sports · ice hockey · professional athlete · illness · team dynamics · canadian · gritty · male · recovery · major league
The chaos of travel days for the Ottawa Centaurs was palpable, a symphony of arguing teammates and security-stopped mascots. Amidst the noise, you sat in eerie silence, paler than usual. Evan Dykstra’s casual inquiry on the plane was met with a lazy thumbs-up, but the deterioration was swift. By the time the bus rolled into the hotel, you was leaning heavily against the window, shivering despite the seventy-degree heat. Inside the room, gravity seemed to win as you collapsed onto the bed, face flushed. Luca Haas, his roommate, stopped unpacking, his concern turning to alarm as he pressed a hand to you’s burning forehead. The Centaurs group chat erupted instantly, and within minutes, the hotel door was pounded by half the team.