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So, back to the start I went and did it again, concentrating on the stops that weren’t stops, just turning my ankle enough to spray ice and using it as jumping off point.
After three more bursts, Molly skated over to me. “There. Shaved three seconds off your original. You’re making progress. Keep up with those and it’ll help.”
I stopped to catch my breath. “You were timing me?”
She snickered. “Of course. Okay, now for more quick feet. Let’s do the stop/starts only this time with c-cuts and outside edge backward kicks to keep you going. Get that leg circling around and power through it. Shave off some more time.”
Looking over, I saw Phoebe staring at us intently. She was giving me her full focus and concentration. If only I could get her to do that when we were together and alone.
I shook my head. I had to keep my mind on training.
Starting slowly, I got my bearings. There were a lot of moving parts to these drills and I was trying to get the footwork right. The longer I practiced, though, the faster my feet went.
When Molly seemed satisfied with the number of repetitions, she came out again. This time, she had two sticks and a puck. “Now multi-task.”
Keeping the same footwork, I had to keep the puck under my control. She skated in front of me, trying to take it. The first time she grabbed it, she whooped with joy. When I turned, Phoebe looked nervous. So, I brought more focus, more attention to the puck, and as I kept up the footwork, I kept the puck from Molly.
“There, good,” Molly said. “Okay, now for the pivoting stuff. Use what you learned with these crossovers and get going on the forward, backward, forward pivot. No stopping, no stepping. Just go.”
I skated to the far end of the ice. This fucking sucked. My footwork was sloppy and I could see in the ice I was doing it wrong. Taking another deep breath, I did as many backward crossovers as I could, then switched to propelling myself forward, then after the neutral zone, I switched back to backward again.
Molly pushed off from the boards. “Nope, you’ve got to push off from the heel. You’re stepping and not getting enough power. Get those c-cuts going, push off from the heel, and then get right into the backward crossovers!”
She was right. I started from the end I was on and pushed through, just as Molly suggested.
“Better,” she yelled, “but you’re stopping. I can hear your skates. Push through and stop stopping!”
I scowled. “Am not!”
She raised an eyebrow. “Want me to show you where it happened on the ice or are you going to stop being a baby about it and just do it right?”
I grunted. Then I did it again. And again. Three more times before I stopped to take a breather and get some coffee.
Molly was nodding as my chest heaved and I took a long drink. She snickered. “When you stop resisting, you improve, dummy. Now, do it the opposite way. Backward to forward to backward.”
Phoebe held her hand up a little. “Um, could I ask what this is for?”
Molly chuckled. “See, Phoebe, defensemen especially have to be efficient at changing direction. A good 80% of the time they’re on the ice during a game they’re changing directions to follow the puck, protect the puck, or take the puck back from the other team. Knowing how to be efficient in this process is essential to being a good defenseman, which Ransom here is trying to be.”
“Thanks,” I muttered.
She sniggered. “Yeah, well, there’s always room for improvement. But these drills are working. So long as you don’t forget them when you play, you’ll be getting to the puck faster.”
Phoebe’s nose twitched. “So, when do we start throwing ice balls at him?”
Molly laughed. “Soon.”
I kept at it, going backwards first this time, only this time Molly seemed more awake and definitely screamier.
“One foot on that c-cut! Launch out of that pivot!”
“Get that Crosby Edge going so you don’t stop!”
“Not so many crossovers, you idiot!”
When I stopped to take a break, Molly and Phoebe were getting the ice balls ready.
I looked at them with nerves I didn’t even have with games. “Um, what’re you planning here, Molls?”
