The gold mines, in Val D'Or ?
It's a cool day in early August, Cole Phillips is headed back to his east Boston home, he's got to tell his parents something, but he doesn't know how to. Flashback to early April, Cole and his teammates are celebrating a national championship, Salisbury prep's first in 20 years. Boston College awaits in the fall if he can pass his advanced chemistry class. If not, it's off to Omaha for a year in the USHL before going to BC. Cole's a big lanky sniper, he's coming a season in which he scored 64 goals in just 44 games, and added in 21 assists, he didn't lead his team in scoring, let alone the league. No that went to his teammate, little Dominic Gagnon, who had 23 goals and 81 assists in 42 games on the same Salisbury team.
The dream team, they were called. A near perfect season, 38-2-4 in regular season play and 10-0-0 on their way to the state championship. Yes, it was a perfect season, winning a championship with his best friend Markus Steen, a smallish offensive defence man, who had 15 goals and 37 assists in 44 games. Markus and Cole are BC commits, originally born in Modo, Sweden, Markus's parents moved to Boston when he was 6, he's grown up with Cole, and in the fall they are both supposed to be seniors on a stacked BC team. And little Dominic, he's also supposed to join them... yes it was going to be perfect, the 3 now best friends headed to college together...
It's June, class is out, Dominic is about to be picked up by his mom, he'll spend the summer at home. Dominic's QMJHL rights are held by Chicoutimi, he won't play there and his mom wants him to get an education, he's one of the top prospects if he were to commits, school is a priority in his family, he doesn't do well on his final exams. One day in June, Markus and Cole go back to Markus's, after training. Markus checks his phone, he missed a call from Dominic, Cole has the same notification. Markus thinks nothing of it, he scrolls through twitter, just casually checking his feed when he learns that Dominic's Q rights have been traded to Val D'Or, he then sees a tweet from Dominic that reads: Excited to join @ForeursHockey. Markus shouts wtf, he shows cole the tweet. They're both schocked, their best friend won't be coming back. Markus can't believe it, he spams Dom's phone, Cole follows suit. All of a sudden Makus's father walks in and says a man has come to the door to see him. Cole is asked to leave and he goes home. He tells his parents about Dom, he's shocked and hurt by his best friend's actions.
Its early July now, Dom has explained to Markus and Cole that he failed english and science, he would of had to wait until fall 2016 to start his NCAA career, he decided to play Major Junior, he wants to play pro. Val D'Or have an up and coming team and are known for taking education seriously, camp starts in August, Cole and Markus understand. Markus tells Cole that he needs to talk to him after they get off the ice, maybe over ice cream. Cole thinks Markus is about to tell him that he's been dating his sister, turns out Markus has something else on his mind... "So you remember that man that came to the door awhile back, he's a coach, for Val D'Or".. Cole's head starts spinning, he realizes that Markus is about to tell him that he is joining Dom in Val D'Or, it's out of the blue and a complete shock. All those talks about playing at BC, they seem like a lie now, Markus and Dom won't be there, Markus says he'll keep in touch.
Cole leaves the ice cream parlour, dazed and in shock. Feeling a sense of abandonment he goes back to the rink, why did they leave me he asked ? What happened to playing together ? A disappointed Cole goes home, and finally opens a letter he got from Quebec back in April, he never bothered to open it.
Mr.Phillips it says: "We, the Remparts have decided to release your QMJHL rights, if you are not re-drafted, you will be a free agent"
Cole remembers being drafted, he skipped he draft, he had no plans of playing in the Q, his parents are against it. His 2 best friends are headed to Val D'Or, the temptation is there. He calls Keith Tkachuck, his long time hockey advisor, he tells Keith he wants to explore his options. He calls back an hour later, Keith says that Val D'Or will give him a spot on their 2nd line if he reports to their camp, the thinking game starts.
It's early August, Val D'Or's training camp opens in 2 days, Cole wants to go, but he hasn't told his parents. Finally, on a cool day in August he walks into the living room, after training, it's 4pm, his mom and dad are sitting down drinking coffee, he doesn't know where his sister is, it doesn't matter. Mom, Dad he says, I'm leaving tomorrow, I'm going to play hockey in the Quebec League, Markus and Dom play in Val D'Or, its where the gold mines are, I want to play in the NHL, this is the best chance for me to do so
His mom throws her coffee mug against the wall, it smashes, she goes to speak, all of sudden his dad says, Val D'Or you say ? Where the gold mines are ? We'd better pack....