I'm thinking about what makes Will and Mack's friendship different from a lot of hockey pairings and I guess it is the tenderness of it all.
Sure, they bonded over shared laughs, and we might view them as chaotic kids with prefrontal cortexes yet to develop. But the deepest layer of their relationship, I think, is they see in each other something that very few people around them can truly understand.
When Toff said they are respectful of each other, I think he means the two are not just respectful in the sense that they’re polite or get along, but respectful because they understand exactly what the other person carries. They know the pressures. They know the sacrifices. They know the burden of expectations. And because they recognize those things in each other, they treat those parts of one another carefully.
Both know what it feels like to be told from a young age that they’re going to be great. Both know what that greatness demands. Both know that people are expecting them to save the franchise. Because of that, I think there’s an emotional depth to their relationship that they only fully reveal to each other. They share vulnerabilities they could never trust with anyone else, completely secure in the knowledge that they would never use those weaknesses as a weapon against the other. The vulnerabilities, fears, insecurities, and frustrations that come with being an athlete are things they can discuss with each other without worrying they’ll be judged or misunderstood. There’s a complete trust there.
Will and Mack are also incredibly indulgent of one another. They give each other the space to be the truest versions of themselves whenever they’re together.
Mack lets Will plan their hangouts and happily goes along with whatever Will wants because he knows how much Will enjoys being the planner. He lets Will drag him into starting a book club despite openly admitting before that he doesn’t read much, simply because he knows how much it means to Will. He lets Will take the bed furthest from the door because he knows Will sleeps better when someone else is in the room and acts like his guard. He always puts himself between Will and the other player whenever a scrum breaks out because he knows Will isn’t one to fight. And that’s okay, Mack has never seemed to mind doing enough of the fighting for the both of them. He even gives Will his customized Olympic stick because he knows Will is a huge gear guy, and what better gift than something as personal and unique as a stick that no one else can easily get?
Then there’s the way Will lets Mack be imperfect. He knows Mack lives under constant scrutiny. He knows Rick instilled discipline, humility, hard work, and sacrifice into him from such a young age. Somewhere along the way, Mack learned that he always had to be better, work harder, and be the poster hockey boy. Yet with Will, Mack gets to be a little brash, a little mean, a little hot-tempered (windshield gate, anyone?), a little imperfect. And Will loves and accepts every part of him anyway. He follows Mack’s instructions during games and on the bench to the point where everyone jokes that he’s Mack’s dog, because he understands how much Mack needs that sense of control and how much pressure he carries every single game night. He handles the smelling salt ritual even though Mack is perfectly capable of doing it himself because he knows Mack is already carrying enough before he even steps onto the ice, and that's one small way of taking something off his plate.
I think that’s why Will chose Mack as the person he leans on within the team, and why Mack says he trusts Will’s opinion so much. They just get each other.
Their mental and emotional wavelength are so similar. They’re attuned to one another in a way that goes beyond friendship born from proximity or shared interests. There’s a mutual understanding that they’re building something bigger than themselves; that they’re trying to leave a legacy that neither of them can do alone, that they genuinely need each other, and most importantly, they want to do it together. And despite the crushing weight that comes with chasing that kind of legacy, there's comfort in knowing that there is another person carrying it with them.
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