Archive of Our Own

This is not the first post-game interview Shane has done since coming to the Centaurs. He’s had to give one for what feels like every single game and at this point he can basically predict what questions will be asked. 

‘How is it to play with your husband?’

Fucking fantastic, thank you very much for asking. The whole being able to sleep next to him every single night is even better.

‘Ilya is a great player and I’ve been enjoying seeing how our rivalry translates into teamwork.’

‘How does it feel not to wear the C after so many years leading Montreal?’

Like a relief, to be honest. He likes not having the crushing responsibility of singlehandedly carrying his team to the Cup and being asked ‘what went wrong’ when he puts five points on a game and they manage to lose anyway. Also, he’s always had a thing for Ilya bossing him around which has made this season both exhilarating and challenging.

‘It’s an adjustment but Ilya’s a great captain to play for.’

‘Are you looking forward to facing Montreal next week?’

It will be nice to grab a drink with Hayden and JJ. And to score a hat trick against the rest of them. Ilya will probably be a menace again, slamming players hard against the boards and smirking at Theriault every time Shane makes so much as a decent play. His husband loves to be very obnoxiously loud about how pleased he is to have him on the Centaurs and how stupid he thinks Montreal was for letting him go, and much as Shane pretends that it bothers him, he secretly kind of craves it.

‘They are a tough team for sure, but I have full trust in the guys on our roster. We have an amazing group here.’

It’s really boring, they've asked him these very same questions at least fifteen times already, but well, after the shitshow of the past year, he kind of appreciates the monotony.

Still, it would be nice if Ilya was with him, like he usually is.

But his husband had been checked particularly hard on the last play so Shane had insisted he got himself checked before doing press. Bruised ribs are not something to take lightly and Shane wants his husband on top form on and off the ice, thank you very much.

Ilya had grumbled but agreed and he’d promised Shane he’d come and get him as soon as he was done, so Shane guesses he has at most ten minutes of calm left.

Thank god.

“You said Rozanov is a great captain,” one of the reporters says, deviating from the usual script. “What makes him one? Do you think he’s better than you?”

If Ilya was here, Shane would immediately answer with a negative. He would also let Ilya be the one to brag about his many, many accomplishments, and maybe banter with him about who’s got more.

But Ilya’s not here.

And Shane is bored.

Also, both his mom and Farah have told him that being a bit more candid in interviews would probably help his image, now that everybody knows that he does, in fact, have a life outside of hockey.

And Ilya always brags about him.

He talks him up to anyone that will listen because ‘I bagged The Shane Hollander, I win and they all lose’.

Shane doesn’t.

He’s still reserved and professional during interviews and barely posts on social media, preferring to keep his personal life to himself.

Ilya’s never complained, though. Never indicated that he’s not fine with his typical boring answers (‘I love boring, Hollander, you know this, da?’).

At least not recently.

But Shane still remembers.

‘I have a boyfriend that doesn’t want people to know I’m his boyfriend.’

Back then he’d been too blindsided to correct Ilya. To tell him that no, he did want everybody to know he was his fucking boyfriend, even if the thought scared him shitless at the same time.

He wants people to know that Ilya’s his, that he is Ilya’s. To see them and think ‘oh, that makes sense’. To realize that, once again, Shane’s won. He’s bagged The Ilya Rozanov.

“Shane?” the reporter prompts him, and Shane realized that he’s been quiet for too long.

He can already see the headlines: ‘Shane Hollander struggles to praise his husband’s Capitancy’ ‘Trouble in Paradise? Hollander admits to missing the C’ ‘Why the Centaurs should make Rozanov step down and promote Hollander to Captain’.

The last one in particular makes his blood boil.

Well, that’s it then, he will have to answer.

“Don’t tell him I said this,” he starts, trying to sound a bit more approachable than usual. He smiles and gets a few awkward laughs in return, “but Ilya is the best captain in the league.”

And just like clockwork the cameras start flashing and the headlines start getting rewritten.

