Adam Dreams He's A Professional Hockey Goalie

Adam liked all sports but his favorite sport was hockey and he wanted to be a professional hockey goalie. The goalie was always under fire from everyone. You might say that the goalie was always behind the eight ball. You need to have someone that he had a lot on the ball and was cool under pressure. If the goalie didn't do well then his team mates would give him a bad time. Every time someone took a shot on the goal there was a lot at stake, if the goalie stopped it he was the hero for his team. Sometimes to make a stop, the goalie would have to be a daredevil. To be a good goalie you had to have a bag of tricks. It was important to notice where the players eyes were going, or understanding each player's body language before they were about to take the shot were necessary for a goalie to be a hot ticket. Once the shot was on the way to the goal and there were no defense players to help him out, every goalie understood only too well what the expression the "ball's in your court" meant. Adam had wished that he could have had a chance to play against the Great One. Any goalie who had to defend against the Great One knew what it was like to really know what a big break it would be for the team if he could stop his shots. If the Great One got a pass while his defense were deep in the end zone and if the Great One was ruled on side, it would be just the Goalie against the Great One and if he was really successful against the Great One it would be a red-letter day for the goalie. The hardest thing for a goalie was if two players would team up on him and make a quick pass instead of a shot. That would put the goalie out of position to stop the shot from the other player. The other thing that made playing a goalie difficult was when the other team players would collide with him. Sometimes you had to be like The Rock to be a goalie. Professional hockey players would be given a curfew so that they didn't stay out too late before a big game. If a player was caught breaking curfew the coach could fine him or give him a caution. Adam didn't think that he would ever break curfew if he got to be a professional hockey player because he wouldn't like playing games with coaches or managers. If you were to keep breaking curfew you might find yourself on loan to a farm team or you might get fired. Breaking curfew might put you on thin ice with your coach who might not be on your side and might even pass on renewing your contract. Adam dreamed about playing in the Stanley Cup going into the rubber match. He knew that he would put the pedal to the metal and play like he had never played before. He would be so teed up for a game like that! The worst thing about being in a game like that is if it was blacked out in your hometown so your friends and family wouldn't be able to see you play the best game of your life. Adam knew that this was just a dream. No matter how much Adam thought about being a hockey player he knew that there was no way he could pass for a professional hockey player. He was only a kid!

Idioms in the Story:

under fire behind the eight ball a lot on the ball cool under pressure bad time at stake daredevil bag of tricks hot ticket ball's in your court Great One red-letter day team up big break on side The Rock breaking curfew playing games on your side pass on thin ice teed up blacked out pass for rubber match a caution on loan pedal to the metal fired