idk if it's something niche but my personal theory about them is that between them mack was the first one to fall for will "the hockey player" smith but will was the first one to fall for macklin "the person" celebrini
hope that im making sense
Does that make sense? Anon, we’re on the same wavelength. And isn’t that the irony of it all? You’d think Mack being the generational talent, saviour of hockey, Crosby reincarnated, etc. would be the first thing Will found most attractive about him. But it feels like Will went into development camp determined to be friendly, make it work with a fellow 1OA, future teammate, and major piece of the rebuild. And then he was almost befuddled by how much of a sweetheart Mack actually is when he’s not biting people’s ankles and crashing out on the ice. Mack has his bratty side, obviously, but I think that only endeared him to Will more. Mack calls out what he sees, vocalizes every hurt and injustice, and feels everything acutely, with his heart right there on his sleeve.
Will, who was raised to be proper and polite, to never externalize a single negative emotion, to live life in God’s grace and mercy, probably found Mack’s full-volume heart not just endearing, but liberating. Not only that, Will found someone who thinks his niche hobbies, quirky interests, and slightly dorky personality are the coolest things ever. For a natural people pleaser, having Mack’s undivided attention without even trying for it must have hit like crack.
Meanwhile, you’d think Will Smith Hockey of brunet harem fame, Prince Charming, Princess Diana and Helen of Troy wrapped into one body with a 100-watt toothy smile, would be what Mack noticed first. And maybe it was, if we count development camp as their first real encounter. But Mack had one-sided beef with Will for literal years because of how many times Will lit them up. The truth is that hockey-pilled Mack couldn’t love anyone he didn’t respect first, and he couldn’t respect anyone more than someone who played hockey the “right way.” The way he waxes poetic about Will’s cerebral, creative playstyle, his shiftiness, his smooth hands? Yeah. Mack fell hard and fast for Will Smith Hockey, with the hockey being key here.
And then they met at development camp, and it was so over. Because not only was his former nemesis (the guy who scored a dick trick on him and lives in Mack’s mind rent-free) perfectly complementary to him on the ice, his hockey soulmate, if you will; he was also the person Mack had been searching for as a best friend, maybe more, in the eyes of Lane Hutson and Jayden Perron and everyone who came before Will. His perfect match.
So yes, anon’s theory makes sense. Mack fell first for what Will could do. Will fell first for who Mack was.
alpha will who has a terrible sense of smell so he actually cannot smell the changes in macks scent like anyone else would (he knows what mack smells like but hes basically scent blind)
macks angry? wills the last to know bc he goes by macks body language
macks sad? will had worked really fucking hard to make sure mack knows that will is his safe place and he can go to him no questions asked
macks happy? he doesnt smell it but he knows when he is bc macks bouncing around and the gummy smile hasnt left his face once
so mack in love? will doesnt know how he smells and he only hopes and prays that when mack does fall in love he’ll stay oblivious to the changes in macks scent that indicate his affection and desire for someone, someone who isnt him
but, mack has been in love, the entire time.
macks “normal” scent is him in love but will has never noticed the difference bc thats how he smells like whenever hes with will and hes never known anything else
Did anyone ask for this? No! Am I making it anyways? Yes! Because I have more to say about them than just what I covered in my willmack primer, so they get their own dedicated post.
Quick Disclaimers:
As I've said before, I only started watching hockey in late 2025, so I might be missing some context.
We will be staring at a lot of instagram screenshots today.
I started making this in December and am finishing on January 24th.
Because these are real people with private lives, there's certain things we just don't know. And frankly we are not meant to know! The beauty of fanfiction is that you can fill in the gaps yourself!
I'll use this as an excuse to link to my pinterest page. I have individual boards for each of these boys, and pictures of all three of them under my BC board. Getty Images is also a good resource for pictures.
If anyone wants my big-ass unorganized video collections lmk, but I'll hold off on that for now.
Intro + Families
Will Smith comes from a pretty well-off, established family in Lexington, Massachusetts. He gets his name from his grandfather, William Charles Patrick Smith I. His parents' names are Bill and Colleen, and he has an older sister named Grace. He was skating by the age of four. His family are known Catholics. Many generations of the Smiths have attended Boston College.
Ryan Leonard is the youngest of four. His brother, John, is seven years older than him, and his sisters Alyssa and Brianna are eabout 13-14 years older. This is kind of a big deal to him, it seems. Leno was John's nickname, and Ryan was Little Leno for a long time. He was also raised Catholic. If there is one thing you need to know about Ryan Leonard, it's that he is a huge dork (essential viewing). Also, check out these pictures of him as a little kid.
Gabe Perreault is the youngest son of former NHL player Yanic Perreault. He has three siblings, Jacob, Jeremy, and Liliane (ik Jacob is older but I'm not sure about the other two). His family is French-Canadian. They moved to Chicago, Illinois when Gabe was very young, and he seems to mostly identify as American, as he's played for American teams internationally. He does speak French fluently. This post is a good source for some French articles about Gabe, and also gives some insight into his family dynamics.
