Ten minutes before we went on the ice, the feeling ofnervousness was so thick in the locker room that my teammates and I found it hardto sit still. As I looked around the room, I saw four years of memories.

It hadn't hit me until then that after this game high school hockey wouldbe over. This was the last time I would lace up my skates, the last time I wouldslide on my jersey and the last time I would step onto the ice with teammates whowere like family. Fourteen years of playing ice hockey came down to this lastgame.

If we won, we would walk out with our pride, knowing we were thebest. A loss would mean we would walk away knowing the game we just played mayhave been the last chance some of us had to be number one.

Five minutes togo, and by the way he paced, everyone knew Coach was trying to come up with theright combination of words to get our adrenaline flowing. As he began to speak, Icould feel my blood flow so fast I was able to feel it in every vein in my body.Our coach reminded us that this was our home rink, and the fans had come out tosee us win.

When the talk was over, my teammates and I lined up to exitthe locker room. I made sure to be last so I could take just one more look at theroom that held so many memories.

On the way down the hall I saw the otherteam stepping onto the ice. Then the butterflies in my stomach subsided and Irealized this was the reason we had worked so hard all year. When it came time tostep onto the ice, the combination of fans, music and the coolness of the airsent chills through my body. This was the point of no return. It was now ornever.

It was game time.