“Worth knowing and using at certain times,” emphasized Hoyt. “If you have to choose between letting a man get past you and stopping him from getting through for a possible score, these little devices are worth everything! What diff does it make if you do get sent to the penalty box for two minutes every once in a while?... That’s part of the game.”
“I suppose it is,” Rudie considered, “but, in this case, you’re fouling on purpose ... and the question is...!”
“A foul is a foul!” barked Hoyt. “Why try to distinguish between ’em? A guy as picayunish as you would find fault with the way they played ‘drop-the-handkerchief’...!”
Fellow team members laughed and Rudie held his tongue. He had broken his resolution to keep silent as it was. What these special instructions might lead to was problematical but one thing was certain—Coach Hogart was due for a surprise the next time he saw his team in action!
Rivals in every other sport, it was natural that Hallstead should place Parker High on its schedule when the latter school went in for hockey. If the truth be known, Hallstead’s domain in other sports had inspired Parker to take up the game. Little hope was entertained, however, that Parker would succeed in downing Hallstead the first year. Parker had a hard enough time downing Hallstead in anything. But, since Hallstead seemed prouder of its ice hockey six than any other team, Parker High adherents impatiently awaited the day when their school might put a serious challenger in the field.
“If there’s any school we enjoy beating, it’s Hallstead,” declared a Parker fan. “And are they tough losers? Say, they fight you to the last ditch in anything! But that’s what I call real spirit. Our school ought to have more of it!”
Underdogs, and very conscious of it, Parker’s hockey squad dressed for the Hallstead game. There was little talking in the locker room, each player feeling the tension too much to indulge in the usual banter.
“Remember, fellows,” whispered Hoyt, just before the team was to leave the locker room for the ice, “you’re just as good as Hallstead. They can’t do anything to you that you can’t do to them.”