Junior Boston Bruins
The earliest evidence I've found of Will and Leno being friends is them being on the Junior Boston Bruins together in 2015, when they would've been 10 years old. Leno says (2:21:06) that they played in different leagues during the regular season, but were on the Jr Bruins over the summer. This video (1:44) includes the two of them playing together around the same time. It's hard to say how close they were at this age, but they definitely knew each other.
Slight Tangent: Will Vote
So this really does not matter at all, I just want to mention it. There's this guy named Will Vote who is childhood friends with Will Smith. He's a 5'8" scrawny white boy who didn't get drafted and still attends BC and he somehow manages to remain at the scene of the crime in all of this. I don't know if he's important. I don't know how much of the drama he knows. I just know that he's there. If you're wondering who the mystery fourth person is in a picture, it's probably Voter.
National Team Development Program
The National Team Development Program, or NTDP, is the team that represents the United States at the IIHF World U18 Championship, or just U18. They technically have two teams, the Under 18s and the Under 17s. Both Leno and Will were invited to play at the NTDP in 2021. This meant they had to move to Michigan. The Smith family bought a home in Michigan while retaining their Lexington house. Will Smith, Will Vote, and Ryan Leonard lived there together. Smith and Voter's moms took turns staying with/looking after them in two-week long shifts. I know for certain that Will was taking online classes with his Boston high school, St. Sebatian's, and retained several friends from that school (he had already committed to Northeastern University with some of them at this point).
The NTDP is where Leno and Will first met Gabe. The three of them were put on a line together and saw a lot of success. Will played centre, with Gabe on the right wing and Leno on the left. Even at this time, they were being called the best line in junior hockey.
Fun fact: this is where they first played against Macklin Celebrini as a trio! Mack was on Chicago Steel at the time. Also the first time you can see Mack ragebaiting Leno.
2023 NHL Draft
Here's some pictures of the gang at the NHL Entry Draft Combine because I think they're so silly. I also encourage you to check out this video about Leno getting drafted. It gives some good insight to the process, as well as Leno as a person.
The 2023 NHL entry draft took place in Nashville, Tennessee, from June 28-29. Will Smith went 4th overall to the San Jose Sharks. Ryan Leonard went 8th overall to the Washington Capitals. Gabe Perreault went 23rd overall to the New York Rangers. Both Will and Leno thought that Gabe was seriously overlooked. They're constantly emphasizing how smart he is.
Boston College (23-24)
Will, Gabe, and Leno had all already committed to playing hockey at Boston College before the draft, and so had a lot of their friends from the NTDP. Leno was one of the first to commit. Will had committed to Northeastern University a few years ago but de-committed around Christmastime and committed to BC instead. (all of that is covered in wonderful detail here). They basically peer-pressured Gabe into committing with them, as Gabe says here (0:34).
Boston College is a Catholic school. As mentioned earlier, Leno and Will were both raised Catholic and seemingly still are. I have seen nothing to indicate whether Gabe is religious or not. While Leno and Will can both be seen wearing crosses, if Gabe ever wears a chain, it's usually with his dad's jersey number. He might be Catholic, as a lot of hockey players are and his family is from Quebec. We won't know unless he tells us directly, I suppose.
Will, Leno, and Gabe were all communications majors. Will and Leno took all the same classes together, including theater. Gabe was in 4 out of their 5 classes, as he took French (yes, French. A language he already speaks fluently.) Gabe and Will shared a dorm. I haven't found any info on Leno's living situation during their freshman year, but it's safe to assume he lived on campus. Also, Leno was very invested in getting good grades, moreso than a lot of their teammates. Which is interesting to me, considering he's the same guy who later says "just because I went to college doesn't mean I'm smart."
During BC, Will wore the number 6, Leno wore 9, and Gabe wore 34 (Gabe's dad wore numbers ending in 4 throughout his career, and Gabe does the same).
The boys stayed on a line together and were widely considered the best line in college hockey. I truly can't emphasize enough how good they were together. Will had this to say about their chemistry:
"Every game we go into as a line we want to be the best line on the ice. And we take that personally if we’re not. So, every game we are super competitive, and we all want to go out there and dominate. These two guys feed off of me and I feed off of them, so we are always giving our best for the other guys."
Now, there are a lot of people who will tell you that Gabe and Leno were more friends with Will than they were with each other, and that Will was the glue holding their group together. To a certain extent, that is true- but Gabe and Leno were friends! Look at how smiley Gabe gets when Leno is brought up!! Look at how he stares at Leno!! Look at these pictures!!!! Would you do that with a guy who's just a friend of a friend??? I don't think so!!!! That being said, it does seem like Will and Gabe were very close in a way that Leno wasn't really a part of.
BC ultimately lost the National Championship game 2-0 against Denver University. You can watch the full replay of it here, but the most important parts are at 1:52:04 and 1:54:00 where you can see Leno crying on the ice, and his teammates helping him up. Will goes to hug Leno, and he turns away. Which could possibly indicate that there was already some tension? More likely, Leno was just really upset.
