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Gilbert Comeau has been a Montreal Voyager for 9 years and for 6 of those years he had shared the ice with Shane Hollander. Despite how odd he had found Hollzy as a rookie it hadn’t stopped some part of his brain from immediately deciding that the baby hockey prodigy was his to protect now- and he certainly hadn’t gotten any less determined to do so as the years went on.
22 year old Gil- the one that had only heard of Shane Hollander from world juniors and draft rumours- had not been the best man. He was a young, white, professional hockey player and anyone with half a brain can tell you how badly homophobia, racism and all forms of bigotry run rampant in men’s hockey.
He thinks the worst part about it (looking back now) was that this type of behaviour was so normalized that he hadn’t even really noticed what he was saying to people, both on the ice and in the locker room.
And then Shane Hollander, Canada’s Golden Boy, Number 2 Overall of the 2010 draft had shown up in Montreal for preseason.
=+=
Now- Comeau had not kept his spot on Montreal’s line up for the last 3 years by luck. He may not be as smart as Hollzy or as observant as Miitty, but he was certainly aware enough to catch their 18 year-old rookie flinching the first time someone said a slur in the locker room like he had truly believed one of his own teammates was about to attack him.
The realization had hit Gil in the chest like he’d been taken into the boards by a Boston Raider. This kid- their kid- who they were relying on to drag the organization back to glory after years of missing the playoffs, was afraid of them. Gil didn’t want anyone to be afraid of him, especially not a kid (because no matter how good at hockey he was, at the end of the day Shane was, in fact, a kid).
In the end, that first moment, was really what had sent Gil down his path of self-redemption. He’d gotten too comfortable not thinking about the words that came out of his mouth in the echo-chamber of a locker room where everyone looked and acted the same, with very few exceptions.
So, after that first day of training camp Gil had gone up to Hollzy and introduced himself officially, told him how happy he was to have him there, and then gave the kid his number and told him if he needed absolutely anything while he was adjusting, to reach out and let him know. Shane had been characteristically awkward and thankful about it so Gil had just grinned and pat him on the shoulder and let him get on his way.
Gil kept a close eye on Hollzy, and to a lesser extent their other rookie Hayden Pike, for the rest of camp and into preseason. There were a few other moments where Coach or one of the other players would mouth off in a homophonic or racist way and Shane had the same reaction everytime. Luckily, on the hockey side of things the kid was doing amazing. He had gelled with Pike and Laine as his linemates immediately, as well as J.J. back on defence. The kid was definitely everything he had cracked up to be and for the first time in years Gil truly believed that this team could go all the way.
After that first day of camp Gil had made sure to crackdown on his own chirping and mindless comments and had even been doing research in an effort to educate himself and be better for his teammate. He had also made decent headway on stopping some of his teammates chirping, as well as endearing himself to Shane. Comeau was an enforcer at his core, a large, strong defencemen who’s priority was to protect his teammates, and he’d believed since all the way back in highschool that that should apply off the ice and not just on. So, he made sure to talk to Shane, to try to include him in conversations and team bonding even though Shane had very little interest in clubs and bars compared to the rest of the team. Instead, he had taken to inviting him to his house or out for lunch and regularly text the kid to make sure he was adjusting alright to being in the show and living on his own for the first time.
Gil was feeling pretty good about his progress both on himself and with looking out for Hollzy when he was suddenly reminded that it couldn’t just be him.
They had just won their last preseason game two days before and were at practice gearing up for their home opener when it happened. Coach was obviously going through something at home, because practice had gone off quite well and there was no reason for him to be freaking out at them like this to be found in the building. He had been spewing threats about benching and bag skates, slinging slurs and insults left and right and Gil noticed out of the corner of his eye how Hollzy had flinched again. Then he looked closer, and there was that typical closed off look on Shane’s face, plus a dead look in Boizy’s eyes and Gil hated himself all over again because why had he let this go on when he had two teammates he should be standing up for- against their Coach be damned- he’s supposed to be better than this.
Piker had subtly put himself in front of both Hollzy and Boizy with a wary look in his eyes and Gil decided enough was enough. Something had to be done and he was done leaving it to the children to handle. Coach had finally worn himself out and the team had begun undressing, talking lightly amongst themselves about plans for the rest of the day, and Gil made up his mind about how he was going to handle this.
