Cannon

CANNON PITTSBURGH TITANS BySAWYER BENNETT All Rights Reserved. Copyright © 2023 by Sawyer Bennett Kindle Edition Published by Big Dog Books This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. No part of this book can be reproduced in any form or by electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without the express written permission of the author. The only exception is by a reviewer who may quote short excerpts in a review. Find Sawyer on the web! sawyerbennett.com www.twitter.com/bennettbooks www.facebook.com/bennettbooks Table of Contents Title Page Copyright Page Foreword Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 About the Author Foreword Dear Readers, Thank you for continuing on this journey with me as we fall in love with another Pittsburgh Titan. This time you’re getting Cannon’s story and the new head coach is going to have you fanning yourself as well as tugging at your heartstrings a bit. If you read Drake, you’ll see that Cannon’s story runs somewhat concurrently and you’ll recognize some things. If you didn’t read Drake, no worries. As always, all of my books can be read as complete standalones. It’s always been fairly easy for me to write about professional hockey not only from my viewing experience, but also having a friend that’s a former Carolina Hurricane player. However, I found myself scratching my head on what exactly head coaches do. I’d like to thank Jack Han for his help with Cannon. Jack is an NHL analyst, worked in operations for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and is a former AHL coach, among other things. He has an amazing Substack called The Hockey Tactics newsletter and spent a lot of his personal time giving me an insider’s view into what NHL coaches do at all levels. I’m dedicating Cannon to him with much appreciation for his insight and knowledge to help make this book more than just a romance!!! xoxo, Sawyer CHAPTER 1 Cannon Player. Minor league coach. Coach of the Pittsburgh Titans. It’s been a hell of a journey, but I’m where I’m supposed to be, no matter what happened to get me here. It’s the third game of the regular season. We won our first one, which was in Boston, but lost to Minnesota at home the day before yesterday. Not how I wanted to start my new coaching career with the Titans, but I’m a transformative leader, using motivation and inspiration to effectuate innovation. A lot of old-style coaching leans toward expecting impossible standards of perfection and then aiming ridicule for mistakes and errors. My understanding is, this team’s former coach, Matt Keller, was quite the asshole. I am the opposite. I tend to take the position that failure is an intrinsic part of growth and improvement. Allowing failure helps players bounce back quicker rather than leading them to berate themselves for not reaching an impossible standard of perfection. It might sound like my coaching style is too soft, but no one can argue with my record. That’s why Brienne Norcross, the owner of the Titans, and Callum Derringer, the general manager, hired me. The loss to Minnesota hurt, but we’ve moved on. My assistant coaches have been working hard running five-on-fives to improve play and one-on-ones with the clips provided by the video coaches to address individual needs. I’m a delegator, as many good head coaches are. It means letting go of control, which isn’t easy for some. But when I moved from player to coach, I learned very quickly that the head coach position has little to do with actually drilling down into specifics and more to do with keeping all the cogs of the monstrous wheel moving. It’s why I’ve been at the arena preparing for our game against the Edmonton Grizzlies since six thirty this morning. I met with my assistant coaches, who, in turn, went to handle meetings with the equipment and medical staff. I moved on to a meeting with the media relations staff to discuss relevant information about tonight’s game. After that, it was back with the assistant coaches for updates on injured players. From there, I had pre-scout meetings and then reviewed video clips and analyzed the special teams’ objectives. The assistant coaches ran the mid-morning skate, although I watched. Light drills for skill work and special teams practice, especially the power play. After that, the other coaches cut loose for a few hours, but I stayed at the arena, going over five-on-five video reviews and taking another dive into the pre-scout reports to see if anything else came to mind. I made notes and suggestions for the assistant coaches, who in turn parceled out that information to the various lines, special teams, and the players individually. Two hours before the puck was set to drop, we had our final round of meetings with a more focused emphasis on power plays and penalty kills. The assistant coaches addressed the team with a review of our entire game plan, focusing on our identity as a group and how we need to play as a team. I listened in, but that’s one of the big things I delegate. It’s essential for everyone to know it’s not my show but that the coaching staff is a cohesive unit. And now, it’s game time. We’ve had our pregame warm-up, and in these last few minutes before we go out for the puck drop, it’s my job to wrap it all up with some inspiration and hype. “We’ve got an even matchup tonight.” We’re in