Okay, even if the Sharks are in the Pacific’s basement at present, here’s a little something to make you all smile from a Pierre Lebrun article today in the Athletic.
can you explain the will/gabe/leno lore? i know that’s probably impossible lol but i just was wondering if you had a good explanation or know a acc that does! love ur content :)
you're so sweet thank you!! i'll try my best :-) if anyone has any corrections, additions, or would like a source for anything, please let me know!
it's all under the cut because...Oh boy it's a lot. good luck soldiers.
THERE IS NOW AN UPDATED PRIMER!
pre-trio (~2015)
will and leno, both massachusetts natives, meet at 9 years old playing against each other in junior hockey.
2021-2022
gabe, will, and leno become close playing together for the USA national team development u17 program.
starting this year, and throughout their time at the program, will and leno live together with will vote (one of will's junior teammates with the boston junior eagles and a friend to both of them for a long time). will smith's parents buy a house 15 minutes away from the development program, will smith's mother and will vote's mother alternate staying with the boys for two weeks at a time—flying to and from boston every two weeks. both leno's parents were working.
2022-2023
they play together again on the u18 team. they establish themselves as a great line.
win gold at u18 worlds playing together on a line.
gabe sets a new NTDP record for points in a single season with 132. this broke the previous points record, auston matthews’ 117.
summer 2023
they all commit to boston college. both will and leno had been pretty set on it—both massachusetts natives, will from lexington and leno from amherst, and will’s family has been going to BC for generations. gabe takes more convincing, but (as will says in his empty netters podcast) will basically pestered gabe until he decided to commit, saying that they worked so well as lineys and they couldn't split that up. also, at this point, they're really just best friends. (i think gabe, at this point, loved him too much to say no. by now, his life kind of revolves around will and leno.)
they get drafted! will is fourth overall to the san jose sharks (the highest draft in BC history), leno eighth to the washington capitals, gabe twenty third to the new york rangers. i think will and leno—leno especially—probably didn't like gabe’s spot very much. they both vehemently defend his prowess as a player; leno thinks he’s “the smartest player in the upcoming draft.” do with that what you will.
a few more of their NTDP friends get drafted and commit to BC: aram minnetian goes 125th to the dallas stars and commits to BC; drew fortescue goes 90th in the third round to the new york rangers and commits to BC.
will vote also commits to BC from the program
guess who else commits to a boston school! that’s right: macklin celebrini to boston university—who BC has a huge rivalry with. he’s the youngest kid in college hockey at 17 years old and probably the best.
2023-2024
we're finally at BC—yay!
gabe and will room together. gabe has said his favorite snack is milk and cookies—you know who else has roomed with will smith hockey and likes milk and cookies? YEAH. yeah you know who.
they major in communications, because really it’s not like this whole college thing was ever going to be permanent. IT WAS NEVER GOING TO BE PERMANENT. the expectation in college sports, especially with draft picks this high, is that they probably aren't going to stay at school. but anyways!!!! that’s not important right now!!!!!
will and leno have five out of five classes together, four out of five with gabe. (gabe is taking french—he’s already fluent, so. easy A!). they take a theater class together and are all assigned backstage crew instead of acting parts. rip!
they have a pretty great season. with the three of them on the first line, BC becomes elite offensively. they rise to the #1 spot in the nation a few times.
they play on a line at 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 a both a gabe goal and a leno goal—gabe’s assisted by leno and will, leno’s assisted by gabe.
on february 5th, they face BU in the beanpot semi-final. BU shuts them down, heads on to lose the final against northeastern.
on march 23rd, they face BU in the hockey east final. BC wins 6-2, with four goals from will (one with the apple from gabe, one from leno), as well as a goal from gabe. macklin scores one of BU’s two goals 14:45 into the third period, when BC is already up 5-1. he doesn’t celebrate, just stands there in true macklin fashion. BC wins the hockey east championship, will gets tournament MVP.
on april 13th, bc’s season eventually ends in the national championship final against denver. they were shut out 2-0. leno starts crying, it’s fucking sickening.
summer of 2024
well, friends. here is where everything goes to shit.
on may 28th, will signs with the sharks.