“Now that you are an Assistant Captain?” asks another reporter, probably expecting that Shane will take the bait and chirp at his husband like he always does.

“No,” Shane says with a shrug. “He’s always been the best. It’s the one hockey skill I’ll concede he surpasses me at.”

Okay, so that’s the ESPN slot tonight. It’s a pity, both him and Ilya had managed some very sweet goals that would have deserved the spotlight.

“I like to think I’m a good captain,” Shane continues before they can twist this into another piece of ammunition to feed the factions of fans engaged in the Montreal vs Hollander war. Something something ‘Hollander admits his failure as Captain’, something something ‘Montreal destroyed poor Shane’s self-esteem’. Like Ilya would let him forget who he is.

“I mean, I did win three cups.” 

That earns him more laughter but no one dares interrupt him, which is fair, this is the most they’ve ever gotten from him. 

“And if we are talking about coming up with strategies, remembering my teammates stats or figuring out what everybody needs to improve on, I think I’ve got Ilya beaten by a small margin.” 

Oh shit, red alert, he’s managed to hit another bombshell. He does not want more of those fucking ‘Hollander is smart and Rozanov has amazing instincts’ bullshit articles that play on the Asian vs Russian stereotypes, thank you, so he moves on quickly: 

“But Ilya reads people like no one else I’ve ever met. He’s very perceptive."

“Is that so?” One of the reporters dares to ask, in a transparent attempt to prodding him. “He doesn’t look like the type to pay attention to others.”

“Oh, he does pay attention, believe me. I mean, there’s a reason he’s been voted the ‘most punchable player’ seven years in a row,” Shane says.

Ilya’s so fucking proud of that record. And he gets so whiny when Shane doesn’t allow him to count it when they compare acolytes. But Ilya doesn’t let him count his Lady Byng (‘that’s insult, Hollander, not trophy’) so it’s only fair.

“He’s very good at chirping, I think any player in the league will tell you that,” he continues. “But he’s never mean about it? His chirps are very targeted though. Both very personal and not personal at all, like he’d never call you a slur or insult your mother, but heavens forbid he learns the name of your childhood pet.”

A mistake a defenseman from Buffalo made years ago that the poor guy hasn’t lived down since.

“He’s very good at seeing what will get under someone else's skin but also where the line is, when to stop,” Shan explains. “Makes him really annoying to play against. You are torn between wanting to punch him or laugh at his chirps. Even if they are directed at you.”

Or kiss him senseless but that better be a him problem.

“And how does that make him a good captain?”

It’s obvious, isn’t it?

“Ilya knows his guys,” Shane shrugs. “He knows them better than they know themselves. And he looks after them, on and off the ice. It doesn’t hurt that he's charismatic as hell too. He makes every room love him within fifteen minutes of being in it.”

It took him one meeting to charm Jackie, two for Hayden to suggest that Shane maybe bring Ilya the next time he babysat the kids. And Hayden likes to pretend, to this day, that he doesn’t like Ilya.

“He’s good at leading people, at getting them riled up, but also at stopping them if they are overworking themselves, or making them talk if things aren’t going that well at home,” Shane continues, aware of how soft his voice has gone. “He’s also great at bringing out the full potential of his players. Because well, he reads the game almost as well as he reads people, so he knows what everybody can do, so for him it’s only a matter of figuring out why they aren’t doing it and fixing it.”

“That’s sweet,” one of the reporters says, and Shane scowls.

He’s not being mushy about his husband, he’s being very logical about hockey and team dynamics!

“It’s a fact,” he says, but he can see by the look of their faces that they don’t believe him.

Unacceptable.

“Okay, let’s look at Kjell Ekeberg, from LA,” Shane starts, sitting a bit straighter and probably going into what Rose calls his ‘intense mode’. “He’s now a very good captain, leads his team in points, and has made the playoffs five times, two with Boston and three with LA.” The reporters nod, still looking a bit confused like Shane isn’t babyfeeding this to them. “He’s good, not at Ilya or mine level, of course, but very good. I think we all agree on that?” More nods. “But he didn’t have the best start, do you remember? At some point there were headlines calling him ‘Boston’s worst draft pick of the decade.’” 

