really sad to me how the people in this world who love trevor zegras the most outside of her immediate family have to be hidden away in the shadows because we just happen to also be weird freaks and perverts. well i hope she feels our love beam all the way from our underground bunker
In light of following gate I need to remind everyone that the rpf versions of these hockey players are not who they actually are.
These are straight, rich white, likely conservative men in a hyper masculine highly toxic sport. A sport that rewards conformity (all of the wags look the same FOR A REASON). They will disappoint you. So with that being said I need everyone to emotionally prepare for when they don’t use pride tape this year. Will didn’t last year - but the way the fandom has exploded im sure it will be shocking to some when it happens again this year. If Mack uses it again this year I will genuinely be so shocked and pleased- but my expectations are low in light of the type of attention Will and Mack get.
important will smith narratives part II: the bc line
ok this post is partly to keep facts organized for myself, but also to introduce anyone unfamiliar with the bc line, aka will smith's longtime (ex) linemates, who are an important part of his narrative and should continue to haunt it even in san jose!!
we'll get into the full bc line lore, but first let's start with some individual backgrounds before we bring it all together. for will's background info, check out this post. we'll kick off this post with gabe:
Gabe Perreault – DOB 5/7/05
Drafted 23rd overall by the NY Rangers
Born in Quebec, but raised in Hinsdale, IL; speaks French; dual Canadian/American citizenship but represents team USA
Older brother Jacob was also a first-round draft pick and is a current AHL/NHL player
Father Yanic Perreault played 14 seasons in the NHL and holds the record for the highest face-off winning percentage in a career
(source)
GARY?! i have never heard anyone refer to gabe as GARY. there is another video i'll talk about later where he gives the name "dan" for his coffee order because it's "easier than gabe" (which, btw, gabe is a nickname? his full name is gabriel?) so idk what's going on there. anyway, burying the lede here that his go-to karaoke song is something taylor swift. fascinating things going on there.
tbh i don't find gabe that interesting outside of the bc line narrative, BUT i do love these descriptions of his play which translate perfectly to how i characterize him:
"Leonard is the high-motor guy on that line, and he loves to battle in the trenches and he's always hungry for the puck," the first scout said. "Perreault is wired a bit different. He's more about finesse. But so is Smith. I think when Perreault adds some strength and power, which he needs to do, I think he'll be OK. He is a smart player and he'll pick his spots. But he'll have to be aware that he can't play so much on the perimeter."
Perreault won't hurt his team with undisciplined penalties. He took four penalties for the entire 2022-23 season and U18s -- all minors. Some critics have said that the low penalty totals are due to being too much of a perimeter player and not initiating enough physically. Others have said that, in an era where even a 20 percent power play success rate ranks in the bottom-half to bottom one-third of the NHL, there is a much higher emphasis on staying out the penalty box.
(source)
gabe is smart and disciplined, but has questionable motor + compete. he has the vision, but is he willing to get in there and get his hands dirty? to bring the physicality? (this is why we continuously characterize gabe as the sacrificial lamb - he's always hanging on the perimeter and needs the more dynamic will & leno to bring him into the fold)
anyway, MOVING ON! next up: leno
Ryan Leonard – DOB 1/21/05
Drafted 8th overall by the Washington Capitals
Hometown: Amherst, MA
Older brother John was drafted in the sixth round and is a current AHL/NHL player; John also played at UMass for 3 years and was a Hobey Baker finalist his third year
he's the baby of the family ,and his parents have had much different career trajectories than will's lmao:
(source)
it's also very interesting how a western mass guy ended up at BC but i have yet to find leno giving a straight answer about why he committed there (other than it's a "special school" and "felt like home" when he visited the campus - he also appears to have a lot of pride in his grades; more on that later).
anyway, his playing style fits my ideal characterization as well. leno is a dog you keep on a leash:
Q: “Has that always been your game? Hard-nosed?”
