Reflecting on my headcanon about Shane's post-retirement consulting business, I want to consider how #MyShane handles it when Montreal inevitably wants to hire him, because they haven't gotten close to winning a cup in quite awhile since they bullied Shane out, and desperately could use his services. I think it depends how much turnover there's been, and how many of the people who were awful to him are still there.
Let's say he plays for the Centaurs for a decade, starts this business two years into retirement, and within three or four years has made a really good name for himself. So after fifteen years, the majority of the players will have either retired or been traded just in the normal course of business, and probably especially on a team that's struggling to get any momentum. Maybe a couple of guys who were rookies or pretty new under Shane are still there. They were drafted to one of the best teams in the league, only for them to witness its fall first-hand. Maybe they resent Shane--for being gay and/or for leaving--or maybe they just think about what could have been.
There's probably been some front office turnover, trying to find leaders whose strategy works. Maybe its some young bright-eyed assistant to the GM who goes "hey we should hire this great consultant, Shane Hollander." (Yeah, the guy knows who Shane is, knows he played for Montreal and left and the circumstances were bad. But he was like, five years old when it all happened. It's ancient history to him.) The GM, (who was a veteran Boston player the first season Shane played for Ottawa and then promptly retired to avoid getting trampled by the combined might of Hollander and Rozanov together on the ice) is like HELL NO WE CAN'T ASK HIM FOR ANYTHING.
But then he looks at his floundering team and knows he only has a season or two to make them get their act together before he gets asked to resign. So he prepares to eat humble pie, looks up the phone number, and calls.
I don't know how long Theriault was canonically coach for by TLG, and I don't know if it's realistic that he'd still be coach when the team hasn't gotten even close to a cup since he oversaw a generational player leaving. But lets say he's still around (he's an old family friend of the owners so he's kind of untouchable, I think). He's a bitter, angry man chasing his glory days and is definitely resentful of Shane being gay. He takes it personally, like a betrayal. He was supposed to be the coach of a cup winning team, but then their greatest weapon turned on him by not being straight. He definitely should have been fired long ago. The assistant coaches are doing a lot of the heavy lifting, but they can't undo the toxicity he brings to the ice
Shane's assistant sends over a contract, and tells the Montreal GM to send over a roster of all players and staff with everyone's stats, Mr. Hollander will review and send a brief report with recommendations. The initial review and preliminary report will cost $$$$$, and if both parties want to continue working together, they can sign another contract ($$$$$$$$$$) for Shane to review tape, watch practices, and work with specific players. Montreal GM cannot sign that contract fast enough. He's relieved that he didn't get told to fuck off. He sends over the roster and staffing information.
Half an hour later, he receives an email with the report. It has a very professional cover page. There is only one additional page. It is the list of coaching staff, printed out and then scanned with annotation: Theriault's name, circled in red, and the words "FIRE HIM" hand-written
