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After Ilya successfully pranked Shane with the 500 hidden ducks inside their house, he wanted to have some more fun with the colorful little creatures. And he knew the right people who would have as much fun with these little ducks as him. The Ottawa Centaurs. But this time it wouldn’t be just a prank, it would be a game. Ilya wanted to find out who would be the one with the best searching skills on the team. Also, he wanted to see his team mates running around like idiots searching for children’s toys. For this he needed accomplices. The first one would be his Shane, because Shane also had grown fond of the little ducks. And because Ilya needed someone who could organize and convince people that the game was a good idea.
Ilya picked a relaxed evening to present his idea. They were lying in bed, Shane reading with his glasses on and Ilya next to him scrolling on his phone.
“Shane?”
“Yes?”
“I have a really good idea I wanted to tell you about.”
Shane closed the book and laid it on his lap. He turned to Ilya and Ilya could see Shane’s eyebrows lifting above the rims of his glasses.
“You have an idea?” Shane asked incredulously.
“Yes, and it is really good. You will like it. And it will be good for the team.”
Shane lowered his eyebrows a little. “Okay go on.”
Ilya had already thought about the best way to present his idea to Shane. “Do you remember our little game with the duck figurines?” Shane nodded but his eyebrows raised again above the rims of his glasses in skepticism. Ilya didn’t stop talking, but instead of looking at Shane he looked at the wall across from the bed. “We had so much fun searching the little ducks and it really showed how good your perception of your surroundings is. Which is a really important quality for a hockey player. I think our team could profit from a little training in this skill and it would also be a fun group activity and an interesting challenge. We could ask Harris if we could present the game on social media so it would also be good publicity and would show how we have the best team.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad. And you have thought about this a lot, haven’t you?”
“Yes, yes. And I have a full plan for the game. Everyone would get a starting duck inside his locker. Under the duck would be a sheet with the description and the rules of the game. We would hide 500 ducks in the rink. All the places you could think of. We would inform the staff to not clean up the ducks. Everyone on the team would have one week to find as many ducks as possible. They are not allowed to steal ducks from the others and they are not allowed to cheat otherwise. We could film some of the areas we are hiding the ducks in and maybe we can put some hidden cameras in the difficult or exciting hiding spots. At the end of the week, they have to present their duck family. The one player who has found the most ducks will get a free meal in a restaurant paid by the team member with the least ducks. The winner picks the restaurant.”
Ilya had rattled down his whole plan in lightning speed without looking at Shane once. Now he took a deep breath and chanced a glance at his husband. Shane was smiling.
“This really sounds like a fun idea and I think Harris would also be interested. Would we participate in the game?”
Ilya was relieved that Shane liked his idea, because he was really proud of it. And he really wanted to hide some more ducks.
“No, we already know to much about the game. We, as C and A, would be responsible for ensuring compliance with the rules, hiding the ducks and documenting all the hiding spots. And at the last day they have to present their duck family to us and we will crown the winner.”
“You really thought of everything. That sounds like a really good idea and I would love to organize the game with you,” Shane said with a proud smile.
“Really?”
“Yes, baby.”
Ilya couldn’t believe his luck. He had the best husband in the whole wide world. And because he had no other option, he tackled his husband deeper into the bed and kissed him hard.
“Ilya, my book,” Shane protested lamely but melted into the kiss.
Ilya placed the book on the nightstand and started to undress his husband. The glasses stayed on. After they were both sated and cleaned up, they snuggled together inside the bed. Ilya had his arms around his husband from behind and their legs were tangled. He pressed a soft kiss on the back of Shane’s head.
“When do we start this game?” Shane asked sleepily.
“Tomorrow, we talk to Harris and then we can decide when to best start the game. And now sleep, Lyubimyy.”
“Goodnight, Ilya. I love you.”
“Goodnight, Shane. I love you, too.”
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Ilya was excited. Today they would talk to Harris about ‘The Duck Games’ (That’s what he liked to call them in his head). Shane had approved of his idea and now they could enter execution phase. They were on their way to Harris office. It was still early because they wanted to talk to Harris before morning practice.
“Shane, can you talk to Harris and present the idea? When I do it, he won’t belief that it’s a good idea. He trusts you more than me.”
Shane huffed a quiet laugh. “I wonder why that is. But yes, I can talk to Harris, because it is a really good idea this time.”