After showering and changing, Gil made his way over to the corner the rookies had claimed as their own and checked in with the three of them (J.J. may have been in his sophomore season but he was still one of Gil’s rookies damn it). Making small talk he subtly observed all of them until it seemed like they’d levelled out and he let them head off after turning down the invitation to join them for lunch.
Once the kids were out of the locker room Gil had turned and made his way to his captain and hauled him into an unoccupied corner of the room with an uncharacteristically serious look on his face.
“What’s going on Coms? Is everything okay?” Franzy asked.
Gil sighed, responding in a low voice, “We need a team meeting without the rookies, invite Boizy he’s technically not a rookie, but keep Hollzy and Piker out of it for now. I can host everyone at my place tomorrow after practice.”
“Okay, we can do that. Captain’s secrecy rules I assume? Since you clearly don’t want to tell me what’s up in here?”
“Yeah exactly. I’ll fill you in tomorrow” Gil nodded before turning away to collect his gear and leave the facility. By the time he got out to his car and tossed his gear in the back he had a text waiting.
Mtl Vets
Franzy (Cap): team meeting at Coms place tomorrow after practice- don’t tell the rooks or the coaches- Captains Secrecy in effect
The rest of the team was responding, confirming they’d be there and questioning the reason for the meeting with various levels of concern. Franzy had sent one follow-up message, that Comeau was the one who requested the meeting and that everything would be sorted tomorrow. When Draps and Laine both then turned their concerns towards Gil he sent one message to the chat
coms: i’ll tell y’all everything tomorrow at my place but i think we have a team culture problem we have to get a handle on now if we ever want to play to our full potential
=+=
The meeting had gone relatively well. Captain’s Secrecy was something the Voyagers had done before Gil had ever been there, though he didn’t know if any of the other teams in the league had anything similar.
Captain’s Secrecy was a team rule that said that their captain could call a meeting of only players and anything discussed in that meeting was kept entirely in the room. No coaches, staff or trainers would ever hear about it and it wouldn’t even be passed on to any players not currently in the room.
Gil was standing in the middle of the living room with his arms crossed when the last of the team had finally settled down around the space. Franzy had given him about a second before the impatience finally got the better of all of them,
“So what are we doing here Coms? I know you wouldn’t ask me to call a secret meeting if you weren’t seriously worried about something, is everything okay?”
The rest of the team were watching him warily- Pat in particular, as Gil’s best friend, looked like he was expecting world-ending news to come out of his mouth.
“Nothing has happened yet, but i’ve been keeping an eye on Hollzy all of preseason, and I noticed something that might become a problem if we don’t make some changes.” Gil answered.
“What’s wrong with Holly?” a voice called out in concern, J.J. of course, Shane’s closest friend besides his fellow rookie Pike.
Gil put his hand up in a calming gesture, “Nothings wrong with Hollzy, something's wrong with us that’s getting to him. And I don’t know about you guys but I’m pretty sure that if we want to make it to the playoffs we need to make sure that he’s playing at his best, and to do that he needs to feel safe with us.”
“Okay, what are you saying Gil?” Franzy interrupted, “ because I would love to know whose ass I need to kick as captain for making my rookie feel unsafe with his team.”
“Alright, so I’ve been keeping my eye on Holly and Piker as our new rookies- like we do every year- and I noticed something. We all know Theriault’s an asshole, that’s not a new fact, but sometimes when he’s running his mouth Holly gets tenser about it than I thought was normal.
Then a couple days ago, someone said a slur in casual conversation and Hollzy flinched on the other side of the locker room like he was expecting someone to hit him. I don’t know about you guys but I don’t want to be the kind of person that a kid is afraid of, never mind the hockey prodigy that could genuinely turn us into a dynasty. We’ve all gotten way too comfortable running our mouths, saying fucked up shit. I’ve been trying to be better about it since I noticed, but it can’t be just me. Just because Coach is an asshole doesn’t mean we should be, and we shouldn’t feel okay with insulting people like that just because we don’t know anyone in those communities. The homophobia and racism have to stop, immediately, and J.J. I owe you an apology for not noticing the way Coach spoke to you before now too.” Gil turned to look at Boizy who seemed caught off guard at the conversation turning to him.