There’s some murmuring and some squirming and Shane does not need to guess which of the reporters in this room penned the articles he’s referring to.

“It was game six of Boston’s second round of the 2014 playoffs,” Shane remembers, 4-5 game in favour of the Raiders, won in overtime. “Ekeberg was on Ilya’s line but he performed frankly abysmally during the first, second and third period. Sorry,” he winces at the cameras, aware that Ekeberg will watch this. He doesn't take it back, though, since it’s the truth. “During overtime, it looked like Desjourneys wanted to bench him but Rozanov intervened. I mean, I don’t know for sure, but that’s what it looked like from the recordings.”

Maybe he should have checked this first, but well, too late now.

“The thing is, Ekeberg had done very well during the regular season. I remember checking him out because he was pretty deadly top shelf, you allowed the kid enough space and he picked that corner flawlessly, goalies hated him.”

Eric in particular had used some very colorful language to describe the goal the kid had gotten past him during the pre-season.

“But during the end of the season he missed that shot in Toronto. And then again against us, and then against Washington. It messed with him badly enough that he stopped even attempting it, even though he had a crystal clear chance during the first round of the playoffs.” Shane shakes his head, a bit disappointed, still.

Can’t really blame the kid, these kinds of mistakes get in your head. Also, he was a rookie from Sweden, living away from home for the very first time, so he had no one to tell him ‘chin up, you’ll win the next one’. 

No one but Ilya. 

And Ilya doesn’t say ‘the next one’.

“Last face off of the game, you see Ilya talk to him and Ekeberg’s expression changes completely. I don’t know what he said, but we all remember how that series ended,” Shane smiles. Some look confused, like they don’t? Which is ridiculous, it was a playoff game from less than ten years ago! “Rozanov wins the face off, passes it to Marleau who passes it back. Rozanov dodges three defensemen, but a fourth one gets on his way. Rozanov passes to Ekeberg, who barely has enough space to shoot. But Ekeberg aims and gets that puck in, top shelf. Beautiful shot, won them the game. Must have made him feel like a god.”

“And you think that was Rozanov's intention?” 

“I think Ilya knew the kid needed a win. I think he knew he’d make that shot if he managed to get out of his own head. And I think Ilya could have chosen to try and get that goal himself, would have put him ahead of me on the scoring race, but he chose to pass instead,” Shane shrugs. “All I know is that that goal, that pass, changed the narrative around Ekeberg’s career instantly, and that he finished his rookie season with a new fire and playing on a level we had not seen from him before. I’m sure winning the Cup and Rookie of the Year didn't hurt either.”

Winning Rookie of the Year feels fucking great, not that Ilya would know.

“I’m not saying Ilya singlehandedly made him a superstar,” he clarifies, even though he privately does believe it. “He was talented from the get-go. But so was Haas, and Hayes, and Barrett. Look at their stats before and after joining the Centaurs and you’ll see what I mean. Hell, check my stats too, for that matter. Ilya elevates every player he’s ever shared the ice with and they love him for it.”

“I’m not sure love is what Boston feels for their former captain,” a reporter jokes. “Marleau tweets ‘welcome back, cheater’ before every Boston vs Ottawa game.”

“Marleau came to our wedding and got drunk with several other Boston guys,” Shane explains because he loves that story and it’s nice having someone to tell it to, that wasn’t already there when it happened. “Then they started complaining about Ilya moving to Ottawa instead of making me go to Boston because ‘I get it man, love rules, but like, we could have had a dynasty here!’. Bood, Lucas and Dykstra, who were also drunk, took it as an attempt to ‘steal’ their captain back and almost started a fist-fight over who ‘got to keep Roz’. Which is me, by the way, I get to keep Roz. That’s the whole point of weddings.”

“Seems like Ottawa is also stealing the rivalry with Boston from Montreal,” jokes another reporter. “Were they not satisfied with just their top scorer and captain?”

