#unrivalled

[ilyas-anya]

The Centaurs have just won their first game of the season with both THE Shane Hollander and THE Ilya Rozanov on the team, and everyone’s ecstatic. Shane starts throwing his gear into his bag and no one notices anything’s wrong because is this not what everyone does? Except Ilya stops his conversation with Bood mid sentence, stopping Shane to ask what’s wrong. Shane brushes it off but Ilya persists because since when does Shane not fold and gently place literally everything away all the time??

Shane mumbles that he would rather just go home and shower there, to which Ilya is like ???? No???? You hate that and would feel so uncomfortable???? After much discussion Ilya gently gets out of Shane that he’s worried about what the others are going to say about if they shower at the same time.

Ilya is appalled Shane would think his precious centaurs are anything like “stupid fucking Montreal”. Ilya then starts chirping something about Comeau, but stops, taking Shane’s clothes, folds them carefully, and gently tells him to go and shower, then come back and let him know he’s done so they can swap.

Overtime, Ilya walks into the showers kissing Shane’s shoulder every time before showering next to him. Shane just grins while Bood reminds them that this is not the shower in their home.

[shenanigans-will-ensue]

Hear me out: Shane, before his first game with the Centaurs, gets tapped for media. They ask him how he feels about not being captain for the first time and he jumps of the opportunity to goad his husband by implying that he’ll earn the position by next season. Cue the rest of the season being spent with them chirping back and forth about it at every given opportunity.

Maybe it becomes a whole thing online where people are getting really invested in who should be captain so of course Harris leans into it. He calls a meeting to suggest his plan: an exhibition match in the pre- or post-season with Shane and Ilya each drafting half-teams of the Cens roster, winner gets to be captain for the next season. Obviously all the game proceed would go towards the Irina foundation so the team are in and the fans Love It. (Also Shane and Ilya are fine competing over the ‘C’ because it’s just a title, maybe it takes them a little while to figure out the dynamic at first but they both lead in different ways and whatever letters are or aren’t on their jerseys won’t stop them from doing everything they can to help their team.)

Also I accidentally wrote way too much of this when drafting this post so it’s included under the break:

He’d known it was coming (obviously) but that doesn’t make him dread it any less. They start him off with some lowballs: “How is it adjusting to a new team?” And, “Are you happy being back in your hometown?” But it doesn’t take long before they start asking bigger questions, really looking for quotable material.

“Shane, you’ve spent the past 8 seasons captaining your own team with the Metros. How does it feel going into this game - this season - without that ‘C’ on your chest?”

And for one second he’s just so blinded with gratitude to this journalist. It’s not some question about being an openly gay hockey player, or what it’s like to play beside his husband (not that he’s even actually played a game with Ilya yet, on the Centaurs at least). It’s the same question any other player in the league would receive if they were in his position (as in a former captain starting on a new team) but it also gives him the perfect opportunity to show everyone that what he has with Ilya - what he’s always had with Ilya - has always been real.

“Well, it definitely feels a bit strange to be going out on the ice and not be the guy calling the shots.” Shane huffs a laugh, briefly locking eyes with the camera before returning to the reporter. “I’m not too worried though, I’m still the new guy in the locker room and I’ll have to learn the team dynamics but I’m sure it’ll be Rozanov answering that question this time next year.”

It’s not that Shane has any particular desire to captain the Centaurs (Ilya is damn good at his job and the scars from his time with the Metro’s are still too fresh) but this is familiar territory. Chirping Ilya, challenging him, even on the same team, is proof that their rivalry wasn’t (entirely) fabricated.

The reported looks absolutely delighted by his response, clearly gearing up to continue along that vein before they’re interrupted by a commotion from the locker room behind them: near simultaneously, a group of voices (grown men, not middle schoolers) going “oooohh.”