Here are a couple videos from their freshman year: (x) (x)
World Junior Championship 2024
From December 26 2023 to January 5 2024, Will, Gabe, and Leno competed in the IIHF World Juniors Championship. This did cross over with their time at BC, during winter break.
They ultimately won, with Leno scoring against Sweden in overtime to cement their victory. Everybody makes their little instagram posts about it, but by far the most lethal is this one that Leno's because of that evil evil caption (Will posted a reel because he wanted to be different.)
2024 NHL Draft + The Macklin Celebrini of it all
Yeahhhh, we do have to talk about Mack.
On May 7th, 2024, the Sharks won the first overall pick of the 2024 draft. So, they basically won Mack. Mack was present for the draft lottery.
On May 28th, Will Smith signs his ELC, meaning he will play with the San Jose Sharks for the 2024-25 season. Apparently someone in his home felt the need to decorate about it.
On June 28th, the NHL Draft takes place and Mack is officially drafted to the San Jose Sharks. We do know that Will attended based only on his instagram story. Ostensibly he was there to support his NTDP teammate Zeev Buium, who was also drafted that day.
I don't know if I can say for certain that Will left BC to play with Macklin, but. Man. As soon as Mack was drafted, everyone was talking about Mack and Will playing together. (x) (x) The two of them get extremely close during training camp, which is around the time that Mack officially signs.
I'll include this here, I guess, since it crosses over into Sophomore year. There's a lot of instagram shennanigans around this time that maybe point to a falling out between Will and Leno? Obviously as outsiders we can't say for sure, it just looks weird. I highly encourage you to look through that linked post, as it explains things much better than I could, but I will mention things as they come up. Gabe and Will both post their sad little stories about Will leaving.
Sophomore Year (24-25)
Both Gabe and Leno decided to stay at BC for a second year rather than sign with their respective teams. In this article, Leno basically says that he felt he had "unfinished business" because of their championship loss.
Leno and Gabe stayed on a line together. At least at the Beanpot, Will was replaced by junior Andre Gasseau, but it was sometimes James Hagens? Idk. When Will gets his first goal, Leno and Gabe both repost it to their stories.
During sophomore year Leno lived in what he called an 8-man, basically a shared apartment with seven other people. He was not living there in Freshman year, because the 8-person dorms are not available to Freshman. I don't know where Gabe was rooming without Will (though I personally like to imagine he was in the 8-person dorm, based on absolutely zero evidence).
Leno and Gabe return to World Juniors for their second gold. Leno is captain this time around (frankly an astonishing choice). But without Will around, BC isn't performing quite as well. However they DO manage to win the hockey east final against BU! And apparently, Will and Mack had made a bet based off of that game, so Mack is seen wearing Will's old BC jersey during walk-ins. Eventually, Will does have to wear Mack's jersey when BU wins a game. This post goes more into the jersey bet and how utterly insane that is.
On January 20th (which is the day before Leno's birthday) the Sharks play the Bruins in Boston and a bunch of BC guys attend. They even get a group photo with Will! Gabe was a part of this group. There are eyewitness accounts to say that Leno was at the game, apparently picking up trash? But Leno is notably not in the group picture. Also Will does not post anything for Leno's birthday, which he has done in years prior.
Will was at the beanpot (with Mack of course) but seemingly didn't hang out with any of his old BC buddies. Mack is also there and can be seen mingling with BU players, and even reading their starting lineup for the night.
For Will's birthday, March 7th, Gabe posts but Leno does not.
BC loses to Denver again in the semifinals. They're not getting that championship. On March 31st, 2025, it is announced that Leno has signed with the Capitals and Gabe has signed with the Rangers.
The same day he signs, Leno gets a text from an unknown number claiming to be Alex Ovechkin and asking him if he wants to go to sushi. It turns out to actually be Ovi, and a bunch of the Caps party with the BC guys. I can't stress enough that this is a real thing that happened.
Leno's debut (April 1st) in Boston was just one day before Gabe's (April 2nd) in New York. A number of BC guys, including Voter and Jacob Fowler, showed up to both Leno and Gabe's debut games wearing their BC jerseys backwards so that the guys could see their numbers. Put that in the category of Things Moon Is Super Normal About.
Leno seems to fit in right away with the Caps, they all adore him. He moves in with his teammate Pierre-Luc Dubois and his wife Maddy for a few months, and they do their best to teach him to be a real grown-up. Ovi is calling him "Kiddo" and "Baby". He's getting pet like a dog. He's the baby brother of the team and honestly, he's thriving. Also he makes his playoff debut!
Gabe is having a very different experience. He spends a lot of time going back and forth between the Rangers and their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack. At least when he is with the Rangers, he has a tall brunette to stare lovingly at.
Summer of 2025
Mack and Will go to Worlds with Sidney Crosby. Sure, why not.
