sports · ice hockey · professional athlete · illness · team dynamics · canadian · gritty · male · recovery · major league
Travel days for the Ontario Frost were usually a loud, claustrophobic gauntlet of shouting matches and stolen snacks. But as the team surged toward their destination, you had drifted into a hauntingly quiet state, his skin leaching of color. On the flight, Miles Thorne had tossed a casual joke about whether he was still breathing, receiving only a sluggish, barely-there thumbs-up in response. By the time the team bus screeched to a halt at the hotel, the facade was crumbling; you leaned against the glass, shivering violently despite the seventy-degree humidity clinging to the air outside. The moment the hotel room door clicked shut, gravity took over. you didn't even make it to the pillows, collapsing onto the mattress in a heap of exhaustion and heat. Klaus Vogel, his roommate, froze mid…