I donât think the plane scene is entirely about Shane tbh.
Yeah, Shane realises that if he were to lose Ilya, he would have no way of grieving him as his partner. But I think it makes sense that the plane scene is from Ilyaâs point of view rather than Shaneâs. And that Shane doesnât have to go through the ordeal of thinking that he lost Ilya even for a second.
Mostly because, in my opinion, the plane scene is not about punishing Shane. RR didnât want Shane to regret loving hockey. Because that is exactly what Shane would do, if he thought that he lost Ilya a few days after their big fight. But RR did want Ilya to face death from an outside force to understand what he would lose if he were to die.
Ilya has spent majority of the book being a sad wet cat. He is depressed and passively suicidal. He thinks that he is a bad captain to the Centaurs and a bad partner to Shane. And during their big fight he ends up blaming Shane for his misery, which he regrets deeply.
In the end, this outside force, which almost kills him, is what makes him jump out of this mess. Once faced with death, Ilya realises that he wants to live. He wants to live and he wants to build a life with Shane. And that he wants to take the Centaurs to the playoffs. That he wants to do all the things which he could not do previously in the book because of his mental illness.
And no, I am not saying the plane scene cured Ilyaâs depression or something. But it did give him perspective on all the things I mentioned above, and that is why he prays to be saved in the end.