Okay, aaaand we're back to instagram shenanigans. It truly never ends with these people.
On May 29th Leno makes his little goodbye post to BC, where he calls it the best two years of his life. Will is not in any of the pictures, but he does comment "6934🥲". Also, The picture of Gabe and Leno looks suspiciously like a photo of Will and Mack that Will posted. Make of that what you will. Also Gabe's comment further cements to me that the love is real!!!
On June 5th, Gabe posts a cheeky little photo dump! This functions as his goodbye to BC (even though he already posted like two goodbyes). Let's take a look at some of the pictures:
Okay, looking good, looking... wait, what's that? That second to last picture? Did Gabe, Leno, and James Hagens push two queen sized beds together? And then he and Leno laid in bed together on their phones? Why did he post this??
ANYWAYS. On July 9th, 2025, Gabe Perreault posts this nuclear bomb:
So... I don't really know what to say about this. There's no beef??? I guess??? The comments from their friends/BC teammates seem surprised, so some people think that this post is more for appearances. They're clearly wasted as hell. I don't fucking know, man. Why is Will Vote tagged? Why did Matt Rempe comment "ladies loved this one"? Why did Jacob Fowler comment a Rocky gif? Why do they all look so stupid? Who picked that fuckass song? The photo is apparently from some kind of event at Will's family's home on Cape Cod. I have yet to see evidence of any other guys being there, but surely they must have been?
On July 15th, Will and Leno are both at a Coldplay concert. It is unclear if they went together.
On July 24th, Will and Leno participate in Shoulder Check. Gabe was supposed to be there too, but wasn't for whatever reason. This is the first time that Will and Leno play on oposing teams, and it's... it's fine, actually. They're acting So Normal.
On September 3rd Will posts his summer photo dump which features A Whole Lot Of Gabe. Leno is nowhere to be found (despite the fact that he was at some of those events).
NHL (25-26)
Will and Mack continue to be attached at the hip. Everybody act surprised.
December 3rd, 2025. The Washington Capitals play against the San Jose Sharks. This is the first time that any of the boys have played against each other in the NHL. The vibes are a little weird. There's this video of Will and Leno giggling together and then Will immediately locking back in, which. whatever. Ultimetly the Caps win 7-1. (Mack's number is 71. by the way.)
On December 13th, Will gets injured in a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Mack immediately turns around to fight the guy that hurt Will. Will is put on IR for thirteen games.
On December 23rd, The Caps play the Rangers. There's pretty limited interaction between Leno and Gabe on ice. After the game, Leno says that he and Gabe exchanged a "couple words." Which could mean literally anything I guess. The final score is 7-3 Rags. (73 is Matt Rempe's number. By the way. Just in case you were wondering.)
For Christmas Eve, Leno posts a picture of himself scoring on the sharks (slide 4). You tell 'em, king.
Gabe plays for the Rangers during the Winter Classic! And a few weeks later he scores two goals in one game! I don't want to jinx anything but it's looking very good for my boy.
On January 15th, 2026, The Sharks play the Capitals in DC. Will is still on IR at this point, though apparently Will and Leno went to dinner the night before the game. Neither of them have commented on it from what I can tell, so god only knows how that went. Final score was 3-2 San Jose. Not a narratively significant number for once! Good job boys, we did it! Also, Will comes off IR like a day later.
Leno's birthday was January 21st and neither Will nor Gabe posted about it.
Two days later, January 23rd, the Sharks played the Rangers. Gabe and Will got dinner the night before. We also got this article where both Gabe and Will talk a bit about playing against each other for the first time, as well as this video which covers a lot of the same territory. It's nice to see that they still speak very highly of each other! That being said, during the game Gabe elbows Mack in the face. It does look prettyyyy intentional. The Sharks Broadcasters felt the need to add that Gabe and Will would have an "official breakup" after the game. Uh. Do with that what you will. Will is asked about it here (2:33) and jokes that Gabe should've gotten a longer penalty. The final score was 3-1 San Jose.
In Conclusion
Good god, I hope that's everything. Again, there's always going to be a lot going on behind the scenes that we don't know about. There's also some stuff I left out, like the fact that Gabe's favorite midnight snack is milk and cookies, and Will and Mack are known to order milk and cookies in their hotel rooms.
Personally, I go back and forth on whether or not there's any actual beef here. Sometimes friends drift apart for no reason. Professional hockey players are also very busy people. Maybe they just didn't have time to post for their buddies' birthdays. I don't know, man.
