Typical Day
It's 7:00AM and the beginning of a new day for Ice Hanson, nephew of the famous Hanson brothers from Slap Shot. Ice wakes up and heads to the kitchen for his usual breakfast—one bagel, one banana, and a huge glass of orange juice.
In his haste to get to the kitchen, Ice forgets his glasses. Bad idea. He reaches for what he thinks is a banana and bites the top in an attempt to un-peel it. Instead, he gets an unexpected mouthful of butter. Gross. He should have expected that, seeing as he inherited his uncles' poor eyesight.
Startled, he spits out the offending material and mutters a few choice expletives to himself (another "trait" handed down by his uncles).
In a huff, Hanson finds his glasses and puts them on. Once he does, he returns to the kitchen and quickly locates all of his breakfast items. He glances at the clock and proceeds to gobble up his breakfast in a hurry. He has to be at practice in ten minutes.
Hanson throws on his usual practice gear—his university-issued sweatshirt and sweatpants—before putting on his winter coat and heading out the door. After sprinting through the freezing cold of northern Minnesota, Hanson laces his skates and makes his way to the freezing practice facility. At least there's no wind inside.
Tonight's the team's big home game against their archrivals from North Dakota, so this isn't a regular practice. Instead, the team does a walkthrough: a little light cardio work before the coaches discuss the game plan for tonight.
Practice ends, and the coaches ask Hanson to stay behind for a small chat.
This doesn't come as a surprise to Ice Hanson. After all, he has plenty of talent; he led his high school team to three state championships with his sharp shooting and keen defense instincts. But like his legendary uncles, Hanson sometimes gets a bit too focused on things like body-checking and gloves-off fighting. Oops.
With first place in the conference at stake tonight, the coaches ask—nay demand—that Hanson think more about playing great hockey and less about knocking the opposing players' teeth out. Hanson begrudgingly agrees and leaves the practice rink to get ready for class. They sound like broken records.
Game day is also a Friday, so Hanson's course load is light with Math 202, North American History 207, and Russian Lit 110 on the docket. He's tired, but he forces himself to focus during his morning lectures. Unlike hockey, where everything comes naturally to him, Ice has to work extra hard to maintain the grades needed to keep him eligible.
After the lectures, Ice heads to the library to meet with his biology tutor, Kelly Phylum. They go over notes from the week's lectures and prepare for a quiz that'll be given next Tuesday. Science has always been one of Ice's most difficult subjects, but Kelly's an excellent tutor.
Ice spends an hour studying with Kelly before he heads back to his apartment to prepare lunch. He carb-loaded last night with a huge spaghetti dinner, and he doesn't want to stuff himself with only a few hours before the puck drops. Instead, he eats a bowl of homemade chicken soup before it's time for another game-day ritual: nap time. Ice is a man of habit.
Like clockwork, Ice wakes up from his nap two hours later and prepares the traditional pre-game supper of split pea soup and marinated chicken breasts.
Food in belly, Hanson takes a quick shower and dresses in a white button-down shirt, sweater vest, and tan khakis. Ice's coaches have harped on him in the past for his inappropriate attire. He used to think arriving at the arena in a Slayer t-shirt and ripped jeans was perfectly fine, but he was reminded that this isn't exactly the image his team's to present to younger, more impressionable fans that might see him before the game.
So, a sweater vest it is.
Hanson arrives at the arena about ten minutes before the team's pre-game meeting is supposed to begin. He high-fives fans on the way to the locker room, where his teammates greet him with roars and lots of good-natured ribbing.
Like his coaches, Ice's teammates think he needs to tone down the aggressiveness at times, but they do appreciate his willingness to mix things up on their behalf. And they love how he can send pucks whizzing past the opposing goalie's left shoulder from forty feet away.
Once the team meeting is over, the players skate onto the ice for pre-game warm-ups. Hanson practices shooting, passing, and staring down the opposing team before returning to the locker room seven minutes before game time. There, he sits on a bench and leans his head on his hockey stick, which he holds upright in front of him.
Ice is focused on only one thing: doing whatever is necessary to beat the opposing team. Fingers crossed. He's got this.