“Thanks Gilly, I appreciate the apology but I never expected you to notice. I was trying to make sure none of you did to be honest. He’s our head coach, I figured it was just easier to put my head down and not let it get to me. I agree that there’s some casual racism in the locker room that needs to be dealt with, but it’s not like any of you guys has ever gone after me like that. And I think you’re right about the homophobia too. It’s so common in the league but I don’t like realizing how awful I might have been- just because a lot of people say things like that doesn’t mean we should.” J.J. answered. A couple of the guys sitting near him clapped him on the shoulder or whispered low apologies.
“Okay,” Franzy clapped his hands, pulling the room’s attention back to their captain, “Thank you for bringing that to my attention Coms. Boizy I know he’s our Coach, but if Theriault is saying shit to you, you can always come and talk to me. I’m your captain, it’s my job to stand up for you, on and off the ice okay?” J.J nodded at him.
“Okay, now that that’s handled. Gilly has a point. We need to do better as a team, police yourselves, police each other. We are better than this, and we’re all capable of educating ourselves even if half of us barely passed high school.” that got chuckles going throughout the room, “Now, Gilly- you’re the one who noticed first- do you think there’s anything specific that got to Hollzy? Something to look out for, or something I should talk to him about?”
Gil sighed- this was the part of the meeting he had been dreading, he knew something had to be done but he didn’t want to put Hollzy in an akward spot or reveal information that wasn’t his to share.
“I’ve overheard Coach call him a diversity hire more than once, it’s like the man genuinely thinks it’s us that makes Hollzy look good and not the other way around. Maybe reach out to him about that, I’ve tried but I don’t think the kid believes me. Hearing it from his captain might help him actually believe that he’s a good player and that we enjoy having him here.”
The entire team were somewhere between shock and fury hearing what their fuckass coach had been saying to the kid. Mitty and Pat were having some sort of silent goalie conversation that looked like it might end with them ordering a hit. Gil decided he needed to keep talking before they actually left the room to do something that would end with both their goaltenders in prison.
“The second thing is just me speculating, and I don’t want anyone bringing it up to Hollzy.” he took a deep breath, “I think the kid likes guys. He hasn’t said anything to me but it’s the only reason I can think of for some of his reactions. Someone called someone else a cocksucker the other day and the kid flinched like he was expecting to get jumped.”
“Shit I think that was me,” Berkes hissed, “I’ll be better.”
“It’s okay Berkey you didn’t know, just don’t do it again. My point here though is that I think Hollzy is gay, or bi, or something like that- and I don’t think he knows. And before anyone gets up in arms or whatever- the kids not looking at anyone like that. Even if he does know he’s way too respectful and professional to try to come on to anyone in the locker room. Now, it doesn’t matter if Hollzy likes dick or not, he’s our teammate- our brother- and he’s a goddamn prodigy. Either way the comments have to stop.” he looked around the room for a moment, making eye contact with each of the guys before continuing,
“So, does anyone have a problem? Because you will be dealing with me if you do.”
Pat’s the first one to answer, “Of course not, I love that kid- and honestly I don’t care who he sleeps with when he keeps scoring goals and winning us games like he has.”
The rest of the team all give some form of agreement and Gil nods at Franzy in satisfaction. The team has been handled and no one turned out to secretly be a worse person than he’d thought they were- mission success.
Franzy took back control of the room one last time, “Alright, I’m glad to know my team are as good of people as I thought they were. So, here’s what we’re going to do now. No one says anything directly to Piker or Holly- it’s not like either of them have said anything in the room that needs to be addressed anyways. I’ll have a conversation with Hollander about Coach’s diversity comments and make sure he knows they’re not true. The rest of you are going to think through some of the things you say in the locker room and on the ice and remove anything offensive. I’m not telling you not to chirp, i’m telling you to make sure it’s actually chirping and not you throwing around slurs, okay?” Their captain looked around the room and seemed satisfied with the nods he got in return, “Alright, thank you all for coming remember the Secrecy rules, and hey, if anything this just means we all get more creative with our chirping. Have a good day off tomorrow and come back ready for the start of the season! I’ll see you all on Friday.”
