The Perfect Goal

by Joe G

Clairen. The name spread across Ontario and even Canada as quick as Sergei Fedorov’s 101 mph shot. He was the talk of the town (or, should we say, province). He could be checked into the boards, get his timing screwed up, and still make a perfect goal. He beat Semi Kampanen’s rink record of 14.039 seconds. Kampanen’s words, “I’m disgusted to be beat by a fourteen-year-old.” Enough said.

Clairen thought it was a sure thing that he made the Jr. Olympic Canadian Hockey Team. And, he was right. From day one, everyone on the team respected him. Everyone liked him: from the rink, to the locker room, to outside the stadium. He knew all these kids from the start. All the players had been in Sports Illustrated at least twice. At center, himself; Wingers, Danny Ablongataon and Kamyo Ytezera; On defense, Pantera Qureen and Ye Fong, a Japanese superstar who moved to Canada; and at goalie, Curtis Brodeur, Martin Brodeur’s son.

The team even gave Clairen a nickname, Check. Ironically, though, it’s what he wouldn’t do. His coach would yell, “Check! Check!” But, Clairen would just wag his head no.

“Hitting somebody for a puck? How cruel!” he would say. Yet, he would still set records for steals. A god? An angel? No one knew what Clairen “Check” McCracen was, but they all knew one thing, he dropped jaws.
After Clairen heard he had been selected for the Jr. Olympic hockey team, he was relieved. He could finally stand on the patch of ice where so many of his favorite players once stood or skated over. That was the face off box in Madison Square Gardens where the Olympians played and practiced. Clairen was not only relieved, but overjoyed with his status.

Naturally, Canada goes pretty far in the Jr. Olympics hockey program. But with Clairen, they were unstoppable. They breezed through Sri Lanka, USA, and killed Greenland. But before the championship, Clairen just prepared himself the way he always did. “Nothing special,” he would say. They made it to the championship game in Stockholm and by the third period were tied up with Sweden 7 - 7. Then it happened.

The announcer, “McCracen comes up with the puck, nears the boards and. . . Holy Mackerel! McCracen is down! What a check from Helfski!”

Clairen lay on the ice, motionless. The crowd was silent. Coach Bock yelled at him, “Clairen! Get up!”

Clairen finally got up and teetered over to the bench.

“You, O.K.?” asked Bock.

“I think I broke my collarbone,” moaned Clairen.

An astonished Bock replied, “Oh my . . . . .”

Clairen angrily watched the game from the sidelines. When he touched his collarbone, he cringed from the pain. Now that Clairen was off the ice the win was slipping away. At the end of the game, Bock reluctantly turned to Clairen and said, “O.K., Kid. You’re our only hope. Get in there.”

Clairen hopped onto the ice, his shoulder throbbing, thinking, “I can do this.” Clairen did his usual routine: deke, deke, stop, shoot.

“McCracen scores! With a broken collarbone! Canada wins!”

As the scoring buzzer rang, Clairen looked at his teammates. They suddenly pick him up and carried him on their shoulders to the locker room.

The announcer said, “Some games are quickly forgotten, but not this game. McCracen’s shot will go down in history.”