But to his surprise, both his coach and Eli were fairly forgiving in the locker room, if subdued.
"They just played better hockey than us," Eli said, looking over the irate scowls of his teammates. "But tonight was one night. We've got over seventy games left. If we keep up the rest of the year winning four of five, things won't look too bad, eh?"
That got a laugh out of the Breakers. That would set a league all-time win record. Not happening.
But even if not a literal suggestion, the words had the intended effect. Despite the rough loss, almost everyone appeared to just shake it off by the time they hit the showers.
Everyone except Nikita Tarasov.
Nikita plowed into the showers like a bulldozer. He barely said a word to anyone. When Coach Quincey and Eli rounded up players for post- game media appearances, Nikita flat out refused.
Blair didn't think that was such a bad idea.
He was moderately concerned about what Nikita would actually say.