And that was the official beginning of the Voyagers return to glory, and the start of the players becoming better teammates and better people.
=+=
Gil had known, or more accurately suspected, that Shane was gay for years but he didn’t get official confirmation until returning to Montreal for the start of Shane’s fourth season with the team. Franzy had retired at the end of the previous season, Shane had just been named captain, and the pressure was mounting already.
Because of that, when Shane had texted Gil and asked him to come over to his place for dinner before camp started the next day, he had assumed that he was looking for either advice or a safe space to vent his worries. What had happened instead was a nervous Hollzy flitting around his own kitchen for 20 minutes after Gil got there before blurting out, “I need to tell you something.” in a scared voice.
“Okay, anything you need to tell me Hollzy, it won’t change anything okay? You know i’ve got your back- if you need me to hide a body i’ll grab a shovel.”
That comment had Shane huffing a small laugh and Gil was happy to see the tension in his shoulders drop slightly. Hollzy took a deep breath before admitting in a small voice, “I’m gay.”
“Okay, that’s cool. Thank you for trusting me with that- I know hockey isn’t always the safest place for things like this.”
“I know it was you who changed the locker room Gilly,” Shane said and Gil’s surprise must have shown on his face because he continued, “No one said anything, and I learned about the Captains Secrecy thing in my second year which let me put the pieces together but I know you saw how I reacted to some of the stuff people said and you went out of your way to make them stop, so thank you. I knew I liked men in my rookie year and I was terrified of what would happen if anyone knew and you figured it out and made sure I would be safe in the locker room and I could never repay you for that, but when I finally accepted that I was gay and I didn’t actually also like women I wanted you to be one of the first people I told. I really can never thank you enough for what you did for me Gilly, but I hope you know I appreciate it.” Shane took a deep breath after finishing his rushed speech and Gil couldn’t stop himself from pulling the kid into a hug.
“Hollzy- Shane, from pretty much the day I met you as a rookie I decided that you were one of mine to protect. Not just because you’re a prodigy or because you got drafted to my team- but because you were a kind, respectful kid who was out of your depth and needed someone to help you out. You’re my captain yeah, but more than that you’re my little brother and I would kill a man to keep you safe. Yeah, I had a feeling that you might have liked guys but that never changed anything kid- I’m your enforcer, you can always trust me to have your back.”
“Now,” he leaned back to look Shane in the face, “who else knows? I’m assuming this has to stay somewhat secret because of Theriault and Crowell and I don’t want to screw up and say something I shouldn’t.”
“Yeah I definitely don’t want Coach to know- that would probably end my career- he already doesn’t think I deserve to be captain.” Shane laughed, but it was a little hollow and defeated and it made Gil want to clock every single member of management. “I told Hayden and J.J., and I told Hayden he could tell Jackie- so those are the only members of the team. I did come out to my parents this summer though so they also know.”
“Okay, that’s a good start for sure.” Gil nodded, “Do you want to tell the team? I can arrange a night at my house or something so no one from management hears anything. If you’re not ready for that no worries, but I know they’ll all be good about it.”
Shane nodded but stayed quiet for a moment like he always did when he was considering his options, “Yeah that would be good, thank you, maybe we could arrange it for the end of camp? I want to settle in as captain and meet our new rookies and our trades before I commit to anything but i definitely want the vets to know- Laine, Pat and Mitty at the very least.”
“Alright, that’s sounds good. And for the record kid? You’re going to be a great captain and I am so proud of how far you’ve come.”
“Thanks Gilly” Shane looked teary-eyed and it both warmed Gil’s heart and made him want to hurt every single person who’s ever made this kid doubt himself.
“Love you Holly. Now tell me about what sort of fresh hell you have planned for us at camp- as your pseudo older brother I demand pre-warning.” Shane practically cackled and the conversation shifted into the easy camaraderie of hockey.
And so they had their plan, and for once the hockey gods were on their side. Camp had gone well- the whole team knew Shane’s secret, and they were gearing up to have one of their best seasons yet.