Obviously these guys are going to have to keep playing against each other for quite a while. There's a Caps v Rags game scheduled for April 5th 2026, which is the last time our boys will face off during the regular season. If any major updates happen, I will follow up accordingly.
thinking abt leno in that apt, the only one not in a fuckass talladega costume, which had felt like the cool aloof mature decision 3 weeks ago but now just feels unspeakably lonely. standing as far as possible from will, who’s chosen his shiny new toy, and gabe, who’s chosen will, even though leno was the one who stayed with gabe to chase their dream another year the way they’d promised. but gabe still went running back to will’s side like always, and leno knows it’s bc gabe needs to be loved as desperately as leno, so he attaches himself to a person who loves easily and makes himself a person who’s easy to love: and leno will never be either of those things. leno only knows how to make himself hard to love so it hurts less when nobody does.
thinking too abt leno at circle tavern, nursing a beer and watching will and gabe hang all over each other like nothing’s changed, and even when mack shows up and will lights up and immediately sways into his orbit, gabe just smiles and acts like it doesn’t kill him that will has a new person to nap with. and maybe it doesn’t! maybe it’s just leno!! bc the next day they all go to dinner at their italian place, the old boys’ spot, with the same leather booths and folded-arms photoshoot and truffle parm fries; except instead of will gabe leno, it’s will gabe mack—as though will is intentionally trying to rewrite every single memory he has of leno by scribbling mack over the top
and leno knows why he wasn’t invited, knows he was a bitch to the kid last night, and so what if he was? celebrini’s just like him, leno can feel it, hungry and ruthless, 200 lbs of barely leashed predator quivering under will’s plea to play nice—so slip the fucking leash, kid. why can’t we all just be fucking honest for once in our lives, he’d thought; bc leno can only accept a love that’s perfectly honest, but only if it’s honestly cruel. bc nobody has ever lied to leno for any reason other than selfish, so he can’t conceive of a boundary that’s meant to protect rather than exclude.
but when celebrini had finally snapped under leno’s needling; when leno had looked, triumphant, at will—you see? he’s no better than i am. he’s just like me. if you’re going to hate me you have to hate him too—will hadn’t even looked at leno. he’d been too busy looking at celebrini, who’d flinched and turned to will, guilty and apologetic and defensive about it, with an affectionate softness that will has never offered leno. and that’s when leno had realised that it was possible for will to cage leno for being a wild animal while petting celebrini for his teeth and claws. that will, who once pressed his lips together and wrenched leno up off the ice for daring to cry after losing natties, hissed at him to get his shit together because nothing embarrasses will more than a public breakdown, was all along a will capable of smiling fondly at celebrini for failing at kegstands and punching windshields and getting kicked out of bars. that maybe it wasn’t the public display that embarrassed will after all; maybe it never had been. maybe, all along, it was just leno
will and ryan, both massachusetts natives, meet at 9 years old playing against and alongside each other in junior hockey, become buddies
2021-2022
gabe, will, and ryan become best friends playing together with the USNTDP u17 program in plymouth, michigan
will and ryan live together with will vote, who they’d known from childhood as well. will (smith)’s parents buy a house 15 minutes away from the program, and during their time at the program will smith’s and will vote’s mothers would alternate staying with the boys for two weeks at a time, flying back and forth from boston to michigan. both of ryan’s parents were working (his mother as a nurse!!); ryan stayed in the basement of the house
gabe was living with his mother. his father, yanic perreault, was an nhl player and at this point was working for the blackhawks organization. he was generally too busy with his work and with gabe’s older siblings to be super involved in his hockey stuff (not that he wasn’t involved, just less so), and so gabe’s mother july took the responsibility of looking after gabe and doing a lot of his coaching & managing stuff. generally though his parents were a hugely essential support system for him through his childhood and continue to be.
important to ME: gabe is originally from sherbrooke, quebec, but his family moved to hinsdale, illinois for yanic’s job with the blackhawks when gabe was in about third grade. he started learning english then and presumably only started being called gabe around this time too!! (gabe isn’t really a common nickname for gabriel in quebec - his mom calls him gaby or gab.) the move was early enough in gabe’s life that he considers himself more american than canadian (his identity as a player is american of course, he plays for team USA), and canadian media about him reflects that often, for example talking about him vs. mack celebrini!! you can see that in the above source, which is in french but the autotranslation isn't bad! tl;dr it’s a very interesting cultural identity
2022-2023
will, gabe, and ryan play together again on the program’s u18 team. they play on a line together, will strictly as a center (!!) and ryan and gabe on his wing. they’re explosive and very effective together
they win gold at u18 worlds
gabe sets a new NTDP record for points in a single season with 132. the previous record was auston matthews’ 117.
ntdp notes
during their time at the program, they played against macklin celebrini, who was on the chicago steel and already a force to reckon with.
they cared a lot about one another. there was a truly crazy level of love and affection in their trio during this time and you could tell, with the way they talked about each other in media availability especially.
summer 2023
they all commit to boston college. will and ryan had been pretty set on it (massholes !!, & will’s family has been going there for fourteen generations) but gabe took some convincing just because he wasn’t sure where was best or if the college route was right for his game. eventually will’s pestering worked, though, and he committed with them
they get drafted to the nhl! will is fourth overall to the san jose sharks (the highest draft pick in BC history), ryan eighth to the washington capitals, and gabe twenty-third to the new york rangers
gabe was snubbed - will and ryan agree, often drove in his IQ and his technical skill; how he sees the ice. ryan called him the smartest player in the draft. i won’t complain though cause i’m a rangers fan lollll
a few more NTDP friends commit to BC: aram minnetian (125th to the dallas stars), drew fortescue (90th to the new york rangers), and will vote
someone else commits to a boston school this year… macklin celebrini. he’s seventeen years old, the youngest player in NCAA hockey and probably the best. he commits to boston university, who BC plays often and has a huge rivalry with.