Ilya, half-dressed, comes charging out of the locker room. (This is as far as I got lol)

[samantitheos]

the end of every centaurs game in unrivalled, probably

[lovelierbitsoflife]

Can’t wait for this to be added to the list of world wide public holidays along with Christmas, Hanukkah, LNY, Eid, and Divali

[makingmeblue]

can we all collectively agree that unless unrivaled is a masterpiece of modern fiction we should treat it as just another submission to the post-tlg fanfiction pile, bc i have read sooooo many good post-tlg fics im so attached to those ottawa men i don’t want them ruined 😫

[unashamedly-heated]

Harris could absolutely get the rights to re-use the rivals documentary, filming Shane and Ilya talking over it as they sit side by side

Sharing things about the decade old games and challenges they didn't get to tell each other at the time, talking about the actual making of the documentary and the fear of slipping up, the frustration of not being able to give real answers to the soft ball questions about each other - giving those answers now, truthful and moving and absolutely chirping each other.

Them both going quiet during Shane's knock out, Shane silently squeezing Ilya's hand before they say a few words about it.

Harris would add in a few of the more memorable moments of the years since the documentary, and some that had missed the first cut, Scott and kip's kiss on the ice, the charity camp success, the plane crash, Shane signing to Ottawa, the 27 power play goals they made together, them lifting the cup together on the ice

[saturnparker]

I’ve read a lot of fics where after Shane leaves, Montreal adds this mean, rough, and homophobic centre and that trope is good…but what if instead they got something more familiar?

What if the first time Shane lines up for the first faceoff and his heart gets caught in his throat because it feels like looking in a mirror and time machine simultaneously.

It’s a young rookie, maybe drafted, maybe traded for, or called up from the AHL. Shane had researched him before the game, of course he had. He sees a baby-faced kid who knows exactly what to say to say to media, who always highlights his commitment to the team and the responsibility he already feels for their success. He’s polite, doesn’t get into fights, and is wicked smart on the ice. He’s a kid certain fans are calling the saviour of the franchise after the departure of their formerly beloved captain.

He doesn’t chirp when him and Shane face off, instead he avoids eye contact, maybe mumbles a few overly polite words, and it makes Shane forget how to breathe.

Because Shane knows the cycle is repeating, and all he can do is watch and keep on playing.

[belleandkurtbastian]

Here's how the Centaurs can afford to keep Luca.

(Apparently I can't write fic anymore but I can do... whatever the fuck this is.)

I'm clearly thinking too hard about fictional hockey players' fictional contracts... Especially as someone who doesn't actually know this stuff well... So this is a combination of stuff I had to glean online, stuff I've seen in fics, and the vague details that ARE in the books...

But a lot of fics I've seen have the (rational, probably correct) premise that the Centaurs just will not be able to afford to keep Luca after his ELC. And for complete self-indulgence reasons, I'm SURE there must be a way to make it happen :P

(I'm not putting actual contract values / AAVs in here, so I've not done the actual maths on 'real' numbers... but just... vibe with me here.)

Canonically, Ilya joined the Centaurs in free agency in 2018 (HR ch. 27 and epilogue) which means that after his 3-year ELC, Boston almost certainly signed him to a 5-year contract. It's unlikely he was signed to anything shorter given his status in the league was established before he even hit the ice on his début game.

Likewise, Shane joined the Centaurs in free agency in 2021 (TLG ch. 37), which means that after his 3-year ELC he either got two shorter contracts... Or more likely, a full 8-year contract through to the 20/21 season. He definitely got a DIFFERENT contract length from Ilya because only Ilya was a free agent in 2018, and Shane being a free agent doesn't come up AT ALL in the books.

Troy, meanwhile, joined the Centaurs in a trade for draft picks in November 2020. (RM ch. 1, though I'm not actually convinced this timeline makes sense, I think if you piece it out November 2020 lasts about 7 weeks between the three books). What contract he's on is a complete mystery but he was just entering his eighth year in the league when traded so he's ELC+5 at that point, and at the very least made All-Stars twice. The more I look at Troy's contract situation, the more it seems like the Guardians traded away a player they had JUST re-signed to a long-term contract. My best guess is Troy is probably on year 1 or 2 of a 5 year contract when he gets traded.

