“You get the idea?” pointed Hoyt. “These are just a few of the things that you’re running into each game. You should be prepared to give your opponents the same medicine ... and to guard against these fast ones. There’s an art, too, in riding a person into the boards. Come here, Hank...!”
“No, thanks!”
Hoyt’s knowledge of the various methods used to upset rival players and effectively cut them out of the play was close to awe-inspiring. It was something on the order of a police lieutenant demonstrating to a bunch of rookies how to disarm a crook. Hoyt made it look very simple and very, very impressive.
“Say, I thought most of the falls I took were just the result of bumps that couldn’t be avoided!” whistled Lee Burrell, “but I can see now where I’ve been dumped with neatness and dispatch. Do that over again, will you, Hoyt. I want to get the hang of it!”
The entire squad, a scowling Rudie Antrim included, set to work to master the various undercover maneuvers.
“This is great!” approved Captain Walt Lowery, at the end of an hour. “Now I really feel fortified for the first time. Wish we’d listened to you earlier in the season, Hoyt. We might have had a better record.”
“Well, this ought to give us a chance, at least, to beat Hallstead,” said Hoyt. “And if we can take that veteran outfit who think they know all there is to be known about this game, it’ll be a big enough feather in our caps.”
“You said it!” seconded goalie Bud Gray, with enthusiasm. “What do you think of Hoyt’s stuff now, Rudie? Pretty slick, eh?”
Rudie’s face flushed. He hated to give this Hoyt Dale person any credit but he had to admit that there was a science to the things he had taught. It had even given him a thrill to send fellow team mates flying through the air, knowing that he had done it intentionally, by using a certain definite system ... a stick between the legs, a knee properly placed, an elbow in the right spot, a shoulder brought into play and other sly little tricks designed to disconcert or spill the other fellow.
“It’s all against the rules,” Rudie replied, rather lamely, “but I’ll admit it’s worth knowing.”