A: “Yeah, it’s kinda just like, what made the game fun for me. Waiting for that – you know, growing up, you can’t hit and all that, you got that one age group when you can finally smash people. I was kinda waiting for that. That’s just kinda what made the game fun for me. And that’s just kinda like who my identity’s been like.” (x)
this clip of will talking about leno's antagonistic tendencies is also incredible, but here's the most important quote if you don't want to click through and watch: "at school, whenever we go to an away rink, he’s always like 'oh, if I score I’m going right to their student section and giving them something.'"
also incredibly important team usa moment where he blew a kiss to the swedish fans after dashing their hopes of winning gold. shit stirrer!!!
i think there are some brother issues we could get into with leno but that's outside the scope of the bc line, so we'll wrap up his section with the reason he came back for his sophomore year: to get another shot at winning the national championship and to “get myself a little bit closer to graduating. I think that’s a big part of it, especially BC, a top end school like that. Obviously, life after hockey is pretty important to me and I want to have that degree in my hand to show I’m not just an athlete.” (x) this boy appears to REALLY care about his grades/attending an elite school!!
when given the chance to ask a magic 8-ball a question, he wanted to know if he'd get a 4.0 and looked thrilled it said "very likely" (x)
did NOT want to concede that ryan chesley got better grades than him; insisted that he went to a better school so it wasn't a fair question (x) (if i could recommend watching one (1) leno video, this would be it. he's particularly charming in this one imo)
okay let's pull this all together and how these three became a three-headed snake* 🐍🐍🐍
*ok i don't actually know; they all became good friends and linemates while playing together for 2 years at the NTDP but who knows the specifics of how that friendship was forged during their program days (but what a great narrative to explore in fic eh!!!)
anyway myth became legend once they stuck together for college; leno + will both confirm that leno committed to BC first with will shortly behind leno, as will had to finish decommitting from northeastern first (leno's summary of this is hilarious: “So Will, I don’t know if you knew, everyone in his whole entire family has gone there [to BC] and for some reason he committed to Northeastern.” (x))
will says that convincing gabe was "a project"
he talks about it in this video and there's some incredible editing where will describes in a voiceover how he and leno both committed "so that was two of us" and then he was in gabe's ear while there are shots of him and leno looking all chummy like this:
and him and gabe looking all pensive like that, as if they're in some kind of heist movie and they can't pull it off if they don't have gabe's brains and the way he sees security systems on their crew. great stuff!!
i can no longer remember which of the 7 billion interviews i watched where will says he had to start pressing gabe, then "pressing on him a little more" to get him to go to BC, but gabe informs us this pretty much meant, "will was pretty much asking me every day if i was coming, so." (x) guess that was an effective tactic to wear him down
also VERY important to note that gabe was will's roommate at BC, and he consistently calls him his roommate (or now refers to him as his "ex-roommate"). there is something very possessive there. gabe belonged to will - he put in the work to get gabe to BC, claimed him over leno as a roomie, and then left him behind for leno to have his scraps to move onto bigger and better fish i guess
this is getting long, so let's conclude with some summaries of their dynamics in the boys' on words, starting with will:
(source - article from the spring prior to his freshman year at BC)
and leno, saying he's their leashed dog:
and finally, all three of them talking about each other's hockey skills:
and then the sharks win the draft lottery and select BU's own macklin celebrini, 17 year old first overall pick from BC's biggest rival. (will, btw, was BC's highest ever draft pick at 4th overall.)
last season, BC lost the national championship (leno cried; this is really important to me) and will signed with the sharks before macklin did, stabbing gabe and leno in the back leaving gabe and leno behind. we thought for sure that meant leno was going to sign with the caps, but he and gabe both went back to BC for another chance at the natty. and now that will and mack are obsessed with each other, and will's off losing in san jose while leno & gabe have a chance to win the one trophy will didn't get to, the shredded tapestry of the bc line has become an even richer tapestry for the narratives....
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