Which means that the major forwards on the Centaurs relevant to this are: (with the TLG/RM season bolded/italicised)

[Player (Contract year / overall NHL seasons) Age]

17-18: [IR BOS ELC+5], [TB TOR ELC+2], [SH MTL ELC+5] 18-19: IR (1/9) 27, [LH Draft+1], [TB TOR ELC+3], [SH MTL ELC+6] 19-20: IR (2/10) 28, [LH Draft+2], [TB TOR ELC+4], [SH MTL ELC+7] 20-21: IR (3/11) 29, LH (ELC1/1) 20, TB (1/8) 25, [SH MTL ELC+8] 21-22: IR (4/12) 30, LH (ELC2/2) 21, TB (2/9) 26, SH (1/12) 30 22-23: IR (5/13) 31, LH (ELC3/3) 22, TB (3/10) 27, SH (2/13) 31

Also, Bood's on a new contract as of the 19-20 season (TLG ch. 37). And not a forward, but Wyatt's on a hefty contract too (same chapter). But their ages and tenure are VERY hard to tease out so I'm not going to track them.

All of which combined means that Shane took a massive pay cut to join the Centaurs (again, TLG ch. 37), because they were REALLY running up to the limit on cap space.

And you KNOW that if Shane wasn't getting money out of that new contract, Farah and Yuna were making SURE he was getting every other perquisite he could. No-movement. Longest contract possible. Any possible break clause that is favourable to Shane rather than the organisation.

So what I'm saying is, at the end of TLG, I think Shane signed a full 7 years.

Ilya's contract could be coming up for renewal the summer Luca's ELC ends, but it's more likely that he signed to Ottawa for a full 7 years, which would put him two years past Luca's ELC.

It wouldn't be completely unexpected for the Centaurs to sign Luca to an interim contract for a couple of years until they can free up the cap space to give him a long-term contract.

ESPECIALLY if by the end of Shane and Ilya's second season on the Centaurs together, they have firmed up their future plans.

Ilya's contract is 3 years ahead of Shane's, and he's also definitely the one of them that would be most likely to step away from the sport before he is forced to.

And if they are deciding they want kids sooner rather than waiting until they're both retired, Ilya stepping back to be a stay-at-home parent (... and Shane Hollander's WAG) is a completely viable future plan.

By the 2025 summer break, they'd definitely be wanting to start to restructure their team, coming off their major rebuild around Ilya. This is when Ilya stepping back makes sense for the TEAM as well as for himself, so the organisation can grow a new core around their staple LW and alternate (ZB), their established rising star RW (LH), their veteran RW (TB), and their veteran hometown centre entering the back half of his contract (SH).

(Controversial take? I think Bood gets the C over the others here.)

All of which is stuff that could definitely be fed back to Luca to... encourage him to take a short-term contract "just in case" the Centaurs suddenly have a huge amount of cap space open in, hypothetically, the 2025 summer break.

Would DIRECTLY communicating this to Luca be a breach of the CBA and other contract rules? Probably, yeah. But there's a lot of room between Ilya suggesting a career plan to his teammate... and Ilya telling his good friends Luca and Troy that he's thinking of retiring early at the end of his contract to leave on a high, let new talent grow, and raise kids with his husband.

20-21: IR (3/11) 29, LH (ELC1/1) 20, TB (1/8) 25, [SH MTL ELC+8] 21-22: IR (4/12) 30, LH (ELC2/2) 21, TB (2/9) 26, SH (1/12) 30 22-23: IR (5/13) 31, LH (ELC3/3) 22, TB (3/10) 27, SH (2/13) 31 23-24: IR (6/14) 32, LH (1/4) 23, TB (4/11) 28, SH (3/14) 32 24-25: IR (7/15) 33, LH (2/5) 24, TB (5/12) 29, SH (4/15) 33 25-26: IR ret. 34, LH (1/6) 25, TB (1/13) 30, SH (5/16) 34 26-27: IR ret. 35, LH (2/7) 26, TB (2/14) 31, SH (6/17) 35 27-28: IR ret. 36, LH (3/8) 27, TB (3/15) 32, SH (7/18) 36

All of which brings you to the 28-29 season, and the choice that Shane faces. Even Shane Fucking Hollander probably isn't getting a long-term contract at the age of 37, but there's still every chance in the world that the Centaurs want one last hurrah with their hometown hero and sign him to a shorter-term contract to at least give him his full worth, if they can find the cap space.

Or he can retire, secure in the legacy he and his husband have built at the Ottawa Centaurs and in the league as a whole, and commit himself to raising their family instead.

28-29: IR ret. 37, LH (4/9) 28, TB (4/16) 33, SH ret. 37