A newly formed semi-professional hockey team named the Dragons is coming into the new season that had been on a winning streak all season long. They seemed to carry this streak all season long due to their positive attitude and noticed that they would continue to win if they kept it up. They would often continue this ritual by sharing stories of past hockey seasons they played where their teams were achieving great success and winning. Typically, they would carry out this ritual before their games started as an incentive to bring motivation to the team; however, it only worked if the players discussed their winning stories.

Their captain began the tradition where they shared a story before the first game of the season, explaining how their team in the previous season went on to win the state championship. The result of that game ended up beating the highest-ranked team going into the season by a blowout margin with a final score of 8-3. Before the next game, one of the assistant captains shared one of their stories of how they went on to have an undefeated season a couple of years, which resulted in them becoming the champions of their university league. The result of that game ended up in their favour as well, where they won the game 4-0, which was a more significant result because it was their goalies’ first shutout of the season. I can list each game where a player shared their individual story of winning; however, they all ended up with the same result.

However, as the winning streak carried on, the players noticed that their team members were beginning to run out of new stories they would share before the game, which put their pre-game ritual at risk. One teammate who never had a story of winning felt that they still needed to share their hockey experience with the team regardless of whether they won. The teammate did not seem to buy into the idea that he could only share a personal hockey story of them winning in order for their team to continue the winning streak. This player was not a big believer in pre-game rituals and felt that if they still shared a story of their hockey experience, regardless if it were of them winning or not, it would have no outcome on the game.

This teammate decided that this upcoming game, they would share the story of one of the most significant, most heartbreaking defeats they have experienced so far in hockey, which was losing the Varsity National Championship. The teammate knew that this story might change the pre-game ritual’s emotional appeal to the players; however, they believed that their story would bring a new type of motivation to the team. The player thought that telling the team a story about losing it would ground them again into believing that you cannot always win in a sport like a hockey.

The teammate discussed their story of how they lost drastically in the national championship, and immediately it brought a different mood among the team before the game. The teammate did not intend to tell the story to damper the team’s pre-game mood but instead share their perspective to the other side of the game where you can also lose. Long story short, the team suffered their first loss after that game, and the team’s season was winning streak did not just come to an end, but it was the start of a losing streak.

Did this teammate regret share the losing story as it brought them their first loss? Yes. Did the teammate begin to understand that this pre-game ritual did not just bring their team their first loss, but it also brought upon a gloomy atmosphere among each other? Yes. Regardless, for once a story is told, it cannot be called back. Once told, it is loose in the world.

My story takes a much different approach than King’s story; however, I found that I wanted to share it through a lens that could be relatable to the people I shared it with, which was through hockey. As many of us know who watch hockey, pre-game rituals are a big part of the sport among players, so I chose to incorporate it into my story. I wanted to use the concept of “losing” in hockey as a form of symbolism concerning King’s interpretation of “evil” in his novel. Furthermore, I wanted to use the Dragons team in this story to symbolize the world itself and how evil was brought into this team’s dynamic. I found that including players who shared stories of “winning” would almost bring an overall festive atmosphere to the team until the one teammate told a story about losing, which brought an “evil” atmosphere among the team affecting their results.

This was one of the first times I have taken a shot at revising a story and re-writing it myself, but I found that it can be very self-satisfying if you can put it into a context you are passionate about. After memorizing it, I shared it with my roommates, and they seemed to lack an understanding of the moral of the story. However, they found it interesting because it related to a field they were interested in. I find that each story we learn and tell will appeal to a particular audience, whereas it can also not impact other audiences. For example, if I were to share this story with my geography class, not all of the students may be interested in hockey, so they may not value the story as much as I would. Regardless, I enjoyed this assignment because I had the opportunity to re-write a story through a field I enjoyed along with my peers.

– KO

Works Cited:

King, Thomas. The Truth about Stories a Native Narrative ; 2003 Massey Lecture. CBC Audio, 2003.