Today, I welcome Linda O’Connor, and she shares five fun hockey facts…say that fast three times! Be sure and check out her books, especially the boxed set. Also, follow her on social media…and always, always—review the books you read!!
Linda O’Connor, author of The Perfectly Series and In the Game Hockey Romance series.
Linda O’Connor started writing a few years ago when she needed a creative outlet other than subtly rearranging the displays at the local home décor store. It turns out she loves writing romantic comedies and has a few more stories to tell. When not writing, she’s a physician at an Urgent Care Clinic (well, even when she is writing she’s a physician, and it shows up in her stories 😀 ). She hangs out at http://www.lindaoconnor.net.
Laugh every day. Love every minute.
My latest release is a hockey romance, so to celebrate, I thought I’d share 5 fun facts about hockey!
1. Hockey pucks are three inches in diameter. They’re frozen before each game so that they don’t bounce during the game. In the old days, they used frozen cow poop. Bet the goalies are happy with that upgrade!
2. Goalies can’t cross the centre line. Former Philadelphia Flyers goalie Ron Hextall was the first goaltender to score a goal by shooting the puck down the ice and into the other team’s net.
3. Twelve women have their names engraved on the Stanley Cup, either as owners or team executives.
4. Canadian goaltender Manon Rhéaume was the first – and only –woman to play in the NHL. She laced up for two exhibition games with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
5. At the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Trent Evans embedded a loonie at centre ice to bring luck to Canada’s men’s and women’s hockey teams. Both brought home gold – it was a lucky loonie! (We needed one at the 2018 games.:D Congrats to the USA Women’s team for winning gold this year!
Dr. Danni Angelo is the team physician for the Clarington Quakes hockey team. She’s worked hard to earn the players’ respect, but the new coach, Trey Mason, is stirring things up, and Danni’s worried her job may be in jeopardy.
Trey finds Danni…distracting. Beauty, brains, and sexy moves on the ice have him uncomfortably attracted. He’s the new guy on the block. He has a reputation to build and a standard to set. The last thing he needs is a complication.
When the team spirals out of control and Danni and Trey get caught up in a drug scandal, things heat up on and off the ice. It’s a whole new game plan…Behind the Bench.
Excerpt
Danni watched the tail end of the in-house broadcast of the news conference and flicked off the screen. How could you not be impressed with that? Trey Mason was confident and eloquent, and spoke in a relaxed and engaging way. The beach-bum blond hair, sculpted cheekbones, and easy smile would win over the non-hockey fans, and his passion and knowledge of the game would impress the followers. He had it all, and landing in a town like Clarington must be a dream come true. For him.
And a nightmare for her.
She had worked part-time as the team physician for the Clarington Earthquakes, Quakes for short, for the past three years. It had taken time to gain the players’ confidence. Being a female physician for a men’s hockey team hadn’t been easy, but she’d built a solid professional relationship.
She loved everything about the job – the energy of the games, working with high-level athletes, and a new clinic in a state-of-the-art arena. She certainly didn’t want it to change because of a new head coach.
Trey Mason couldn’t fire her. Theoretically. That would be up to the owners of the team. He could, however, make her life miserable. And if there was friction between them, it would affect the players, and ultimately, what affected the players influenced the owners. There were two other physicians who shared the job with her and a few more who would be eager to take it on.
He, on the other hand, could be set for a long run if he delivered half of what he’d promised today. She certainly hadn’t seen any charm when he’d walked into the pressroom, and yet it came out in spades when he spoke. She could only hope that her initial impression had been wrong, because between the two of them, it wasn’t likely that he’d be leaving any time soon. Bottom line – she needed to suck it up and get along with the new guy. She sighed. She hated sucking up. She’d thought she was done with that. Apparently not. She shook her head and gritted her teeth. Time to smile and play nice.
Buy links:
Behind the Bench is part of the Coming in Hot: Rescue Me medical romance collection.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07942MKP1
Website: http://www.lindaoconnor.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LindaOConnorAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LindaOConnor98
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Linda-OConnor/e/B00S7CNLEA
Newsletter Sign up : http://www.lindaoconnor.net/contact/
Thanks so much for hosting me, Ann! I really enjoyed writing this book and combining medicine and hockey. It’s fun to spotlight it. Your website is beautiful and relaxing.
My pleasure. I love your cover…and the boxed set cover, as well. :+)