=+=
Things changed again after the 2014 Sochi Olympics, Shane had gone to represent Canada along with J.J. and had come back different.
He had been nervous beforehand, confiding in Gil about what happened to people who were queer in Russia and how he was terrified of being found out. Then, he had made it home safe and sound with a silver medal in hand but he’d been slightly off ever since.
It wasn’t affecting his hockey- god no- but the entire team had noticed the way he’d seemed almost withdrawn and constantly watching his phone like he was waiting for something. When they faced Boston for the first time since the break it had gotten even worse. Now, most of the team knew about Shane’s “Boston Lily” who they knew (not that Shane had confirmed anything) was his semi-regular hookup who had a fake name in his phone to protect his secret. Gil was starting to think, and Draps and Mitts goalie intuition agreed with him, that whatever happened had to do with Shane’s not-boyfriend.
Gil, Pat, and Mitty ended up giving him two months before they finally ran out of patience and hauled Shane to Pat’s house for lunch one day after practice. They were getting on a flight to Edmonton for a west coast roadie in the morning and they were not leaving Montreal until they made Shane slightly less miserable damn it.
When pressed Shane admitted that he was being ghosted and that he both didn’t know what he’d done wrong, and was genuinely worried about the guy.
Draps had quietly asked him if he wanted one of them to try to get ahold of the guy, or if Shane wanted to give them any more details- but Shane had refused. He’d explained to them that the guy wasn’t out and couldn’t be because it wasn’t safe for him- and even though Shane knew his teammates were safe and would keep the secret he still didn’t feel comfortable outing someone else to them.
The three of them had taken this in stride, after reminding Shane that he wasn’t alone and could talk to them if he needed to, before the conversation changed to the rest of the season and how they were going to handle the absolutely insane run Boston had been on. It was like Rozanov had come back from Sochi possessed and they were almost guaranteed to meet Boston in the second round of the playoffs if their seasons kept progressing the way they were.
When Shane left to go home and pack for their flight the other three stayed drinking beer in Pat’s living room- debating about what they’d learned. It was almost an hour later when Mitty suddenly sat straight upright and turned towards him,
“Guys I just put something together.” Mitty looked wide-eyed, like someone had doused him with ice-water, “I think Hollzy’s hook-up is another hockey player.”
“What the hell are you talking about Mitty?” Pat asked, but he also looked like he was putting the pieces together.
“Think about it, they always meet up when we play Boston- regardless of what city it’s in. Plus Hollzy’s entire life is hockey why wouldn’t his love life be the same- it would also explain the extra level of secrecy, even though he already came out to us, he’s probably worried about how the team would react to him sleeping with the enemy.” Mitty was gesturing as he spoke like one of those detectives from a bad crime movie- like all he was missing was a corkboard and some red string. Gil would have laughed in his face if he wasn’t making so much sense.
“Okay so the fact that you just referred to the mystery man as ‘the enemy’ might be part of the problem Mitty” Pat said.
“Yeah but he might be right about the rest,” Gil said “I can’t be the only one putting the pieces together that Hollzy said it wasn’t safe for the guy to be out, along with the fact that the ghosting started right after Sochi. We all know what Russia’s like- and Boston just so happens to have a certain Russian captain who’s the only player in the league that gives Hollzy a challenge.”
“You don’t seriously think…”
“No Draps I think he’s right- of course Holly would go for the only person who can challenge him, who else would he be with?”
“Well shit,” Pat sighed “This just got a whole lot more complicated.”
The season continued, playoffs started, and despite their best efforts they once again lost in the second round.
Boston won the cup.
=+=
Like every year- the post-season awards show was in Vegas. This year there were three Voyagers in attendance- Hollzy up for MVP, Draps up for the Vezina, and Gil himself up for the James Norris. The best part of this combination, in Gil’s opinion, was that all three of them spoke French and the table arrangement had them sitting with Hunter, Vaughn and Bennet from the Admirals (and none of those guys spoke it). This meant that Shane, Pat and Gil could commentate and shit talk without anyone else around who could understand what they were saying.
