The doors to the ice rink opened as the Zamboni disappeared from sight. The cool wet ice was as smooth and shiny as it was last year. The big logo in the middle of the ice sparkled like diamonds as the team skated over it. -----Snapshot

The new team was super excited to start the new hockey season.

Dustin skated around the rink with his friend, Jack. They had been on the same team since sixth grade and they were now in tenth. The coach blew his new, silver whistle.

“Alright guys, meet in the face-off circle,” said the coach.

All the guys skated to the big face-off circle in the middle of the ice. The coach grabbed his clipboard and pen and hurried over to the team.

“I'm Coach Donsen and I'll be your coach for this season. We'll start off with a one-on-one drill,” Coach Donsen said.

The team split up in half and started two lines. Dustin and Jack started the drill. Dustin skated around the cone, keeping the puck close as Jack tried to slap it away.-----Snapshot Dustin skated past Jack and shot on the goalie and made it. The coach told the two good job and they skated back into the end of the line.

That Saturday night, Dustin ate his supper and and went outside with his younger brother, Elliott, to play some one-on-one hockey. Dustin was the scorer and Elliott was the goalie. Dustin started at the end of the smoldering hot driveway and Elliott was in the back of the garage in front of a huge net. Dustin started running with the puck, going all over the driveway. He was in the middle of the garage and faked left and shot right. Elliott missed and the puck went in.

“GOAL! Dustin Hauser number sixteen scores!” yelled Dustin.

“Yeah, whatever. Lucky shot,” Elliott replied.

As the week went on, Dustin was more and more excited for their first game. It was Friday night and Dustin thought he should practice a little more. But it was too late to go outside. So instead he watched the movie Miracle. He watched the plays they made and acted them out in front of the TV.

Elliott walked into the room and saw Dustin dancing around the living room. He watched his brother in confusion wondering what he was doing.

“What are you doing?” Elliott asked puzzled.

“Practicing for the game tomorrow,” Dustin replied.

“You are watching a DVD!” exclaimed Elliott.

“True,” said Dustin, “but I'm acting out all the good plays.”

“Whatever,” Elliott said sitting down on the big, fluffy couch.

By the time the movie was over, it was 11:30p.m. and Dustin and Elliott were ready for bed. They brushed their teeth and put their warm, fuzzy pajamas on and crawled into bed.

Dustin's alarm clock went off at 6:00a.m. the next morning. He jumped out of bed and ran downstairs. He quickly poured himself a bowl of Fruit Loops and sat down to eat them.

I wonder how good our team will play today, he thought to himself.---Thoughtshot Will we win or lose?--Thoughshot

He shoved a spoonfull of cereal into his mouth as Elliott and his parents walked into the kitchen.

“Already for the big game?” questioned his dad.

“Oh yeah,” Dustin replied as he walked over to the sink and rinsed out his bowl, stuck it in the dishwasher, and walked upstairs. He brushed his teeth, combed his hair, and threw some sweatpants and a t-shirt on.

After about ten minutes the family was in the car on their way to the game. As they arrived at the ice arena, Dustin hurried out of the car and walked in. He ran into the locker room and met up with his teammates. He put all of his equipment on and went out to the ice to warm up. The team skated around the ice preparing to play the Craydon Knights. Soon the buzzer sounded and the game began.

The first period was filled with lots of shots and goals. Both teams were on fire. They were so good that if they literally were on fire, they would have melted the ice in ten seconds. By the end of the third period, the teams were tied, and it stayed that way until there was forty-two seconds left on the clock in the third period.

Dustin's team had the puck and they were traveling down the ice like lightning. The right winger passed the puck up to Jack who was the left winger. Jack skated forward a little and passed up to Dustin who was the center. It was all up to Dustin now. Twelve seconds remained on the clock as Dustin skated towards the goal. He did a play from the movie and shot it. The crowd and both teams grew real quite as the puck flew into the net and the buzzer sounded for the end of the game. Dustin had done it. The Leighton Eagles beat the Craydon Knights 6-5! At that moment, when everybody was congratulating him, Dustin knew this was going to be a great season.-----Expanded Moment