“I don’t know why he trust you more then me. There is absolutely no reason I can think of,” Ilya pouted.
“I can think of a few,” Shane laughed.
They arrived at Harris office. The door was ajar but still, Shane knocked.
“Come in.”
Shane stepped inside the office, Ilya a step behind his husband.
“Good morning, Harris,” they greeted in unisono.
Harris turned around at the voices. “Ah the first husbands of hockey. Good morning. What can I do for you?” he asked with a teasing smile. He pointed at the chairs at his desked as an invitation.
Shane and Ilya sat down and Harris sank into his chair, too.
“Ilya told me about this really great idea he had for the team.” Harris looked skeptical but Shane went on. “It’s about little duck figurines just like this one,” Shane said and pulled a little blue duck figure out of his pocket and placed it on the table. “We would organize a game where we would hide 500 of these little ducks all around the building. Every team member would get a starting duck inside his locker together with the rules of the game. They have one week to find as many ducks as possible, but they are not allowed to steal ducks from a team member or cheat otherwise. We would hide some cameras and film the hiding spots. We could introduce the video with Ilya explaining the rules. At the end of the week everyone has to show his acquired duck family and the Centaur with the most ducks wins the game. Whoever has the fewest ducks has to take the winner to a restaurant and pay for the meal. It would make for really great publicity and it would also be fun for the team. What do you say?”
Ilya was impressed. His husband was well prepared (that was not the impressing part. He was always prepared) and seemed to love the idea as much as Ilya (that was the impressing part). And by the look on Harris face he was also intrigued.
“Even if it’s Ilya’s idea it sounds really great. Have you talked to Coach about it?” Ilya huffed offendedly but Shane just petted his thigh.
“Talking to Coach is the next step on the agenda. But I don’t think he would have objections. We are still in the preseason so there is now pressure and it would be good to get into the battling spirit.”
Ilya hadn’t thought about talking to Coach before but it made sense to tell him. He had simply assumed that Coach Wiebe wouldn’t mind.
“I think Coach would love to watch his team running all around the rink searching for cute little ducks. The more I think about it the more I’m sure that this will make really good content,” Harris now had an excited glint in his eyes. “When should this game start?”
Shane and Harris both looked over to Ilya. He was a little caught off guard that he was now allowed to add to the conversation. “Uhm… Yes, so I have to order the ducks first. We have only found 392 of our 500 ducks at home, so we need a new set. If I order without same day delivery they should be there tomorrow. We can inform the stuff with the help of Wiebe on Friday and hide the ducks and install the cameras on Sunday night. So, the game would start Monday morning. We have a team meeting at eight. I could sneak out and hide the starting ducks in the lockers and when the meeting ends, the game begins.”
“Sound good. I’m gonna check how many small cameras we have and I will already search for good hiding places. You two talk to coach and the staff and then we start hiding on Sunday night,” Harris confirms.
“And don’t tell Barrett!” Ilya warned.
“I wouldn’t dare. Besides I really want to see him searching little ducks like a mad man. I know he doesn’t like to lose.”
“Okay thanks for your help. We will now talk to Coach. See you later,” Shane concluded and they made their way out of Harris office and to Coache Wiebe.
Just like expected Coach didn’t have any objections. He thought the idea was hilarious.
“I can’t wait to see these big men running around like children and fighting for little colorful ducks,” he laughed. “But please include in the rules that searching during the training hours is not allowed. And I also want to hide some ducks.”
“That is no problem. Thank you, Coach!” Shane assured.
After they left Coach’s office they went to the locker room for morning practice. Ilya had to suppress his excitement so that no one would ask stupid questions. When Shane and Ilya arrived home after morning practice the first thing Ilya did was order the duck figures. Sunday couldn’t arrive fast enough.
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Sunday evening arrived very slowly but now it was finally time. The days before Ilya had walked through the rink looking for good hiding places. There were the obvious places like the equipment storage and under the seats around the rink. But he also found a cavity in the top corner on the wall in the hallway and had many other ideas for good hiding places.
He took an extra-long shower so it wouldn’t be obvious that he wouldn’t leave the rink after training. When he came back into the locker room Shane sat on the bench and was putting on his sneakers and Luca Haas was still packing his duffle bag. Everyone else already left. Luca grabbed his packed duffle, threw it over his shoulder and left the room.
