Also, these people were all his teammates for many years. Shane is intimately aware of all the weaknesses of every member of his former team. As their captain, knowing how to compensate for every physical niggle and mental roadblock of each player on the Meteos was Shane’s job.
As their opponent, using all that information to best advantage to crucify them will be Shane’s new job. And over the summer, Brandon Wiebe and his staff will probably be getting detailed dossiers of every flaw in every current Metro’s game.
Coach Theriault and the Montreal GM (and all of Shane’s former teammates) will rue the day they tossed him overboard. Seriously rue it. Shane spent a decade playing against the man he loves and never taking it easy on Ilya on the ice. He won’t be going easy on Hayden and JJ on the ice just because they’re still his friends. And as for the rest, it’ll be on sight.
Shane comes across like a nice guy, rather bland guy to people who don’t know him well. But he has a vindictive streak a mile wide, especially when his professionalism has been questioned. He and Ilya have been checking each other into the boards since they were 17, and nobody figured it out until they were 29.
So that must hit especially hard, that his team knowing he and Ilya are involved means everything he’s done since he was a teenager is questioned. All the compromises he’s made. The stressors of the long distance relationship over the past 4 years. The situationship for the 7 years before that. All his worries over Ilya’s mental health.
The fact that he probably wonders if his partner moving to another country nearly 3 years earlier might have made Ilya’s mental health worse. A move that was Shane’s idea, a move that Ilya made specifically to be closer to him. He’s been feeling guilty about that. And now Shane can move on to being furious.
They both compromised so much for the Metros, and those sacrifices meant nothing to them. Ilya literally nearly died in a plane crash because he moved to Ottawa. If Ilya’s mental health had deteriorated further before he got professional help, he might have died by suicide like his mother. Obviously neither of those things would’ve been Shane’s fault. But they’re a hell of a lot less Shane’s fault than the Metros having tantrums over a kiss is his fault.
Shane nearly lost him twice over, and would’ve had no right to publicly grieve him. And the Metros are feeling betrayed because Shane slipped him some tongue in a private moment? When Shane could have lost him altogether? Quite literally.
Shane has every right to go nuclear at his employers and his co-workers (and the fans) for creating a hostile work environment. The moment they found out about his long term relationship. If he were a white collar worker, he’d be suing them for $80 million. As it is, he’s going to take his revenge on the ice.
And the Centaurs’ reaction must be salt in the wound for Shane. Because it didn’t need to be this way. He has proof a different team and management could handle the news that their captain was in love with a rival captain. Could wrap their brains around the concept and even be supportive.
The Metros could have handled it much better, and they didn’t. Wiebe and the Centaurs had no idea Ilya was even bisexual, let alone involved with Shane. Theriault and the Metros already knew Shane was gay. Theoretically, Montreal should have handled the news of their long term relationship better than Ottawa did.
Also, Theriault and the GM had the chance to set the tone. Encourage his teammates to handle it like mature adults instead of preteens revolted by sex cooties. Now Shane will make them all pay for everything they did. Everything else they failed to do.
And everything he and Ilya had to sacrifice in their relationship for their careers. Every physical bruise they got on the ice and every mental one. Every injury, every exhausted late night drive after a game to see their partner in another city. Every night they were in too much physical pain to make that drive, and had to sacrifice precious time off with the person they loved.
Specifically, both their sacrifices in the past few years for Shane’s career. For his career continuity with a team that threw him overboard at the first sign of trouble. After a decade of loyal service and three fucking Stanley Cups. Three is insane! They should have all been begging to buy wedding gifts for Shane and Ilya, instead of turning on Shane.
Once Shane gets over being shellshocked by the betrayal, he will be feral with rage.
At least I hope. I hope in Unrivaled, the narrative lets Shane get angry. In a way people of colour in mostly white sports can’t usually afford to get angry. And Shane has multiple extremely compelling reasons to go full Dark Phoenix on the Metros.
