Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 81281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Not sure what that means, but while we wait for Patrick, I let my gaze drift out the window.
And immediately my thoughts drift to Locke. He came over again last night—merely told me he’d be there rather than asking. Once again, I made dinner. The only difference is we actually ate first and fucked later.
Both nights, he stayed all night, and that seems to carry some weight, although I’m not sure how much or what it means.
I only know that while this can still be compartmentalized as fun, which it is, it’s definitely turning into more.
The door opens and Patrick walks in wearing a dark suit, open collar. He scans the room once, finds everyone he’s looking for, and nods.
“Good morning.”
We all echo back the greeting, and Juno comes through the door a step behind him.
She’s in filmmaker mode—cargo pants, loose top, the camera rig already in her cameraman Evan’s hands. I learned early on that Juno was given full access to all operational meetings and this is the second one I’ve been in that she’s filmed. She does a quick sweep of the room and offers a small smile when she finds me.
Patrick takes the head of the table and Evan stands in the corner, able to pan to everyone’s face should he need to. Juno stands to his left, out of the way, and the room settles.
“I want to keep this tight,” Patrick says, glancing at his watch. “Two hours maximum. We’ll start with game metrics and work our way to personnel.”
Steve is up first. I have a fondness for analytics and statistics. His message is clear… the team is playing well. The expansion season that everyone in the league was watching with folded arms and barely concealed skepticism is producing results nobody predicted at this scale.
Coach Monahan goes through a litany of micro progress reports—line combinations, penalty kill efficiency, power play stats. He talks about the road trip performance, the back-to-backs in LA, and the way the defensive pairings have tightened since the October numbers.
“Davies and Donovan,” he says, and hearing Locke’s last name causes me to jolt slightly. “They’ve been the best defensive pair we’ve put on the ice this season. Locke’s been good. His penalty minutes are down significantly from his previous organizations and his on-ice composure has noticeably improved over the last few weeks.”
“Which is probably a good time to transition over to Livia.” I look down the table at the Wildfire owner, very aware the camera is rolling and that this might one day make it into the documentary. “Tell me where you are with the performance program.”
I clasp my hands before me. “The program is running well across the board. I’ve completed nine individual assessments on active rostered players with all nine entering into individualized programs with me. I have two new players scheduled for next week and I want to institute team-wide focus on arousal regulation protocol for the pregame.”
Steve makes a choking sound and his eyes flare with alarm. “Wait! Arousal? What?”
“Relax, Steve,” I say with a reassuring pat on his arm. “It’s a mental performance technique to manage physiological arousal levels before competition. It helps get players into their optimal activation zone so they’re not too amped up and not too flat before a game.”
His eyebrows draw together. “But how… I mean, what does one do to get in the zone?”
I laugh and pat his arm again. “There are dozens of techniques people employ already. If you’re flat or under-activated, you might play high energy music. Or if you’re over-activated, you might do deep breathing. Half the battle is learning when to recognize it and employ the correct techniques.”
“That’s like a foreign language to a statistician, but I’m looking forward to watching the results.”
“As am I,” Patrick says, and my head swivels his way. “Where do we stand on Donovan?”
“We’ve had two sessions so far.”
The room is very quiet, and I’m not sure if it’s actually quiet or if I just hear it that way.
“Two sessions,” Patrick says. “In how long?”
“In four weeks.” I keep my voice even. “Which I know might sound light, but Donovan needs to be handled a certain way.”
“And what way is that?” Patrick asks, his head tilted slightly in curiosity.
“We struck an agreement,” I say, lifting my chin because I’m proud I got the guy to agree to anything at all. “Three sessions plus his honest attempt to bond with his teammates by attending events, which he has been doing as well.”
Patrick’s eyes are steady on mine. Those vivid blue eyes don’t telegraph much, which is one of the things that makes him formidable. “Whose idea was that?”
“Mine.”
“Why?”
I could give him the professional answer, the one about meeting resistant subjects where they are, the value of buy-in over coercion, yada, yada. All of that is true.