Shane shrugs, but doesn’t answer. He so does not want this to become about fucking Montreal again.

“Anyway, like I said, this is a secret, so don’t go telling my husband I admitted he’s better than me at anything, yeah?” he jokes, a bit awkwardly, instead.

“Wouldn’t want to give him an excuse to take credit for all his teammates' careers,” one of the reporters says. “I’m sure he’d love that.”

“Oh, no, he wouldn’t,” Shane corrects, because that’s not his husband. Really, have these people actually bothered to listen to a single word Ilya’s ever said? “He hears this interview, and he’ll tell me that Ekeberg’s the one that got that goal, that Haas should have been the first draft pick of his year, that Toronto wasted both Hayes and Barrett.”

That Montreal are fucking idiots for turning their backs on me.

Before anyone can ask another question, the door bursts open and Ilya slides into the room, letting himself fall on the chair next to Shane and winking at the reporters.

“Hi, I’m here to save all of you from my very media trained husband,” he declares magnanimously, his feet bumping against Shane’s under the table in greeting, “Now who wants some exciting answers?”

The room’s attention immediately switches, focusing on Ilya, and Shane relaxes against the back of his chair, happy to leave the rest of the interview to his husband.

“Do you think your pass to Ekeberg in round two of the 2014 playoffs helped him become the player he is today?” a reporter asks immediately.

“Why are we talking about Kjelly? He’s doing well, isn’t he?” Ilya asks, frowning in confusion. “He beat old man Hunter yesterday, I’m so proud.”

“Is that a yes or a no?”

“It was one pass, you don’t build a career on one goal. Kjelly has what it takes, he would have ended where he is anyway,” Ilya replies dismissively.

One point to Shane.

“What about Hayes? Why do you think he went from reserve goalie to All-Stars after he started playing with you?”

“Because, unlike Toronto’s, our coach is smart enough to make him a starter?” Ilya answers, still looking baffled. “You have a lot of silly questions today.”

Two points.

“Troy Barrett has also been performing very well since becoming a Centaur,” another tries.

Ilya snorts. 

“He just wants to impress his boyfriend,” he says, winking at Harris. “And he’s Troy Barrett, Toronto may have forgotten but we didn’t.”

And that’s three.

“Any thoughts on how Haas went from a second round pick to a contender of Rookie of the Year despite playing for what’s traditionally been a not so great team during his debut?”

“Yeah, all teams were blind! He should have been first, was obvious he was the best one,” Ilya grumbles. “Also it’s joke he didn’t win, that kid from Tampa’s good but our Haasy is better, right?”

He turns to ask Shane for confirmation but then his eyes narrow.

“Why do you have that look on your face?” he asks, looking suspicious and completely forgetting the conversation he was having with the reporters. “That’s your ‘I’ve won’ look.”

“We did just win a game,” Shane points out.

“Yeah, against Buffalo,” Ilya scoffs. “No, this is your victory over me look.”

Shane raises an eyebrow, “Familiar with it, are you?”

“Barely,” Ilya answers, dismissingly. “And you cannot win if I don’t know we are playing, that’s cheating.”

“Well, I guess I haven’t won then.”

“No, you have won, you have the look,” he says, sounding mournful. He then turns towards the reporters. “Do you know what he’s won? He will not tell me, he’s doing the eyebrows thing.”

Behind him, Shane shakes his head with a smirk.

The reporters look a bit nervous but they are a good sport and don’t answer.

“I will find out,” Ilya promises darkly. ”I always find out.”

Shane expects that to be it.

They will get home, Ilya will find the interview and he’ll tease Shane about it while he tries to pretend he isn’t grateful or touched at all. Plus he’s going to double his praise during interviews because his husband is nothing if not competitive.

And that happens, of course. But well, Shane was not counting on the hashtag.

Maybe that’s on him.

After all, he knows better than anyone how easy Ilya is to love and he just learned how fun it is to brag about him.