2023-2024
BC time!!!
gabe and will room together. they like to eat milk and cookies as a snack. (cough cough)
the three of them major in communications, because when you’re a high draft pick you don’t really NEED your degree lol! ryan actually goes to class & tries but gabe and will… not so much. but it’s okay.
important to note with that piece their socioeconomic and familial backgrounds!! ryan wasn’t poor by any means, but his parents were both working, and his relationship with his older brother john is very tough love focused. while will also has emphasized a need for “tough love” during his childhood and gabe is a notorious hard worker, i think the importance of hard work in school as a fallback from hockey kind of escaped both of them in a way that it really didn’t for ryan. we see that manifest later in the lore as well! just an interesting thing to note i think.
will and ryan have all of their classes together, and all but one with gabe (gabe takes french as his language because he’s already fluent). fun tidbit, one of their classes is a theater class and they all get assigned backstage crew instead of acting parts
this is very much a word of mouth thing, but i’ve heard that during this time, ryan and gabe were very much so held together by their attachment to will. a trio because they were both duos, and they were obsessseeeddddd with him
they have a pretty great season. with the three of them on the first line, BC becomes elite offensively, and they hold the #1 spot in the NCAA a few times during the season.
they go to world juniors over new years and win gold for the US
on january 26th and 27th, they face BU in the “battle of comm ave” for the first time as the #1 (BU) and #2 (BC) schools. on the 26th, BC wins 4-1 with both goals by gabe and ryan (gabe’s assisted by both ryan and will, ryan’s assisted by gabe)
on march 23rd, they face BU in the hockey east final. BC wins 6-2, with four goals from will (one assisted by gabe, one assisted by ryan) and a goal from gabe. macklin celebrini (playing for BU!) scored one of BU’s goals 14:45 into the third period, when BC is already up 5-1. in true macklin fashion, he doesn’t celebrate, he just stands there and stews in his frustration lol. BC wins the hockey east championship and will earns tournament MVP.
on april 13th, BC’s seasons ends in the national championship final against denver. They were shut out 2-0. ryan cries and will helps him up off of the ice. gifs are from here
again, you could tell throughout this season how much love they had for each other.
summer of 2024
macklin celebrini goes first overall, as a hockey prodigy and beloved savior, to the san jose sharks
will and macklin sign their entry level NHL contracts to the san jose sharks
2024-2025
gabe and ryan are back at BC to redeem themselves from the loss in the natty finals and get some more development before signing. without will, their new center is james hagens, an incoming freshman and prospected high draft pick. ryan becomes an alternate captain!
gabe and ryan (along with hagens and some other BC and NTDP friends) go to world juniors and get their second consecutive gold! ryan is the captain, and gabe is an alternate.
will, of course, isn’t there. he’s in san jose tearing it up!
ok, not really tearing it up. he has a bit of a slow and clunky start, and of course the sharks were… really REALLY bad this season. but that isn’t what’s important: what’s important is his relationship with macklin celebrini. they get crazy close immediately, a dynamic and iconic duo; very soulmate-ish! they’re just, like… obsessed with each other, and they seem to really understand and feel at home with each other. and they’re FUNNY, they’re having a lot of fun even though their team sucks. they’re like. the best friends ever
they’re roomates on the road and they like to order milk and cookies. sounds like anyone we know???????????????? lol??????????????????
gabe and ryan don’t have so much fun. BC isn’t bad but they certainly aren’t as good as they were with will there, and they’re choking a lot more in important or emotionally charged games.
on january 27th, mack walks into the sharks game wearing will’s jersey from when he scored four goals in the hockey east final vs. BU. they’d made a bet that weekend when BC and BU faced each other, the penalty for losing was wearing the other guy’s college jersey. (they win that game… which was rare lol)
this comes up again in february, during four nations break, when BC and BU face each other in the beanpot. mack and will go to the game together - there’s talk about another jersey bet
BU wins the beanpot. gabe opens the scoring with a ryan assist, but that ends up being BC’s only goal of the game. the final score is a 1-4 BU win.
