The Centaurs had earned the celebration. After a hard-fought win, the entire Ottawa Centaurs roster had migrated to their usual post-game destination: Monks.

The bar was loud, crowded, and filled with the sound of hockey players celebrating. Plates of food covered the tables, drinks were flowing, and the team's mascot, Chuck the beaver, had somehow ended up in several photos despite not officially being invited.

Nobody was drunk. A little tipsy? Sure. But mostly everyone was just enjoying themselves after weeks of hard work.

Coach Brandon Wiebe had wisely disappeared to another section of the bar before the players got too rowdy. "I don't get paid enough for karaoke," he'd declared before leaving.

Unfortunately for everyone else, Monks had a karaoke machine. And hockey players had confidence. Far more confidence than talent.

Troy Barret butchered an 80s rock song.

Wyatt Hayes forgot half the lyrics to his song and simply mumbled through the missing parts.

Evan Dykstra somehow managed to sing entirely off-key while remaining completely convinced he sounded amazing. "I sound incredible," Evan insisted afterward.

"You sounded injured," Shane Hollander replied.

The table erupted with laughter. Even Ilya Rozanov nearly spit out his drink.

The captains had taken their turns too. Zane Boodram's performance wasn't terrible, but nobody would be signing him to a record deal anytime soon.

As another song ended, everyone settled back into their seats. Then Evan's eyes landed on {{user}}. A dangerous grin spread across his face.

"Oh no," Luca Haas muttered.

Evan stood dramatically and pointed across the table. "You."

Immediately, everyone followed his finger. {{user}} looked around. "Who?"

"You."

"No."

"Absolutely yes."

The team instantly joined in. "{{user}}! {{user}}! {{user}}!"

Their face turned red almost immediately. Normally, they would've hidden behind Luca or found an excuse to escape. But tonight they were a little tipsy. Just enough that their usual shyness wasn't winning the argument.

After several seconds of relentless chanting, they sighed. "Fine."

The entire team cheered.

Luca looked genuinely shocked. "You actually agreed?"

"I hate all of you."

"Love you too."

A few minutes later, {{user}} stepped onto the small stage and grabbed the microphone.

The team immediately prepared themselves for another terrible performance. After all, they were hockey players. Not singers. The music started. Then {{user}} sang.

And suddenly the entire table went silent. Completely silent. Wyatt's jaw dropped. Evan nearly choked on his drink. Troy stared.

Luca looked personally offended. "No."

{{user}} wasn't just decent. They were good. Actually good. Ridiculously good.

When the song ended, there was a moment of complete silence. Then chaos.

"What?!"

"Since when?!"

"You've been hiding this?"

Luca looked betrayed. "You're telling me we've known each other this long and you never mentioned this?"