2024-2025
this season is hell! xxx
gabe and leno are back at BC. their new liney—will’s replacement, pretty explicitly—is james hagens, an incoming freshman and prospected high draft pick. leno becomes an alternate captain.
gabe and leno go to world juniors—leno with the C, gabe with an A. they win gold, just like last year, except they don’t have will.
will is with the sharks achieving his—and gabe and leno’s—dreams of playing in the NHL, with macklin celebrini as a rookie wonders/soulmates duo.
the willgabeleno dynamic throughout this whole season is very we hug now sydney rose: “i have a feeling you got everything you wanted / and you’re not wasting time stuck here like me.” this sentiment from both sides at different points but largely from leno and gabe to will.
of course, the sharks’ season sucks. but will has a good year both with his performance—even though it started off rough—and especially just, like…whimsy-wise. even though they’re losing, he and mack are having so much fun, and there’s not a lot of pressure on them this year because nobody was expecting them to be able to turn things around for the team very fast. so will’s year becomes heavy on the fun and, as we all know, things are really centralized on his and mack’s relationship. the jersey bets, the sleepovers, the grinning as soon as anyone mentions the other guy!! they really just like each other so much, and they’re letting EVERYONE know about it.
gabe and leno…don’t have so much fun.
it’s not that they aren’t playing well, but without will, things are different. james hagens, as previously mentioned, is the replacement for will—and he’s not really...the same. the team holds a number one ranking for some of the season; end fourth. they have an overall ranking of 27–8–2. despite not being a bad team, we see them choke in higher stakes or more emotionally charged/narrative-heavy games.
on january 27th, mack wears will’s jersey from when he scored four goals in the hockey east final. they say they’d made a bet when BC and BU faced each other the weekend before. the sharks win that game.
this comes up again in february, when BC and BU are set to face each other in the beanpot. because the beanpot was during the four nations break, will and mack go to the game together. there’s talk about another jersey bet.
BU wins the beanpot. gabe opens the scoring with a leno assist, but that ends up being the only BC goal. gabe and leno and the entire BC team really don’t play very well. the final score is 1-4.
interestingly, will isn’t spotted at all with former teammates/with gabe and/or leno. he watches the game from a box; isn’t spotted going out afterwards. this doesn’t necessarily mean they didn’t see each other, but it’s weird especially in contrast with how much time mack spent with the BU team: he read the starting lineup with lane hutson, spent a lot of the game in the student section, took photos with the team on the ice, and was spotted out with them afterwards. again, could mean nothing, but it’s something to think about, especially considering that mack has basically no ties to the city of boston and even to the team, and will has EVERY tie to the city of boston and to the team. inch resting.
it takes a while, but will finally wears mack’s jersey on march 22nd, when the boston bruins come to san jose. (the sharks win that game, too. WHICH COULD MEAN NOTHING.)
a few days later, on the 28th, BC faces bentley in the frozen four semifinal and wins 3-1 with a goal from gabe (leno and hagens assists) and a goal from leno. Yay! but they haven’t won the natty yet…
and they never do. on the 30th of march, their season ends in a 3-1 loss to denver. (the same team they lost the natty to in the finals the year before, when leno cried and will helped him up.)
leno and gabe finally decide to sign NHL contracts. they do so right away: gabe to the new york rangers and leno to the washington capitals.
the rangers had a pretty bad season; were gunning for a wildcard spot they ultimately didn’t get when gabe signed. the caps, of course, had a pretty monumental one; leno signed with ovechkin only a few goals away from breaking gretzky’s record.