interestingly, will isn’t spotted at all with former teammates or with gabe or ryan. he watches the game from a box and he isn’t spotted going out afterward. this doesn’t necessarily mean he didn’t see the guys, but it’s certainly weird considering how close he was with gabe and ryan especially and his long standing connection to the school! in contrast, mack (whose only connection to BU is that his brother plays there and that he played there for a season) reads BU’s starting lineup alongside lane hutson of the canadiens, and then is spotted out with the team, dancing and drinking his beloved white girl high noon
it takes a while for the shoe to drop, but eventually will wears mack’s jersey for walk in - before the march 22nd game against the boston bruins (will’s childhood team). (they win this game too)
BC falls short from the national championship again, this time losing in the semifinals to denver (the same team they lost to in the finals the year before)
gabe and ryan sign their NHL contracts a day or two after the loss
will reposts both instagram posts announcing their signing on his story, but leno’s is captionless and gabe’s has a red heart
gabe goes to new york of course, who had a pretty shitty season. when he signed, they were gunning for a wildcard spot which they ultimately didn’t get. he only played five games with them and didn’t look too bad on the ice, but it was somewhat apparent that he wasn’t quite ready for NHL caliber play. he does start to bond with his teammates, though, notably (to me? to everyone?) vets like chris kreider (who was traded after 14 seasons with the rangers that june), vincent trocheck, and younger guys like othmann and matt rempe
ryan goes to washington, where history is actively being made. he scores his first goal (an empty netter) in the game where ovi ties gretzky’s scoring record (will doesn’t repost the first goal graphic, though ryan had posted his back at the start of the season), and of course is there when ovi breaks it. all of the caps are obsessed with him - he lives on a floor of pierre luc dubois’ house with him and his fiance, alex ovechkin calls him babe and baby and little kid leno, brandon duhaime barks in his face… he fits RIGHT in with them.
the caps go to the playoffs, but ryan doesn’t really make an impact
summer 2025
the sharks obviously don’t make the postseason, so will goes to sweden for worlds and on may 25th, wins gold. he hangs out a lot with matty beniers and zeev buium (who pkayed for denver both times they beat BC btw!) and gets covered in champagne of course. while in sweden, he hangs out with mack (who’s playing on a line with crosby for team canada).
on may 29th, ryan finally posts on his instagram with a little tribute to BC and his teammates there. you’d think that with all of their history, will would be featured in the post, right? WRONG!!
in ryan’s post we have gabe, james hagens, will vote, teddy stiga. no will at all. the first image is one of gabe and ryan together on the ice, actually, in a very similar orientation to will and mack in will’s end of season photodump! interesting interesting…
gabe comments pretty much immediately: “Brother for life , love you lean ❤️”. this is significantly more heartfelt than anything he’s commented on will’s posts, and that along with their behavior through the season & gabe’s presense in the post without will indicates that there’s been a shift with the tree of them - rather than will as a holding factor and guy to orbit, ryan and gabe are a duo without him now. just interesting to meeeee!!
a few hours later, will comments on the POST HE ISN’T FEATURED IN: “6934 🥲”. those are their college numbers. will 6, ryan 9, gabe 34. Cool! Great!
on june 5th, gabe posts a dump on instagram. it has both ryan and will in it, ryan twice in candids and will once in a more posed photo that comes across as a little bit uncomfortable.
on june 27th, will and zeev buium work at the NHL draft, interviewing picks as they leave the stage. will talks with james hagens about hagens’ suit, which was made by gabe’s brother who owns a tailoring company, and about BC, and he speaks with michael misa (2nd ovr. to the sharks) briefly but Kind Of rudely. not much of note here but interesting if you make it interesting!
will has (presumably a lot of) BC guys over to his family’s house on cape cod for the fourth of july, but we only know for sure that ryan and gabe were there, because on july 9th, gabe posted a picture of the three of them in front of the house Visibly Blasted and in all of their conservative white man glory. so now they’re friends again apparently! yay! will comments “34-6-9” (which, ouch), and matt rempe (crucially building a relationship with gabe!) comments “ladies loved this one”. things to chew on.
on july 15th, will and ryan go to the same coldplay concert in boston. presumably together, but i guess it could be that they both just happened to be there because they both are white men who were in MA at the time
on july 18th, the rangers post matt rempe mic’d up at a junior rangers practice. he and gabe are there together, coaching these kids, and they have maaaajor heart eyes for each other - kind of continuing what we started to see at the end of the 24-25 season. they have some really sweet interactions in the video
july 24th, ryan and will participate in the shoulder check showcase. they’re on opposing teams, but they do have some cute little friendly moments! gabe was also named as a participant but ultimately wasn’t there for unnamed reasons.
at the end of july, mack is invited to train in nova scotia with sidney crosby and nathan mackinnon. he invites will Of Course, so they have a cute couple days up there!
all three of them are spotted together with other members of BC’s hockey team at the BC football season opener on august 30th
on september 3rd, will posts a summer dump which is completely sans ryan and (!) mack. gabe is there, notable in a group BC hockey image FROM THE AUGUST 30TH FOOTBALL TAILGATE. which ryan was at. there’s also a picture of will and gabe in a pool, presumably at will’s cape house.
also on september 3rd, gabe and ryan participated in the NHLPA rookie showcase together, and seemed pretty typically affectionate towards one another, especially ryan in his media availability.
