Just saw a comment under Ryan Lin’s media availability video on yt saying he looked like Shane Hollander and my god. I’ve had him for two seconds and I’m already ready to throw hands.
Because here’s the thing. Ryan Lin is an actual minority in a sport that is not kind to people who are different. I am most definitely not a minority hockey player, so I can’t say exactly what that experience would’ve been like, but I doubt it was anything welcoming. We’ve all seen how white conservative many of the players are. But Lin made it anyway! He worked hard and got drafted! And it is very cool and exciting. What is not cool or exciting in the slightest is immediately comparing him to the fictional Asian hockey player from the gay hockey show. Who, I might mention, does not even have the same ethnic background. His achievements are his own, and it is demeaning to be like ‘ooo Asian hockey player is Shane Hollander!’ Literally so demeaning. He is a real person, with real struggles and real achievements. He is not a doll from a tv show.
