Roller Hockey Radicals by Matt Christopher Read Free Book Online Page B

kids as the teams lined up for the opening faceoff. Kirby skated off to the sideline.
     Across from him, four Bad Boy subs waited to enter the game. At least I’m not the only one, thought Kirby.
    One of the Bad Boy subs dropped the puck, and the game was on. Marty won the faceoff and got the puck to Trevor, who quickly
     skated toward the Bad Boys’ goal. Marty followed him in, but the defense was all over them, grappling for thepuck, which soon came loose. Spike got it on his stick, and passed it across the blue line to Killer.
    Right away, Kirby could tell that the Skates were in trouble. Nick had come too far forward on defense, skating himself right
     out of the play. Now poor Jamal was all that was left between the Bad Boys and Lainie. Killer made a move as though he was
     going to shove Jamal, and Jamal, terrified, ducked. Killer easily skated past him, while Spike went straight for the goal
     mouth.
    Killer moved in close, faked, then flicked a wrist shot above Lainie’s left shoulder. Somehow, incredibly, she blocked the
     shot. But the rebound skittered right onto Spike’s stick!
    He shoved it clumsily at the goal. Lainie fell on it. Both Bad Boys hacked at her glove, trying to dislodge it, and before
     she or her teammates could think to call the puck dead, one of the Bad Boys had jammed it into the goal.
    A shout went up from the parents on the E Street side of the rink. “Come on, guys!” Mr. Bledsoe called. “That puck was dead!”
    The Bad Boys paid no attention. They mobbed each other, cheering. One to nothing already, and the game has barely started,
     Kirby thought.
    After that, the Skates seemed to dig in. Trevor and Marty put some pressure on the offensive end, getting off one or two good
     shots whenever they could free themselves from the Bad Boys’ smothering defense.
    But the main reason the score remained 1-0 was because every time the puck came into the Skates’ end, Nick and Jamal just
     slammed it right back down the rink instead of manuevering for a good pass. There were a lot of icing calls against the Skates,
     and that meant a lot of faceoffs in their own end. Luckily Lainie managed to hold off the barrage.
    That is, until Trevor tripped over some bad cracks in the pavement, and Killer and Spike mounted another two-on-one rush,
     with Nick again too far forward.
    This time, when Jamal ducked, his stick caught Spike’s shot and deflected it past Lainie into thegoal. Lainie shrieked in frustration and pounded her stick on the pavement. “Come on, defense!” she yelled at Jamal and Nick.
    “Hey, go easy!” Marty told her. “They’re doing the best they can.”
    Lainie looked over at Kirby and then at Marty. Marty knew what she meant. “Yeah, okay, take a break, Nick.”
    “Me?” Nick seemed stunned. “I’m not tired.”
    “I’m tired!” Jamal said, getting to his feet clumsily and skating off the rink.
    “Let’s go, let’s go!” shouted a Bad Boy sub, ready at the center faceoff circle. “Get a man in here!”
    “Kirby! Go!” shouted Marty. “You’re in for Jamal on defense!”
    Kirby grabbed his stick and leapt onto the playing area, giving Jamal five as they crossed paths. “Come on, Kirby, pick me
     up,” Jamal said.
    Kirby nodded, not even stopping to think that he’d concentrated all week on playing forward. He knew next to nothing about
     defense.
    As if they knew that, the Bad Boys mounted a rush down his side. Two of them went by, one on either side of him, passing the
     puck around behind him before he knew what was happening.
    “Come on!” Lainie yelled, after just barely managing to deflect the slap shot. “I need some help back here!”
    Kirby felt himself go red under his face mask. But there was no time to feel embarrassed. He had to go after the puck! Moving
     quickly, he outhustled Spike for it and flipped it down-rink to Marty.
    The pass hit right on Marty’s stick as he flew by Killer, who was stuck to him like glue. Marty had him by a step