“See you on Monday,” he said while leaving.
The sentiment was echoed by Shane and Ilya.
Ilya dried himself off and put on clothes. After he few minutes he asked Shane “Are you ready?”
“I can’t wait. I already have so many ideas for good hiding places,” Shane giggled.
“Me too. I can’t wait for the team to start searching.”
At this moment Harris came through the door. He looked around to verify that they were alone and when he saw the no one was left except Ilya and Shane, he asked full of joy “Are you ready to hide some ducks?”
“Yes! I have the ducks here. Every one of us gets 125 ducks to hide. Coach Wieb should also be here in a few minutes and then we can start.” Just after Ilya finished his sentence Coach Wieb entered the room.
“I’m here to hide some ducks,” Coach announced.
They had talked beforehand with Harris to install the cameras in all important places like the gym, the community space, the equipment storage, on top of one of the steel beams over the rink and some other places around the rink and the building. They agreed, that no ducks would be hidden in the locker room except of the starting ducks, because it was not allowed to film inside the room.
Ilya distributed everyone their 125 ducks and then they darted out of the room. Shane went in the direction of the community space, Harris towards the gym, Coach towards the equipment storage and Ilya toward the rink.
His first duck was placed in the cavity in the hallway he found a few days before. Then he went toward the ice. He hid some of the ducks under the player benches, some in the puck baskets, some in the little edges behind the glass and then he went up the stands. There he placed the ducks under the seats, inside the beverage storage, between the railing and then he went to the top of the stands. Ilya set ten ducks aside for another idea he had in his head. The last three ducklings were placed one the side of one of the steel beams. Now there were 115 ducks hidden all around the rink.
When Ilya came back to the locker room Coach and Harris were already there.
“How did it go?” Ilya asked.
“I think they’ll have to look really hard to find all of the ducks,” Harris answered with a devilish glint in his eyes.
Coach just smiled and nodded. Then Shane walked through the locker room doors grinning.
“That was so much fun. Now I know how you must have felt when you did that at home,” Shane told Ilya.
“You did that at home?” Coach asked incredulously.
“Yeah, he did. We still have not found all of the ducks and Ilya hid them three months ago,” Shane replied to Coach but still looked at Ilya. Shane seemed so happy, it made Ilya feel warm inside.
“Okay so now all ducks are hidden. Shane, you saved the starting ducks, right?” Harris asked.
“Yes, I did.”
“So tomorrow morning Ilya will sneak out of the meeting and place the starting ducks with the rules in the lockers. And after the meeting, the searching starts. On Sunday we will find out, who of the team has the best searching skills, right?”
“Exactly!” Ilya confirmed.
“We will shoot your introduction video tomorrow, when the team has already started searching, okay?” Harris inquired. “And Shane you will also be in the video because you are part of the jury.”
“Okay, that works for us.” Ilya agreed and Shane nodded.
After the clarification, everyone said goodbye and they left the rink. Tomorrow would start the game.
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It was Monday morning. Ilya was sitting at the table in the meeting room with all the other Centaurs and listened to Coache Wiebe. In his pocked he had 20 little ducks. He excused himself to the toilet and left the room to the locker room. There he placed one little duck and a sheet with the rules for the game on the top shelf of every locker. Then he pulled the other 10 ducks out of his pocket. One duck was not a family. And so that no one had a lonely duck he hid another duck in every player’s duffle bag. Then he went back to the meeting room.
After the meeting was finished the whole team went to the locker room. Ilya observed everyone very closely. Luca was the fist one to find his duck but he stayed silent and started reading the rule sheet. Then Ilya hear Dykstra shouting.
“Why is there a little pink duck in my locker?”
In the same moment Luca had left the locker room.
“Just read the paper,” Hayes answered Dykstra.
And then a flurry of motion broke out inside the room. Some players started searching inside the locker room and others ran straight out of the doors. Ilya was just standing in the middle of it all laughing.
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Video on the Ottawa Centaurs YouTube channel: The Duck Games
The first thing you could see after starting the video was the logo of the Ottawa Centaurs. The next thing were Ilya and Shane sitting on a grey couch. Ilya grinning from ear to ear into the camera and Shane just smiling adoringly at his husband.
