Archive of Our Own

The first time Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov crossed paths, at age 17, it wasn’t exactly a meet-cute. “I found him smoking in the parking lot before World Juniors,” recalls Mr. Hollander. “I told him he wasn’t allowed to smoke there. Then I said he was an awesome player, and he told me I wouldn’t be so nice when his team beat mine.” And Mr. Rozanov’s Russian team did, in fact, beat Mr. Hollander’s Team Canada to win the championship that year, setting up a much-touted rivalry that was only heightened when Mr. Rozanov was drafted first and Mr. Hollander second in the MLH draft the following year. Mr. Rozanov went to the Boston Bears and Mr. Hollander to the Bears’ longtime rival, the Montreal Metros.

“The league loved to play up the rivalry,” Mr. Hollander said. “And the media.” They would be asked about each other constantly, especially as Mr. Rozanov’s natural charm and swagger drew reporters’ attention. But the rivals also drew each other’s attention, in ways that were hard to admit to themselves at first.

“I say, Shane made me curious,” Mr. Rozanov said. “Very pretty, with his freckles. Good player, always a challenge to play against. Not challenge for me, of course,” he added with a wink, earning himself an elbow from Mr. Hollander. The rivalry dies hard, it seems.

“Obviously Ilya is a great hockey player,” Mr. Hollander said. “What so many people don’t realize is. he’s such a great person. The way he is on the ice, with the media, a lot of it is just an act. He’s so caring and loyal. He’s great with kids and he just loses his mind over dogs. My parents joke that he’s their favorite son now, but I’m not sure it’s really a joke. And I know I also have a reputation for being someone pretty serious, and he helps keep me from getting too intense. We’re a good balance for each other.” However, for many years Mr. Hollander had tried to ignore his sexuality, dating women - including, famously, X-Squad star Rose Landry.

“Rose actually was really supportive when I was finally figuring things out,” he said. While neither man has publicly said yet when they first began their relationship, both are willing to say that it was after Mr. Hollander and Ms. Landry split up, in 2017, that things became more serious.

“My father passed away, and Shane called me several times when I was still in Russia [for the funeral],” Mr. Rozanov said. “He wanted to check on me, hear how I was feeling. I could see he really cared about me.” When Mr. Hollander was injured on the ice in a game between their teams several weeks later, Mr. Rozanov was clearly shaken and concerned. “It is still hard to think about. No one knew what we were for each other, and I did not know if Shane was okay.” Mr. Hollander was taken to the hospital with a concussion and fractured collarbone, and fortunately made a full recovery.

Still, committing to each other felt impossible. They played for rival teams, saw each other only a handful of times per year, and simply coming out in an often hostile sport like hockey felt impossible - much less revealing a romantic relationship with your rival. Both credit Scott Hunter’s famous coming out, kissing his boyfriend on the ice after winning the Stanley Cup, with inspiring them to take the next step. “When I saw Hunter, it made me want to be brave,” says Mr. Rozanov. “I called Shane and said, I am coming to the cottage.” They spent the rest of the summer together at Mr. Hollander’s cottage in rural Quebec, revealing their relationship to Mr. Hollander’s parents and then later to a handful of trusted friends. They began a charitable foundation together, the Irina Foundation, focused on mental health issues. The charity is named after Mr. Rozanov’s mother, who took her own life when he was young.

Mr. Rozanov, now 30, sought a trade to the Ottawa Centaurs, where he is now the team captain. Prior to that he had been a member and then captain of the Boston Bears. He is from Moscow, Russia, and moved to the United States to join the MLH when he was drafted by the Bears at age 17.

Mr. Hollander, also now 30, grew up in Ottawa. He was drafted by the Montreal Metros at age 17 and has played with them since, serving as the captain for the past seven seasons. He has also done modeling and has multiple brand sponsorships, including Rolex and Reebok.

Mr. Rozanov’s move to the much lower-ranked Centaurs surprised and puzzled most of the hockey world, who didn’t yet realize he was moving to be closer to his partner. They had originally planned to stay closeted until they retired - possibly a decade or more into the future. But after the Centaurs’ team plane had to make an emergency landing this past January due to an engine fire, that changed.

“I had been the one more hesitant to go public,” Mr. Hollander said. “I was scared. But after what happened with the plane, I realized I should be more scared of something happening to Ilya, and of living in secret for too long.” When Mr. Rozanov returned from that road trip, Mr. Hollander surprised him with a proposal at his home - dozens of candles (“electric!” he clarified) scattered around the living room, and a ring. They planned to go public this summer. That timeline was moved up this past March, when a video made by Mr. Hollander’s best friend and teammate, Hayden Pike, accidentally caught the couple kissing in the background.

Both men say that the ensuing media firestorm and uncomfortable conversations with the league, teammates, and friends were difficult. But they were also touched by the amount of support they received. After controversy over Mr. Hollander falling during a game against Mr. Rozanov - both insist that they compete vigorously against each other on the ice, and their record bears that out - Mr. Hollander did not renew his contract with Montreal. Beginning this coming season, the famed rivals will finally play on the same team, the Ottawa Centaurs.

And going through that experience together helped the two of them clarify what they wanted. They hadn’t yet set a wedding date, until they impulsively did - with just a couple months’ notice, scheduled right before they returned to running their annual summer charity hockey camps.

At their wedding July 6th, which they held in the backyard of their newly shared home in Ottawa, the two were “honestly kind of shocked” at how many people - almost a hundred - showed up, Mr. Hollander said. “When I looked out the window at all the people in the backyard, I couldn’t believe it.” They had kept the wedding planning very casual, texting invites and not even collecting RSVPs.

“I text my team, I text my friends, I text my dog’s hotel,” Mr. Rozanov said with a laugh. “I didn’t know they would all come!” The owners of their dog Anya’s boarding kennel did indeed attend, and even brought her a burgundy bow, to match Mr. Rozanov’s burgundy suit. Mr. Hollander wore a light gray suit with a light blue tie.

The wedding planning was so casual, in fact, that they had neither chairs nor food (other than cake) for their guests, which led to a lot of ribbing from their hockey player guests - a crowd famous for their “chirps”. “Bood says he is going to send us dry cleaning bill for his suit,” Mr Rozanov said wryly, referring to his Ottawa alternate captain Zane Boodram. “I told him, he falls on the ice so much, he shouldn’t mind spending a little more time on the ground.”

Mr. Hollander admitted that his mother (and manager), Yuna Hollander, was not pleased. “She strung all these cute lights up around, and made sure we had flowers, so she was kind of pissed that we didn’t tell her we hadn’t gotten any chairs.”

With their guests gathered standing around them, the couple said short, standard vows in front of Andrea McLean, a local justice of the peace, and then mingled with their guests the rest of the evening. Mr. Hollander’s past girlfriend Rose Landry was in attendance, and posted a photo on Instagram of the two of them together captioned, “Congrats to my favorite gay ex-boyfriend!” Scott Hunter and his now-husband Kip Grady also attended.

A group of their Centaurs teammates ordered dozens of pizzas for delivery, and ran out to pick up cases of beer. At Mrs. Hollander’s request - “She said a first dance was traditional, and after the chairs thing we couldn’t really say no,” Mr. Hollander said - the couple took to the lawn with a first dance to Rihanna’s “Diamonds”. The party went late into the night, and when a group of guests started playing bocce, Mr. Rozanov and Mr. Hollander both jumped in to play.

“I am more drunk than Shane, but I will still win!” Mr. Rozanov proclaimed.

“In your dreams,” Mr. Hollander retorted, getting ready to roll, and was then captured for a kiss by Mr. Rozanov - still his rival and now, also, his husband.