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breakawayinthebay

the inherent romanticism of Boston, Massachusetts

breakawayinthebay

the inherent romanticism of Vancouver, British Columbia

breakawayinthebay

the inherent romanticism of Boston, Massachusetts in July

#the wackles are killing me bro #like what are we even supposed to do genuinely

pert1nents

when u say jamie and trevor have opposite juniors/usndtp trauma, what do u mean (asking as a filthy casual fan of the ship)

This is very much based on something leo @coachspet said, and I might not be understanding or thinking about it the same way he did!! BUT my analysis and what I took from his point is that the NTDP and the OHL’s structures create really different ways that players relate within a group, and each have their own drawbacks that I would say contribute to how Trevor and Jamie show up in the world and present themselves to the public and media.

The OHL (Ontario Hockey League) is structured where promising rookies (age 16 usually) join already existing teams comprised of older players—some of whom are drafted into the NHL, some of whom will likely never be drafted and are playing out their eligibility. What this means in practice is that 16-year-old Jamie Drysdale is drafted 4th overall in the 2018 OHL Priority Selection and leaves home to join a team that includes 19 and 20 year olds who probably aren’t going anywhere special but do have power over more talented younger boys!! The Canadian Hockey League broadly has a notorious systemic hazing problem (and a horrific sexual assault problem with roots largely in these hazing rituals) that stems at least in part from this practice of bringing bright-eyed 16-year-olds into a truly toxically masculine environment in which older, larger boys (themselves victims of hazing) set the tone in the locker room. So [speculating and telling the story that’s interesting to me, bla bla bla] I would say it is pretty likely that Jamie learned to employ the strategy of being quiet, keeping his interests and vulnerabilities close to his chest—giving nothing so it couldn’t be used as ammunition from his teammates or peers. Interestingly enough, Jamie played for the Erie Otters, who famously birthed another Go Girl Give Us Nothing legend, Connor McDavid.

So then, as I understand it, the USNTDP, where Trevor came up, evolved in part in response to the issues that arise from mixed-age teams as well as keeping players NCAA eligibile (?). They select a class of players in which everyone is the same age—people call Trevor’s class the ‘01s because they are all born in 2001. Which is great because you’re all rookies at the same time, so no one has been on the team for 4 years and is overjoyed at the prospect of re-enacting their hazing trauma by giving you alcohol poisoning. BUT that means you have a group of guys at the exact same point in your development to compare yourself to, measure yourself against, etc. The NTDP is famously a pressure cooker: really competitive, insular, tightly bonded, with a huge focus on measuring body composition, optimization of nutrition and hydration, mega high expectations plus playing against older high-caliber teams. There is also the whole “earning the right to the locker room” and assorted other psychosexual freakiness—the difference is that it’s being enforced by coaching staff. (You could argue this is worse and I would probably agree with you.) There’s a similar emphasis on Brotherhood and Silence and Keeping Problems in the Room but I would say there’s more of like a collective trauma bond (and eating disorder) where instead of trusting no one, you trust exclusively 16 other boys your same age, who are also your direct competitors in the upcoming NHL draft. I think this shows up for Trevor in his love of the buddy system, his drive to distinguish himself and to play with his signature flair, and probably his coach-pleasing tendencies. There’s also the whole matter of spending every summer with the same group of guys he went to hell with for two years, but they seem to genuinely like and enjoy each other so I won’t pathologize that—I just think it’s Interesting.

And to put all of this succinctly, I might say that Trevor was in Yellowjackets and Jamie was in Lord of the Flies.

#ntdp as yellowjackets and chl as lord of the flies might be one of the most genius takes i’ve ever read #such an incredible and succinct comparison to summarize both environments and highlight their differences #notable that the 2001s are by no means unique for their latching onto each other and pending a lot of time together in the offseason #the ntdp does tend to produce these very tight knit groups that stay latched on even years later #chl #ntdp #tzjd #the narratives