“Forcing you to present the sportsmanship award with Rozanov feels like cruel and unusual punishment on the NHL’s part” Pat said as the opening speeches started. Shane gave a small laugh in response but his eyes remained worryingly blank
“It’ll be fine, we’ll only be on stage for like two minutes” he responded.
“If he says or does anything, let me know.” Gil cut in, “I’ll handle it.” Shane brushed him off but gave him a small smile so Gil decided to trust that Shane would come to him if necessary.
Shane and Rozanov presented the award- which went to Scott Hunter- playing it up for the crowd and everything seemed fine, but when Shane came back to the table 10 minutes later his eyes were worryingly red-rimmed and he kept looking at his phone. Oh no, Gil thought as he shared a look with Pat, I might actually have to kill Ilya Rozanov.
Hollzy had won the Art Ross but that’s decided after the regular season, so none of the three of them won the awards they had been nominated for that night. Regardless, they had still been enjoying themselves at the after party when Gil suddenly noticed Shane had disappeared. After doing a scan of the room he realized that Rozanov was gone too and suddenly he had a nervous feeling about how the rest of the night was going to go.
“Hey,” Hunter called out, as him and Vaughn joined Gil and Pat by the bar, “Have either of you seen Hollander? I’ve been meaning to talk to him.”
Now, Gil is a good friend, so he immediately starts lying before Pat can even open his mouth, “I think he just went to get some air- he’s not the biggest fan of crowds but i’ll let him know you’re looking for him when he comes back.”
Hunter nods, a slight frown on his face, “Is he all right? I don’t want to get in his business but he’s seemed kind of off all night and i’m a little worried about him.”
“It’s not really our story to get into, he’s just been dealing with some personal stuff recently. He’ll be alright, we’re looking out for him.” Gil thanks every god he knows for Patrice Drapeau and his ability to read Gil’s mind, he perfectly walked the line to fend off Hunter without actually revealing much of anything.
“Oh, alright, well I hope it gets better for him. I won’t go looking for him so he can have a minute but I’d appreciate you sending him my way when he comes back.” Hunter claps Pat on the shoulder and nods at Gil before hauling Vaughn back towards the other Admirals.
Crisis averted. Gil thinks, as him and Pat continue to drink and chat with the guys they know throughout the league. The fact almost holds true- until about 30 minutes later- when Shane suddenly reappears looking like someone ripped his soul directly out of his chest.
Gil is across the room before he even really thinks about it, tossing his arm over Shane’s shoulders and pulling him into his side. “What happened?” he asked in French, hoping that the extra secrecy of the language would encourage Shane to be honest with him.
“I’m an idiot is what happened. I knew better than to get this invested… we didn’t even kiss” Shane looks gutted and Gil feels a rage beyond normal boiling up inside him
“I will kill him for hurting you Shane. What was he thinking ignoring you for months just to hurt you again now?” The only thing even keeping Gil in the room is the voice in the back of his head telling him not to leave Shane alone while he looks so vulnerable.
“Don’t do that.” Shane whispers “It’s my own fault, he’s not purposely trying to hurt me. How did you know anyways?”
Gil lets Shane change the subject and answers the question in English, “Your entire life revolves around hockey of course you’re dating life would be the same” Shane laughs but doesn’t argue so Gil leads him back to where Pat is standing with some of the Edmonton guys and they both let the conversation go.
=+=
There's a small sub-group of Voyagers that get to know the whole truth about Shane’s situation the next year. Shane didn’t actually tell any of them the truth, rather it’s the six of them that figured it out on their own. They have all teased Shane on his lack of taste more than once but it’s all friendly and Shane has seemed more relaxed not having to keep everything to himself anymore.
Gil, Pat, Mitty, Hayden, J.J. and Laine are all over at Shane’s for dinner the night before camp starts and they’re trying to convince Shane to put himself out there with a new guy since he believes there’s no way to make the Rozanov situation work. The problem is that Shane is a stubborn asshole who’s never let anything go in his life, so he won’t block Rozanov’s number, but he does agree to go to one of J.J’s more exclusive parties so he can maybe talk to a guy without having to worry about being outed.
Somehow, this situation doesn't end with Shane getting a boyfriend. Instead, it ends with him befriending movie star Rose Landry. Laine had jokingly accused Shane of leading her on, but Hollzy insisted that she knew he was gay and they were genuinely just close friends.
