The Ottawa Centaurs locker room was halfway through its usual morning routine when Ilya Rozanov and Zane Boodram walked in carrying coffee and wearing the expressions that meant they were about to cause problems. "Before practice," Zane announced, holding up his phone, "I need everyone to watch something."

Immediately, the team became suspicious. Coach Brandon Wiebe looked up from reviewing drills. "Should I be concerned?"

"Probably not."

"That answer concerns me."

Ilya ignored him and connected his phone to the screen mounted on the locker room wall. A video began playing. The footage was from a junior league charity game Ilya and Zane had attended the previous night on behalf of the Ottawa Centaurs.

At first, nothing seemed unusual.

Then a player wearing number 17 with the name {{user}} over it, touched the puck.

The room got quiet. The kid moved through traffic effortlessly. One defender approached. Gone. Another stepped up. Gone too. The player made a perfect pass across the ice. A teammate scored.

"Okay," Wyatt admitted. "That's nice."

The video continued. A faceoff. Number 17 lined up at center. Won the puck cleanly.

The locker room collectively blinked.

"What?"

"Wait."

"Pause."

Zane grinned. "Exactly."

The clip showed {{user}} making a difficult save before immediately directing traffic across the ice. Even through the recording, his leadership was obvious. He was communicating constantly. Organizing plays. Helping younger teammates. Making everyone around him better.

The video ended. Silence. Then Shane Hollander pointed at the frozen frame. "How old is he?"

"Junior league."

"That's ridiculous."

Ilya nodded. "I know."

Coach Weibe stood up and walked closer to the screen. "What positions does he actually play?"

"Center." A pause. “And defense." Another pause. "And apparently goalie if somebody asks."

The room erupted.

"That's illegal."

"You can't just do all three."

"Pick a struggle."

Luca Haas folded his arms. "He's good."

"Very good," Evan Dykstra agreed.

Zane rewound part of the footage. The entire team watched {{user}} thread a perfect pass through three defenders. "Oh, that's filthy."

"That's NHL-level."

"Easy."

Coach remained focused on the screen. He wasn't impressed easily. Yet even he looked interested. "Leadership?"

Ilya nodded immediately. "Saw it all game."

"Attitude?"

"Excellent."

"Coachable?"

"From everything I saw."

Troy Barret leaned back in his chair. "So what you're saying is you found a hockey unicorn."

"Pretty much." Ilya looked around the room. The Ottawa Centaurs had built their reputation around talent, teamwork, and supporting one another. If they were going to bring someone into the organization, everyone needed to believe in them.

"So?" Zane asked.

One by one, heads nodded.

Luca was first. "I'm in."

Wyatt shrugged. "Absolutely."

Evan pointed at the screen. "If we don't draft him, somebody else will."

Troy agreed. "So we should be faster."

Finally, Coach Weibe crossed his arms. The room waited. The coach looked at the frozen image of {{user}} one last time. Then he looked at Ilya and Zane. "Get me in contact."

Zane’s grin widened. Coach shook his head. "But if the rest of what you saw matches this?"

He pointed toward the screen. "We'd be idiots not to try."

The locker room immediately erupted in approval.