Chapter 231 Chapter 230
Chapter 231 Chapter 230
Logan POV
By the third day of the showcase, I’d stopped looking into the stands.
Not because the scouts weren’t there.
If anything, there seemed to be even more of them than on the first day.
Clipboards.
Tablets.
Conversations scribbled between whistles.
Every time I stepped onto the ice, dozens of eyes followed every stride, every pass, every decision.
Three days ago, that would’ve consumed me.
Now…
I honestly couldn’t tell you where most of them were sitting.
Coach had been right.
Harper had been right.
Mom had been right.
When I stopped worrying about who was watching…
I started playing the best hockey of my life.
The final horn sounded on the last game of the weekend, and for a moment, no one moved.
It was over.
Months of preparation.
Years of dreaming.
Three unforgettable days.
Done.
The teams met at center ice to shake hands, and I found myself smiling at guys I’d considered competition just a few days earlier.
Some of them I’d probably play against again someday.
Some I might become teammates with.
Others I’d never see again.
Funny how hockey worked like that.
It had a way of making strangers feel familiar.
⸻
The locker room afterward felt quieter than it had all weekend.
Not because anyone was disappointed.
Because we were exhausted.
Equipment bags lay open across the floor.
Tape scraps littered the benches.
Guys traded phone numbers and Instagram handles, promising to stay in touch even though we all knew life would probably take us in different directions.
I had just finished unlacing my skates when Coach Reynolds appeared in the doorway.
“Shaw.”
I looked up.
“My office.”
There wasn’t any emotion in his voice.
Just those two words.
Immediately, my stomach tightened.
Had I forgotten something?
Was there paperwork?
Did I accidentally miss an interview?
The walk down the hallway suddenly felt much longer than it had all weekend.
Coach opened the door to one of the small meeting rooms and motioned for me to come inside.
The room was empty except for a round table and two chairs.
He waited until the door clicked shut before speaking.
“Sit.”
That didn’t help my nerves.
I lowered myself into the chair while Coach remained standing for another moment.
Then…
To my complete surprise…
He smiled.
Not the little half-smile he wore behind the bench.
A real one.
The kind that reached his eyes.
“I’ve been waiting a long time for this conversation.”
I blinked.
“What conversation?”
He slid a folder across the table.
“Open it.”
Inside were several sheets of paper.
The first carried the logo of an NHL organization.
Another had the letterhead of a different team’s player development department.
I looked back at Coach.
“I’m… not sure what I’m looking at.”
“They’re evaluation summaries.”
My heart started pounding.
Coach leaned against the table.
“Most players never get to see these.”
I looked back down.
My eyes caught a sentence highlighted near the top.
Excellent hockey IQ.
Further down…
Calm under pressure.
Another line.
Projects as a reliable top-four defenseman with continued development.
I swallowed hard.
Coach folded his arms.
“Keep reading.”
Halfway down the second page, one sentence practically jumped off the paper.
Recommended for Development Camp Invitation.
I read it again.
Then a third time.
Certain I had misunderstood it.
“I…”
The word barely came out.
Coach finally sat across from me.
“This isn’t a contract.”
“I know.”
“It isn’t a draft guarantee.”
“I know.”
“But Logan…”
His smile returned.
“It means they’re serious.”
The room suddenly felt very quiet.
“I got invited?”
Coach nodded.
“They’ll be reaching out officially in the next few days.”
I stared at the paper until the words blurred together.
Development Camp.
It was only one step.
One opportunity.
One chance to prove myself again.
But it was real.
Not a dream.
Not a goal scribbled in the margins of a notebook when I was twelve.
Real.
Coach let the silence sit between us.
Then he asked softly,
“Remember when your dad told you hockey wasn’t enough?”
I nodded.
“And remember what your mom said?”
A lump formed in my throat.
“She said…”
I smiled despite myself.
“…that if I worked hard enough, someone would notice.”
Coach nodded.
“They noticed.”
I looked down at my wrist.
The bracelet rested against my skin, slightly worn after only a few days.
Play Free.
Harper.
Mom.
Coach.
Every lesson they’d spent years trying to teach me…
Had led to this moment.
“I wish Harper was here.”
Coach laughed.
“I had a feeling you’d say that.”
“I want to tell her first.”
“Then what are you waiting for?”
⸻
I practically jogged back to my hotel room.
The moment the door closed behind me, I pulled out my phone.
Before I could type a single word, it started ringing.
Harper.
I answered immediately.
“Hey.”
“So…”
Her voice carried that familiar smile.
“…how’d the last game go?”
I laughed.
“It went well.”
“Just well?”
“I had a meeting with Coach afterward.”
She grew quiet.
“What kind of meeting?”
I looked down at the papers spread across the bed.
The NHL logo still didn’t feel real.
“I got invited.”
A pause.
“What do you mean?”
“Development Camp.”
Silence.
For one terrifying second, I thought the call had dropped.
Then I heard a sharp inhale.
“Oh my God…”
She sounded like she was crying.
“Logan…”
I smiled as tears stung my own eyes.
“They noticed.”
Her voice broke completely.
“I told you they would.”
I laughed through the lump in my throat.
“Yeah.”
“You did.”
“No.”
She sniffled.
“You did.”
I closed my eyes.
For years, I’d chased this dream because I thought making it would finally prove I was enough.
Now I understood something I’d been too stubborn to see before.
I hadn’t earned this because I’d spent years trying to prove people wrong.
I’d earned it because somewhere along the way…
I remembered why I fell in love with hockey in the first place.