Thankfully, with Rose involved it was rather easy for Shane to meet people safely- since she got them both into VIP clubs where no photos were allowed and the staff all signed NDA’s. The more sad part of this involved Shane on Gil’s couch late one night mid season admitting that despite all the time and meeting new people, that he still had feelings for Roz and that he still liked him more than anyone else.
At the very least Shane was far more settled than he was the previous season and it was showing on the ice. He had taken to his captain duties like a fish to water, making sure everyone could come to him with any problems, ideas or suggestions. He was still always the first one on the ice and the last one off, and he even spent extra time with the rookies after every practice, giving advice and helping them improve.
This had ended up turning his already star-eyed rookies into a borderline cult dedicated exclusively to him. Olson and Gagnon were very happily welcomed into Gil’s Shane Hollander Protection League and were dedicated to protecting their captain.
Shane was playing the best hockey of his career and hauling his team along with him. Beyond some minor issues with Theriault- who was always less of an issue when they were doing well- and one bad fight in Toronto, Montreal was having the best season they’ve had in years.
The Toronto problem was handled easily enough. Gil had taken a one game suspension for breaking Dallas Kent’s jaw after a comment he made to Hollzy, but as far as he was concerned that was a necessary casualty and they won the game anyways so who cares. Kent was an asshole who had it coming. It also had the added benefit of reminding all of the other assholes in the league that Shane was under their protection.
The message really sank in two weeks later when Drapeau clocked one of Florida’s wingers over the back of the head with his blocker after he tried to crosscheck Shane after the whistle.
=+=
They won the fucking cup.
For the first time in decades Montreal once again had the Stanley Cup.
Gil felt like he was high.
It had been a hard fight to get there but they had finally done it and holy shit it was what dreams were made of.
After taking his lap with the cup and hugging his sister and brother-in-law, who had flown out to watch, Gil turned and skated towards Hollzy where he was standing with his parents. Coming up behind him, Gil grabbed Shane around the waist and spun him around in a circle as Shane’s parents laughed. After he put him down Shane had turned and pulled Gil into a tight hug, pressing his forehead into Gil’s shoulder.
“We fucking did it Hollzy! We made it!”
“We made it! Thanks for doing it with me Gilly,”
“Always brother, i’d follow you to the ends of the earth, you know that.”
Gil had spent 5 years of his career dutifully standing behind Shane Hollander as an enforcer on the ice, he spent the same amount of time watching out for him off the ice as a friend and brother and all of that work had just come to fruition.
=+=
The 2016/2017 season shapes up to be just as good as the previous and every single member of Montreal’s organization believes they’re going to go back to back.
James Wilson, or JW, becomes the newest member of the rookie cult and basically follows Shane around like a shadow. They’re winning games left to right, Shane runs interference between the team and Theriault and life is going great.
They finish the regular season first in their division and first seed in the Eastern Conference... that’s when things go sideways.
They have two weeks before playoffs start when Shane’s name goes viral on twitter. Someone (and that someone better pray Gil never learns who they are) had posted a photo of Shane making out with a man. The Internet and Montreals' management are both losing their ever loving shit.
The group chat is in crisis mode- J.J and Hayden, as Shane’s best friends and A’s immediately go to his house to comfort him and help him deal with the fallout along with his agent and his parents.
Gil, meanwhile, is called into a meeting with Theriault. Luckily, Gil has learned a thing or two from Shane over the years and he remembers a conversation from a few years earlier about the one-party-consent law on recording conversations.
The bastard starts in on Shane and how this is a “distraction” that’s going to “ruin the team” and how he “knew that fairy shouldn't have been captain” and Gil is approximately 5 minutes away from getting arrested for assault. It’s only the knowledge that punching the rat will definitely make things worse for Shane that’s keeping him from doing so.
Then Theriault puts the final nail in the proverbial coffin, “I’m benching that pansy for this, we don’t need him anyways. Comeau you'll take over as captain for the playoffs and we’ll find a way to get rid of him in the off season.”
By the grace of god, Gil keeps his composure until he’s out of the meeting. He saves the recording to his phone before emailing it to himself, Pike, Boizy, Laine, Pat, Mitty and Hollzy. Then he opens the Voyagers group chat.
