the hockey is a setting on purpose. the hockey culture is relevant. sm people seem to be missing the contrast between Kip and every other dude in the show and the main, key difference is he's not in a public facing sports league that has a history of deep conservatism. that's why kip's out to his dad, goes to gay bars, has gay friends who all know he's gay. meanwhile Scott, who doesn't even have parents to "disappoint" in the way Shane and Ilya do, still won't come out. the hockey of it all is deeply relevant. and i think the show knows a pretty solid portion of it's viewer base does not know hockey culture and would inevitably start going "why are shane and ilya trapped in this miscommunication loop for years" it's literally because they're hockey players (amongst other things ofc).
there's not a single openly queer nhl player drafted on a team. that's not a coincidence. before a hockey player even makes it to a point of being a public facing figure, they learn very quickly on the ice, in the locker room, with their team, that being queer isn't safe. it's the first thing they recognize as an insult. it's the first way they learn to assert dominance over one another.
the hockey is a backdrop, yes, and they're hardly playing hockey because they're too busy doing softcore, but the hockey is RELEVANT. that's why Kip and Scott's story is important, because it is there to illustrate how much freedom a queer man has when he's not locked into this hyper masculine, hyper conservative culture - especially as a public facing figure. if they weren't going to get it from their teammates, they'd get it from the fans and media.
