Chapter Text
Puck had an unfortunate name, especially as an intern working in the field of hockey. As if all the fuck-Puck jokes in the high school were not enough, he had to go and join an organization where his name had even more jokes attached to it.
He was also not actually a hockey player, despite the name his father had saddled him with. He was a twenty-two year old communications major with a caffeine habit and a chronic inability to look away from his phone. His job at the NHL head office was supposed to be simple: curate "Engaging Content" for the league’s social media channels to prove that NHL was definitely as cool as the NBA.
He'd yet to realize it, but his day was about to become even more unfortunate than his name. A while in the future he'd be able to turn it around, but that is for future-Puck. Present-Puck was about to fuck up in such a colossal way that it was going to alter the cultural fabric of professional hockey.
He was supposed to hype up the most popular rivalry in the NHL. The cutthroat battle for dominance between Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov sold the tickets, sold the merch, and kept everyone talking online about it. It was one of the easiest parts of his job. Hollander and Rozanov provided enough material themselves.
All he had to do was make some posts to set fans' blood on fire and voila! Engagement!
That was also what he was supposed to do now.
He was already on his third cup of coffee, standing in the NHL Digital Marketing bullpen. It was an open plan nightmare of glass walls, motivational posters, and teams whose thoughts always screamed KPI, KPI, and KPI. His badge still said DIGITAL MARKETING-TEMP. It made him invisible to most of the people here. But those days were about to end. He just didn't know it yet.
Behind him he could already hear Brad, one of his co-workers, talking about something related to synergy and other buzzwords they all pretended to speak seriously but wailed about in their hearts. Brad was loud. But Puck had learned how to tune him out.
The Stanley Cup had been handed over to Boston before the league pivoted to the Awards Season. Awards week meant speeches, sponsorships, highlight reels, and the desperate need to pretend hockey didn’t vanish the second the season ended.
At 9:12 a.m., his supervisor, Melissa, appeared at his shoulder.
“We need something spicy for tonight,” she said. "Gotta keep everyone engaged. Do something with Hollander and Rozanov. Your last post was good but we need better."
“Of course,” Puck said, as if he wasn't already gonna do it.
Melissa tapped her tablet, barely paying any attention to him now that she'd said what she came to say.
He was used to it. He was mostly invisible anyway.
He turned back to his screen.
He pulled up the asset library. There were dozens of approved photos: Shane Hollander mid-skate, jaw clenched; Ilya Rozanov smirking after a goal; the two of them colliding at the boards in perfect, violent symmetry.
Puck dragged one image into the draft window. Then another.
All he had to do was edit them, slap some rivalry-esque words, and fans would be off in the comments supporting their favorite.
On the left side was Hollander, eyes locked, mouth set, something that fans would call dark and focused in his expression.
Right side was Rozanov, half-smile sharp as a blade. That smile made half of the people swoon and the other half wanted to punch his face.
Puck paused. He looked at how the images looked, both rivals looked like they were staring into the other's soul with a look of deep intensity. It was the look of two titans ready to duke it out.
Even he had to take another look. It was good work from him. The image was gonna make rounds, he knew it.
Brad laughed too loudly behind him, and someone said deliverables. Puck snapped out of it and remembered that he had work to do.
He typed a caption.
Some rivalries are more intense than the others. #NHL #Rozanov #Hollander
He added a flame emoji, deleted it, added a hockey stick instead. He scheduled the post for 6:30 p.m. It was prime engagement time.
There.
Done.
By 7:42 p.m., Puck’s phone started vibrating like it was possessed.
He ignored it. Interns were not paid to panic.
By 7:47 p.m., Melissa was standing at his desk again, very still. He spared a moment for his wish to be at home. He didn't like the hours if that wasn't clear enough.
“Puck,” she said carefully. “What is this?” She turned her tablet toward him.
The post was live.
The likes were climbing in a way Puck had never seen. Comments were moving too fast to read. Reposts were doubling every refresh.
ilya's lovechild @puckdropper87:
oh they’re in LOVE love
It had already been favorited over ten thousand times.
Below it, the replies multiplied faster than Puck could scroll.
larry forever @stylinsonstyle:
enemies to lovers speedrun omg #hollanov
midnight memories @mrsmalik
@stylinsonstyle wtf is wrong with you larries? gtfo here. keep this away from nhl istg you guys are deranged
bruins beers @rozfanno1
why is the nhl posting this like it’s a romcom trailer? im SAT tho 🔥🔥🔥
stanley winners @bruinsfaithful23:
can we get a trigger warning before you post YEARNING 😩 i cant believe i never saw this ahhhh my eyes are open
hockey for life @nofucksgiven
@bruinsfaithful23 yessss someone give a warning for insanity! #let_men_be_enemies_in_peace
their RIVALS!
stanley winners @bruinsfaithful23
@nofucksgiven first learn to spell before you pop off idiot and if my eNeMy looked at me like that i'd fuck him to the alter
coffee addict @oldtimehockey44:
can we not do this weird shipping thing. it’s just hockey.
swiftie for life @blankspacebaby:
@oldtimehockey44 then mute the word and keep scrolling like an adult
shane's left tit @sticksidebeauty:
@oldtimehockey44 no one made u read it bestie. you can always click back. hope it helps
Someone had quote-tweeted the post with a screenshot and a caption.
Bella @cellyqueen:
not the league accidentally hard-launching a ship during awards week 💀
need sleep @forecheckthis:
“some rivalries are more intense than the others” yeah man we can TELL
There were gifs now. Lots of gifs.
A grainy clip of Shane and Ilya colliding at the boards, slowed down until it looked almost tender.
no 1 hockey player scott hunter @glassjawed:
if my rival looked at me like that HR would get involved 😏
Someone replied directly to the NHL account.
ottawa will win @hotstickhockey:
be honest how long did it take u guys to realize what this looked like
Puck scrolled. His hands were sweating.
A new reply jumped to the top as it crossed another engagement threshold.
Someone tagged the players directly.
Brandom @brandom:
@shanehollander @ilyarozanov blink twice if the league made you post this
Puck stopped scrolling. The replies were still coming. The refresh wheel spun, and when it loaded again, there were hundreds more.
Somewhere in the flood, a new hashtag started repeating often enough to feel inevitable.
#Hollanov
Trending no. 1 in Canada