The Hunter's Burden

By Jamie McKinven

The Hunter's Burden, a two act play written by Jamie McKinven (author of "Tales from the Bus Leagues" and "So You Want Your Kid to Play Pro Hockey?"), follows the Birmingham Brahmas, a minor league hockey team starving for relevance in the midst of an economic downturn. Led by their grizzled captain, Charlie Magill, and well-travelled coach, Jack Norton, the Brahmas walk a fine line between budding promise and swift demise in the dog-eat-dog world of minor league sports. An endless string of pranks, grumpy trainers and eccentric goalies highlight this hilarious ride through hockey’s unique culture.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jamie McKinven
• Release date: May 30, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370592739

Jamie McKinven

Jamie McKinven, author of “So You Want Your Kid to Play Pro Hockey?” and "Tales from the Bus Leagues," is a former professional hockey player who played in the NCAA, ECHL, Central Hockey League and Europe. After hanging up the blades, McKinven spent parts of four years coaching at the Jr. A level and is currently heavily involved in skill development. Over his career, McKinven scratched and clawed, sacrificed and laid it all on the line only to fall short of playing in the NHL, experiencing his ultimate dream. Along the way, while riding the buses, living paycheque to paycheque and spending the summers living in his grandmother’s basement, he discovered a great deal about life, love and the value of following through on a dream. Jamie McKinven was a star as well as a healthy scratch. He won a championship and finished dead last. Scored an overtime winner and cost his team a game, and through it all, experienced a lifetime of memories that spanned two continents, seven countries and eight leagues.

Book preview

THE HUNTER’S BURDEN

A Comedy/Drama Play

by

Jamie McKinven

Copyright © JAMIE MCKINVEN 2014

CHARACTERS

CHARLIE MAGILL

Male, 35. Team leader. Charismatic. Likeable.

JACK NORTON

Male, 55 – 65. Head Coach. Well-travelled. Level-headed.

STICKSY MCGAVIN

Male, 65 – 75. Team Trainer. Cantankerous. Witty.

MOOSE MATHERS

Male, 30 – 35. Team Tough Guy. Burly. Playful. Loyal.

TRENT HUXLEY

Male, 25. Team clown. Fun-loving, playful, energetic.

LANCE MICHAELS

Male, 26. Womanizer. Prankster. Fun-loving and carefree.

DRAKE CARMODY

Male, 19. Rookie call up. Naïve, timid, well-mannered.

MIKKO KOISTINEN

Male, 23. Finnish Goalie. Stylish. Eccentric. Quiet.

VERONICA STEVENS

Female, 25 - 30. Local radio station reporter. Attractive. Ambitious.

GERRY HAMLIN

Male, 65. Local newspaper reporter. Shifty. Manipulative. Untrustworthy.

GLORIA STURDIVANT

Female, 52. Team Owner. Strong-willed. Ambitious. Heartless.

TIME - The present.

SETTING - A minor league hockey team dressing room / coach’s office.

THE HUNTER’S BURDEN

ACT 1

SCENE 1

The curtain rises and we see a dark, empty dressing room. A spotlight is trained on CHARLIE MAGILL’s stall in the centre of the room. To the right side of the stage is Coach Jack Norton’s office. The office is blacked out and two men can be seen sitting in the room (Jack Norton and team trainer Sticksy McGavin).

CHARLIE enters from STAGE LEFT

Charlie walks into the dressing room wearing a tailored suit and looking dapper. He walks over to his stall, puts a can of Red Bull on the top shelf and sits down. Facing the audience, Charlie begins his monologue. Throughout the monologue, Charlie is changing out of his suit and into his under gear.

CHARLIE

There is something about the musty smell of a dressing room that gives me goose bumps. It’s the anticipation of greatness. In hockey there are rules, referees and penalties for those who break the law, but, it’s what’s beneath the surface that defines the culture of hockey. You see, hockey maintains a set of unwritten rules: The Code, as it is. Those who break these sacred and treasured rules will face a different judge, jury and executioner. Hockey is the only sport where you can’t run out of bounds. It’s the fastest game on two feet and combines grace, honour and aggression. Hockey represents the simulation of war in the most deadliest of conditions. Spawned on a tundra landscape amid conditions that claimed many of frontier immigrants, hockey represents prosperity from poverty; a rise from the ashes. It’s the sport for the average-sized human being that values intelligence as equally as brawn. It lifts spirits and harvests lifelong dreams. Where an undersized, blonde-haired kid from a small farming community can rise up to international fame and riches beyond belief. It’s a unifying constant that brings people from all walks of life and from different beliefs and backgrounds together over a beer or a hot cup of coffee. In front of the TV on a Saturday night, a Conservative and a Liberal can join together in unison, screaming expletives at a striped-shirted man named Von Hellamond. People always ask me what I love about hockey and this is it. It’s all the subtleties of the sport. The smells, the pain, the nervousness before every game and the exhilaration you experience when you score a big goal or deliver a breathtaking hit. It’s a rush of life through your body that reminds you why you