"The Stanley Cup Finals are tonight," said Roger. "Let's bet on that. I bet being a hockey player is fun."
"Very well," said Mark as he pulled up an Internet betting site. "Who are we going to bet on?"
"Let's bet on the Senators," said Roger. "They're the underdogs so there's a bigger payout. Then you can project me into one of the Ducks and I'll see what I can do to make us some money."
"Great," said Mark. "Come by again before the game starts, see ya later."
Roger went back to his room and eagerly bet on the Senators. He tried to get some homework done, but could barely focus he was so excited. Finally, it was almost time for the game so Roger scooted back to Mark's room.
"You just about ready?" asked Mark.
"You bet," said Roger. "Let's do it."
"OK, who do you want to be?"
"Oh, gee, I hadn't even thought about it," said Roger. "Well, it doesn't really matter. Anyone who plays should be able to make a difference."
"Very well," said Mark as he handed Roger the small rod attached to his computer and typed away furiously to find the coordinates for the arena in California. "I'll send you just for a moment again to make sure we get the right target."
As Roger held the rod he began to feel light-headed and found himself standing on the ice as some of his teammates were taking warmup shots. He looked down at his black Ducks sweater and then found himself standing back in front of Mark.
"Who were you?" asked Mark.
"Oh, I'm not really sure," said Roger. "Number 22, who's that?"
Mark made a few clicks on his computer before responding. "Todd Marchant, he's a center."
"Sounds good, let's do it," said Roger.
"Well, here goes, I'll send you for three hours, that should be enough time...good luck," said Mark, as a wave of dizziness overtook Roger. He was skating off the ice with the rest of his teammates and followed them into the locker room. The coach gave a pep talk, if the Ducks won tonight, they would win the Stanley Cup, but Roger was going to try to prevent that from happening. Roger reached up to his face and felt a full playoff beard. He wasn't particularly tall compared to his teammates, but felt like he was firmly built. He examined the bulky equipment all over his body. Roger was wearing shoulder pads and all sorts of stuff on his legs. He could feel a jockstrap underneath all the layers and he was already a bit sweaty just from all the layers.
Finally, the team took the ice and Roger felt amazing gliding around the ice. He was skating backwards, making quick turns and couldn't believe how fast he could move on the ice. The game got underway. As Roger was sitting on the bench, the Ducks scored the first goal. Not a good start. Roger went out to take the next faceoff. He won it, but was careful to quickly give the puck away to the Senators. As he skated near the side of the ice, Roger got slammed into the boards.
Roger was a bit shaken up and skated off the ice. The next time he got back on the ice, he had a chance to put on a hit of his own and laid a Senator into the boards. Wow, Roger thought, that was amazing! He was so powerful!
Roger kept going the rest of the game, usually subtly giving up the puck whenever he had a chance, missing passes and sending shots wide. He had a couple of good scoring chances, but was careful to shoot right at the defender. The Ducks scored another goal while he was off the ice and were up 2-0.
The Senators finally scored in the second period after Roger gave up the puck, but soon after that, Roger watched from the bench as the Senators scored against themselves. Oh no, thought Roger, these guys can't do anything right. Before Roger could get back on the ice, the Senators scored and Roger tried to hide his smile as his disheartened teammates came back to the bench.
Roger was back on the ice and the Senators had the puck, but they gave it up to one of his Ducks teammates and before Roger could get involved in the play, the Ducks had scored to go up 4-2.
Things weren't going well at all for Roger now. He kept giving up the puck, but the Senators just couldn't score. The Ducks scored twice more while he was on the bench and it became pretty clear that they were winning the game. Roger's teammates were giddy and Roger tried not to stand out by masking his disappointment. He had such high hopes about this whole scheme, but maybe this wasn't going to work. Maybe he couldn't really change the outcome of a game as just one player.
Meanwhile, the excitement on the bench and in the arena reached a fevered pitch. The crowd noise was deafening as the clock ticked down and the bench erupted as the final horn sounded. Roger skated on to the ice and was caught up in a mob of his teammates. There were big strong guys covered in sweat jumping all over him, cheering and yelling. Roger stood with his teammates watching as the award ceremony got underway. He ended up hugging just about everyone on the team. Roger was still disappointed that he had screwed up his bet, but he was going to get to hold the Stanley Cup! As he skated up to grab it from his teammate, he could barely skate straight.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" yelled Mark. "You cost me twenty bucks."
Roger looked down at himself and saw his own slender frame.
"I cost myself fifty bucks," said Roger. "Look, I tried, but I'm not sure this is going to work. There are like 15 other guys on the team. I could only do so much."
"Whatever," said Mark. "If you wanted to go skate around as an NHL player you should have just told me and saved me the money."
"I'm sorry," said Roger. "I told you I tried."
Roger got up to leave, but felt dizzy as he stood up and realized he was still holding the rod in his hand. He looked over at a still angry Mark. Uh-oh, he thought.