will reposts both instagram posts as well as the posts of their other BC friends who signed at this point. on everybody’s except for leno’s, he writes a little caption or puts an emoji. gabe had a red heart i believe? but leno’s was only the graphic.
neither of them makes an immediate impact. gabe is healthy scratched a few times (thank christ lavi is gone. i was about to riot.), doesn’t end up getting any points on the board. leno does get a goal, an empty netter with ovi one goal away from breaking the record. notably, will doesn’t post about his goal. leno had posted will’s first goal back at the start of the season.
gabe fits right in with the rangers. all of the vets seem to love him; he and othmann are fast friends and there’s also…That image of him and matt rempe at the last game of the season. lol. will smith hockey it’s OVER gabe has a new beautiful girlfriend now.
and leno fits right in with the caps! their ogapey love and deep barking voices are good for him. ovi calls him baby, babe, little kid leno. they all love him a lot. :-) of course, leno isn’t satisfied with all of the older men who would LOVE to make an impact on him. he likes will’s post announcing he’s going to worlds thirty minutes after a win. still in his pads i’m sure. many huge men shirtless around him and surely eager to bark at his feet. pathetic.
the caps make the playoffs but leno doesn’t make much of an impact. the rangers don’t make the postseason.
will goes to worlds and wins gold. he also finds time to hang out with mack, who played for canada, in sweden. i’m sure leno was so jealous it hurt.
on may 29th, leno finally posts on his instagram saying goodbye to BC. you’d think, after all their history, will would be featured in the post—right? WRONG.
leno’s post features, notably, gabe, james hagens, will vote, and teddy stiga. and no will. the first image is one of gabe and leno together on the ice—in a pose similar to the one will and mack are in in will’s end of season photodump
(i have some analysis of the post on my blog if you go to the #☀️ tag or the #asks tag.)
you thought it couldn't get worse? let’s go to the comments. gabe likes and replies to the post almost immediately. he says: “Brother for life , love you lean ❤️”. this is significantly more heartfelt than anything he’s commented on will’s posts.
a few hours after the first tower hits, the second one falls, and um. i nearly didn't make it. will comments—ON THE POST HE ISN’T FEATURED IN ONCE— “6934 🥲”. WHAT.
i should probably clarify that will’s college number was six, leno’s was nine, and gabe’s was thirty four. so will is referring to the bittersweetness that is the iconic, electric, and deeply emotionally complicated Freshman Line coming to an end. on a post that he isn't even in!!
another little note that doesn't fit anywhere: will and leno are both Good Repressed Catholic Boys. gabe doesn't wear a crucifix, but he does wear his father's number around his neck. do with this information what you will, because certainly it means something. (i talked about it here and here.) (edit: it seems as if it's actually just whatever number gabe is currently using. still, though, these numbers all come from his father's 94.)
tl;dr (because it’s the day after leno’s post dropped and i have nothing big left to add that i can think of), they’re fucking insane. we have reason to assume that they’ve had a falling out and it has something to do with leno’s desperate need to be wanted and increasing importance placed on loyalty—both things will has betrayed in his eyes—and the constant pain someone seems to be inflicting upon gabe at all times. (gabe takes more of a backseat in the Lashing Out, but i think his role in the falling out is fascinating and can't be overlooked: he’s got a steadiness and a need for things to Be Okay, even if he can't be wanted as he wants to be.)
Sharks NHL Draft selections Will Smith, Quentin Musty address the media following their selections (Jun 29, 2023)
"Pretty cool with Ryan Leonard going eighth overall-"
[Will's face lights up. He beams.]
"-with the Washington Capitals-"
"Did he? […] I didn't know that. Ah, wow. That's unbelievable- I mean, I wanted to see him get picked live, but, um, I mean, he's one of my best friends, I lived with him for two years, known him for so long so, that's unbelievable, and I, ah, I just can't wait to see him."
sharks having a giggle fest to pink pony club, broadcast talking about the smiles, and then the immediate cut to depressed canucks players is hilarious
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