Ilya: “Welcome to ‘The Duck Games’. While we are sitting here, ‘The Duck Games’ are in full swing. ‘What are the duck games?’ you ask. I will tell you. ‘The Duck Games’ are a brilliant idea from the beast hockey player in the whole world. Me!”
Shane rolled his eyes.
Ilya held his hand, palm up, into the camera. On his hand was sitting a little red duck figure.
Ilya: “You can see, this is a little duck. There are 500 of the little ducks at this moment hidden all around this building. The Centaurs got a little starting duck inside their locker from me this morning. Together with the duck they got the instructions and the rules to the game.”
In the video you could now see a picture of a sheet of paper with instructions and rules and on the top of the sheet in big black writing you could see ‘The Duck Games’.
Ilya: “Everyone on the team has one week to find as many ducks as possible. On Sunday they have to present their duck family to the jury. In the jury are my lovely, sexy, handsome husband and me.”
You could see the blush rising on Shane’s face.
Ilya: “The team mate with the most ducks wins the game. His price is a free meal in a restaurant of his choosing. The looser with the least ducks has to pay for the meal and accompany the winner to the restaurant. All around the hiding places are secret cameras. So, everyone can see how good or bad our team is at searching. The game has only three rules. The first rule is: no stealing ducks from other team mates. The second rule is: no searching during training hours. And the third rule is: no cheating. While we are sitting here, the rest of the team is already deep in the game.”
You could hear a commotion behind the camera and then Boodram and Hayes entered the frame. Ilya sat laughing on the couch and Shane was smiling beside him.
Harris (from behind the camera): “We are filming here!”
Bood: “Can you please stand up we need to search here?”
Hayes just pushed Shane and Ilya off the couch.
The video cut to a camera outside of the locker room. You could see Luca Haas walking through the doors and looking all around. Then an arrow blinked towards a yellow duck inside of a crevice inside the wall. Luca walked down the hallway without seeing the duck. In the next second several other Centaurs (Bood, Hayes, Barrett and Chouinard) leaving the locker room and pushing each other out of the way. Then they ran in different directions down the hallway.
The video cut to a scene of the rink and several players running around the ranks. Holmberg, Young and LaPointe were huddled together at the glass. They seemed deep in discussion. Dillon was crawling on the ground and searched underneath the seats. Chouinard was inspecting the railing very closely. Dykstra ran around looking left and right but didn’t seem to find anything. Coach Wieb was standing on the edge of the rink and shook his head laughing.
Cut to the next scene. The equipment storage. Troy Barrett was ruffling inside the laundry bin and pulled out a little duck. Then he looked over to the stick rack and on top of the stick rack you could see two duck figures. Next, he went over to the shelf with the stick tape.
The video cut to the gym. Bood and Hayes were running from left to right, climbing on equipment and crawling under benches. Every now and then one of them held a duck triumphantly in the air.
The next cut was to the community space. You could see Luca Haas stepping into the room and scanning his surroundings. Then the video sped up to double speed. Luca was starting on the right hand corner of the room. His search was precise and methodical and he found one duck after the other. Under the couch, inside the potted plants, in the drawer under the tv stand, behind the tv, inside the refrigerator and on top of the doorframe. The video slowed down to regular speed. After Haas had searched every centimeter of the room he scanned the room one last time. And then he left the room.
The screen faded to black and then a white text appeared. ‘Tuesday’. Next the video showed Young, Holmberg and LaPointe huddled in the corner of the community space. You could see them talking. Holmberg pulled a bag out of his duffle bag. Inside of the bag were many, many small ducks. He distributed the ducks to Young and LaPointe. Then the three rookies were laughing.
Cut to Dykstra walking down the hallway looking lost. After him followed Luca. Luca looked up to the crevice with the little duck. He pushed up on his tippy toes and grabbed the duck. Dykstra turned around to Luca and looked defeated.
The video changed to a montage of the players searching all around the building interrupted by on-screen text showing the weekdays from Wednesday to Saturday. Some players finding ducks and others were not successful. Young, Holmberg and LaPointe were always huddled together laughing, Dykstra always looked confused. The last scene of the montage was Troy Barrett on the top of the ranks finding the ducks on the steel beam.
The video faded to black again. Then in a white fond: ‘Sunday: The Presentation’.