Sailors with no captain
commie: Captains Secrecy Meeting at my Place ASAP. All of you need to get your asses to my place in the next 30 minutes
Lainey: ur not my captain you don’t get to tell me what to do
commie: If you want to keep it that way we have to handle this shit right now- everyone at my place i’m not kidding
draps: didn’t you just meet with Coach?
commie: yes I did and he wants Hollzy benched
commie: I for one will die before i let that happen so all of you assholes need to meet me at my place so we can make sure it doesn’t
berkey: on my way i’ll pick up the rooks,
children be ready to go in 10
mitty: over my dead body does that decrepit rat get to ruin Shane Fucking Hollander’s career
commie: glad to see we agree
commie: @pikey @boizy i know you’re with Hollzy so i don’t know when you’ll see this but stay there to help him with the media side of it, we’ll handle theriault and fill you in later check your emails i sent you a recording of my meeting with him
It’s frankly a miracle that Gil makes it home without getting pulled over. While he drives he makes multiple phone calls that follow the same pattern. Every single trustworthy player he knows, that have some sort of sway with their organization gets informed that Montreal management want to bench Shane Hollander and are then asked if they're willing to help stop that from happening.
By the time he’s pulling into his driveway Gil’s ally list includes: Scott Hunter, Carter Vaughn, Cliff Marleau, Connor Connors, Zane Boodram, Edmonton’s Captain James Mason, and Pittsburghs Captain Soren Fredricks. Patrice and Mitty are already standing in his kitchen when he gets inside and it turns out they’ve already recruited their entire goalie network.
Once the entire team arrives Gil fills them in on what happened and plays the meeting recording for them. Half the team looks physically ill and the rookies look like they’re going to burst into tears so it’s safe to say they’re all on the same page.
“We all agree on this. Shane is our captain and he’s been a damn good one. We cannot let him go out like this, management doesn’t get to use him as a diversity token for years and then throw him away over who he loves. It’s not happening, I refuse, so what are we going to do about it.”
After getting through about 30 minutes of violence filled suggestions they finally settle on a plan. And it might get half of them fired- but fuck it right? If Shane’s out, Gil’s out that’s not even a debate.
What they end up doing is this: Gil writes a statement and posts it on twitter along with the recording he has of Theriault. He ends it with the hashtags #OhCaptianMyCaptain and #LetHollzyPlay. Then every member of the team posts their own statements about Shane with the same hashtags. Then every single person Gil called earlier reposts it, then all of Pat and Mitty’s goalie buddies and soon half of the league are posting the hashtags. Finally, Shane responds on his own twitter- his planned statement from his PR team signed off with Gil’s hashtags and a thankyou to his teammates for standing beside him.
Three hours later, Pikey and J.J. have dragged Shane with them to Gil’s house and the entire team spend the night in the living room waiting for news. Then Shane’s phone rings- he leaves the room to answer it. They all wait in hushed anticipation. Finally, Shane comes back in the room. His face is unreadable as he looks around at the team. The room sits in complete silence for 10 seconds before Shane cracks a smile,
“Theriault’s fired.” The room explodes.
Everyone’s cheering, multiple people have tears in their eyes, JW and Olson are sobbing, Lainey and Hayden are doing some sort of jig and at the centre of it all Shane has thrown himself into Gil’s arms,
“You didn’t have to do this, you could have gotten fired.” Shane says into his ear.
“Of course I did- i’ve been telling you for years Shane- you’re my brother. The whole league knows that if they touch you I will swing back. It’s not my fault that Theriault thought he had immunity.” Gil grins, “I am glad we didn’t get fired though.”
Then he turns to address the room, “Alright nerds!” He calls, “Captain Hollander returns and is officially responsible for your bullshit again! I’m free!” the room bursts into laughter, quieting down when Shane puts his hands up,
“Okay! Thank you all for having my back, I am so honoured and so proud to lead you boys. Now, we’re done with the distractions! It’s time to win another cup!”
Gil watches the team break into cheers once more and thinks Hey 2010 Gil, you did it.
=+=
They win another cup.