2025-2026
gabe fails to make the rangers roster out of dev camp, and gets sent down to the hartford wolfpack. rangers coach mike sullivan says he wants him to get faster, stronger, and more confident. gabe accepts that; it’s clear that his confidence is down but he’s determined to do whatever’s best for his career
ryan makes the capitals roster - doesn't even attend dev camp
will is obviously already on the sharks roster, but not as a center - now, he’s going to play on macklin’s wing. this is a big thing: his entire life he’s been a center, and there’s a huge demand for centers right now! he’s putting himself in a disadvantageous position just so he can play on a line with mack. interesting interesting interesting.
ryan does pretty well! he’s not incredible but he’s certainly not awful.
gabe’s a little rocky in hartford at first, but quickly becomes their best guy on the ice. he’s too skilled for the AHL, it’s obvious, but when he gets briefly called up to the NHL in november, he doesn’t look ready, and gets sent back down after a few games
good to note: in new york, gabe is getting close with rempe & with noah laba, also with alexis lafreniere who he speaks french with. in hartford, he’s getting close with brendan brisson, another young guy with a father with a legacy (pat brisson, a very notable agent). also, matt rempe gets injured when the sharks come to new york in mid october, he’s out till december
ryan is injured in early december
will is also injured in early december, mack gets in a bit of a scrum with the guy who did it
gabe gets called up a bit before christmas, scores his first NHL goal on december 18th. will posts the graphic on his story, ryan doesn’t!!!!!!
on december 23rd, the rangers and capitals play each other. somehow it works out that that’s the day ryan comes back from injury (!!), and he and gabe interact briefly on the ice - gabe tries to hit him and just stumbles is most what happens. the rangers win 7-3.
after the game, a reporter asks ryan if he and gabe talked at all, and ryan seems annoyed & shuts down a bit. “a few words,” he says. “that’s it.” so… trouble in paradise? it’s strange because ryan has always been happy to talk about gabe in media availability; he’s always been the first one to talk about how great at hockey he is and how he’s a good friend. they were so close through will (in a sense) abandoning them, and they’ve been friends since they were 16. they didn’t even get coffee?
gabe spends christmas at will's family's place in massachusetts, with the smith extended family
will and ryan get dinner when the sharks go to washington for january 15, but will is still injured so they don't play against each other. will comes back the very next game
gabe and will get dinner the night before the rangers play the sharks in san jose, on january 23. max miller writes an article about it and they talk about it in pregame media with both will and gabe, which is something ryan didn't have with either of them
mack scores twice in the early minutes of the first with a lot of will-mack duo magic
during the game there's this little moment which makes me feel nauseous where will sees gabe skating towards him and holds out his hand as if he's going for a tap but gabe just skates past
and THEN the famous gabe-on-macklin elbow! late into the game, the rangers are losing bad, and gabe blatantly elbows mack as they pass each other. mack gets a bloody nose. the sharks broadcasters make a joke about how will is gonna "break up" with gabe after the game, and then in postgame media will is asked about it, and he just giggles and says he thought gabe was going to get a longer penalty for it
at the start of the olympic break, will and gabe were spotted at a bc game together. a few days later, will, gabe, ryan, and jacob fowler were spotted at the bc vs. bu beanpot together
other things
will and ryan are notoriously catholic, pray before games and wear crucifixes and shit. will added a rosary ring to his chain alongside the cross and st. christopher pendant this season, actually, which is interesting!!! gabe is different, though, till 2/5/26 it had been a bit of a debate because of his cultural background & because he was wearing necklaces with his number on them (always deriving from his father's #94), never a crucifix. but as of 2/5 he now wears a cross!
and just to drill it in again: these three guys really, really loved one another. they respected one another, and thought incredibly highly of each other as players, linemates, teammates, and people. for a long time they just… they ALWAYS talked about how great the others were!!! everything was about each other!!! and after will left BC, that started to stop. it was still there between ryan and gabe, but at the start of the 25-26 season even that ended. so the questions are essentially about what happened that could’ve outweighed the devotion to each other
and that's basically where we're at! let me know if it looks like i made any mistakes & please send asks or messages with any questions or to discuss!! i can also provide any sources if they aren't linked.
wait i thought we’re currently on stickgate 2.0? what did i miss 🧍🏼♀️
A story told in three parts:
Stickgate 1.0: Will’s Bauer stick was found in BU’s equipment room. Turns out Will had used their facilities to train during the offseason and had left a souvenir behind at BC’s rival school.
Stickgate 2.0: Willmack were caught carrying custom made replicas of each other’s sticks (Bauer - left-handed; CCM right-handed) on their way to practice.
Stickgate 3.0: A Celebrini #71, CCM Vizion 2, left-handed prototype designed for Mack for the Olympics was found in Will’s hockey stick collection, at his childhood home in Lexington. The stick may have been a gift from Mack.
271 / explicit / 33,750 (3/3)
tags: alternate universe, age difference, pining, idolatry, religious themes
Mack doesn’t have to work so hard to impress Will, he’s slowly learning. Will is unreal, celestial. The kind of being that’s predisposed to be impressed.
