to the media, making excuses about the big shake-up in coaching, how they needed time to get to know each other. It was all bullshit, and everyone knew it, but what else was there to say? The team had probably been expecting her to let them have it, but she’d merely told them to go home and get a good night’s sleep because they had to be back at the arena at ten o’clock the following morning. They were going to need their rest for the practice she had in mind. She wasn’t the type to punish a loss with laps or anything like that. No, she had her own way of doing things and she was going to show them. They most likely weren’t going to like it, but she wasn’t giving them a choice. She had a lot to do before morning, though, and she started sending texts as soon as she got back to the office she was using.
“Do you need anything before I take off?” Gage’s assistant, Rose, peeked in the door.
“Are you still here?” Laurel looked up in surprise. “Gosh, no. Go on home. You really didn’t need to stay.”
“Mr. Caldwell asked me to make sure you have any help you might need while you’re settling in, so I didn’t want to leave during your first game. I’ll see you in the morning, though.”
“Thank you. Goodnight.” Laurel’s phone pinged as the people she’d texted started to respond.
She smiled to herself. The Alaska Blizzard had no idea what was about to hit them.