Shane and Ilya were sitting on chairs behind a table. The camera was standing to the side and you could see the other player standing in a halve circle around the table. They had little boxes and bags inside their hands.
Ilya grinned and Shane looked serious.
Ilya: “Welcome to the presentation and the finale of ‘The Duck Games’. We have gathered here today to crown the winner and the best duck searcher of this team... And to boo on the looser… My Shane and I will decide, if you all followed the rules. Please present your duck families.”
Ilya pointed with his hands to the table and the Centaurs stepped to the table and started assembling their little duck families. After they were ready, they all had a good number of ducks before them. Young, LaPointe and Holmberg seemed to have a really big number of ducks assembled. Dykstra had only one duck on his part of the table and looked really sad.
Ilya: “So Evan, you have only one duck?”
Dykstra: “Yes…”
Ilya: “What happened to the duck inside of your duffle bag?”
Dykstra (looking skeptical but hopeful): “I have a duck inside of my duffle bag?”
Ilya (smiling): “Yes, I put a little duck into every one of your duffle bags. So, no one would have a lonely duck without another family member.”
Dykstra: “Okay… I will go looking really fast.”
Dykstra was running out of frame with a little smile on his face. Alle the other Centaurs watched him go. The video was cut to black screen with the words ‘Five minutes later…’. Dykstra ran back into frame holding a little pink duck inside his hand and had a beaming smile on his face.
Dykstra (while placing the duck beside his other duck on the table): “Found it!”
Ilya: “Okay. So, everyone has presented their duck families. But before we count and crown the winner, Shane has to disqualify some rule breakers.”
Without saying a word Shane pulled an iPad from under the table and placed it on top of it. He pressed play on the already loaded video. There you could see Holmberg distributing the ducks to Young and LaPointe. Shane just stared at the three rookies. One after the other lowered their heads and looked apologetic. I only took a few seconds of Shane looking disapprovingly at the three rookies for them to start speaking.
Young: “I’m sorry, Hollzy.”
LaPointe: “I’m sorry, too.”
Holmberg: “We are all sorry. We will never do something like that again. Please don’t be angry.”
Shane (still looking sternly at the three rookies): “I’m not angry. I’m just disappointed. I thought you could do better. As a result of this behavior, all three of you are disqualified.”
All three men nodded their heads accepting the punishment.
Ilya leaned over to Shane and tried to whisper in his ear but it was loud enough for the cameras to catch.
Ilya “You will be such a good dad someday. I can’t wait. And in the meantime, I continue to try to get you pregnant.”
Shane’s face went red like a tomato in seconds.
Ilya (unconcerned): “So, we already know which one of you are the losers. Now we only have to find out who the winner is. To find out Shane will now count all your little ducks.”
The video sped up and you could see Shane counting the ducks and writing down the results. After Shane had counted all ducks, the video turned back to regular speed.
Shane: “I now start with the rankings. On the last place we have Young, Holmberg and LaPointe because of their disqualification. Then on the seventh place we have Dykstra with two ducks. On the sixth place we have two Centaurs with 52 ducks each. Chouinard and Dillon. On the fourth place we have Bood with 70 ducks and on the third place we have Hayes with 86 ducks.”
Shane gave Ilya the list and Ilya went on with the award ceremony.
Ilya: “Barrett and Haas. Which one of you will be the winner of ‘The Duck Games’?”
While Ilya pulled a crown from under the table, Troy and Luca were looking at each other.
Ilya: “The Centaur on second place found 93 ducks and the Centaur on the first place 101 ducks… And the winner iiisssss… My son Luca Haas!!!!!”
Ilay jumped over the table, pushed the crown on Luca’s head and yanked him into a hug. Luca looked perplexed but started laughing after a few seconds. Barrett looked a little defeated but smiled at Luca. The rest of the team started cheering and piled on Luca and Ilya. Shane just sat fondly smiling on his chair.
The video cut to Ilya at the front of the camera and the rest auf the Centaurs cheering in the background. Luca in the middle with the crown on his head. And all around the players lay the little duck figures.
Ilya (grinning into the camera): “These were ‘The Duck Games’. I hope you all had fun watching and please, please do that at home.”
The video cut to a picture of Haas, Holmberg, Young and LaPointe at a table in a restaurant eating pasta. Next was the Centaurs logo with ‘Thank you for watching’ written below.