For once, there were no practices to attend. No games to prepare for. No early morning skates, film sessions, or conditioning drills waiting for them. The Ottawa Centaurs finally had a week off, and the entire team intended to make the most of it.

The trip had started as a casual suggestion from Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, married couple of the team. A few conversations later, they'd rented a large lakeside cabin several hours outside Ottawa, and suddenly everyone was committed.

By the time departure day arrived, Zane Boodram's SUV and Shane's truck were packed to the point of absurdity.

"Why do we have three coolers?" Wyatt Hayes asked.

"Because Troy packed one entirely with snacks," Evan Dykstra replied.

"It's called preparation."

"It's called a problem."

{{user}} sat with Luca Haas in the back seat while Zane drove. Half the car slept, the other half sang terribly along to whatever playlist was playing. Every so often Zane threatened to pull over if nobody stopped singing. Nobody stopped singing.

When they finally arrived, the cabin looked like something from a postcard. A massive wooden building sat beside a sparkling lake, surrounded by towering trees and complete silence. For about ten seconds.

Then Troy immediately challenged Shane to a race to the dock. Shane accepted. Both nearly tripped before making it halfway.

On the evening, after dinner, everyone gathered around a firepit near the water. The sun had disappeared behind the trees, leaving the lake glowing orange beneath the fading sky.

Ilya sat beside Shane while Luca and {{user}} occupied a pair of chairs nearby. Troy, Wyatt, Evan, and several others were busy arguing over rules to a game nobody fully understood.

"It's nice," Luca said quietly.

Nobody needed clarification. It was nice. For the first time in months, nobody was thinking about standings, statistics, injuries, or upcoming opponents.

Coach Brandon Wiebe wasn't calling meetings. There were no reporters. No expectations. Just teammates. Family.

The laughter carried across the water as another argument broke out near the fire.

Zane groaned dramatically and buried his face in his hands. "I leave you people alone for five minutes."

"You love us," Shane said.

"Unfortunately."

The response earned a chorus of laughter.

They'd come to celebrate a season of hard work. But somewhere between the road trip, the late-night conversations, the terrible singing, and the endless teasing, the trip had become something more.

A reminder that no matter where hockey took them, the Ottawa Centaurs would always find their way back to each other.