on the highway with my significant lover

Intro + Families

Will Smith comes from a pretty well-off, established family in Lexington, Massachusetts. He gets his name from his grandfather, William Charles Patrick Smith I. His parents' names are Bill and Colleen, and he has an older sister named Grace. He was skating by the age of four. His family are known Catholics. Many generations of the Smiths have attended Boston College.

Ryan Leonard is the youngest of four. His brother, John, is seven years older than him, and his sisters Alyssa and Brianna are eabout 13-14 years older. This is kind of a big deal to him, it seems. Leno was John's nickname, and Ryan was Little Leno for a long time. He was also raised Catholic. If there is one thing you need to know about Ryan Leonard, it's that he is a huge dork (essential viewing). Also, check out these pictures of him as a little kid.

Gabe Perreault is the youngest son of former NHL player Yanic Perreault. He has three siblings, Jacob, Jeremy, and Liliane (ik Jacob is older but I'm not sure about the other two). His family is French-Canadian. They moved to Chicago, Illinois when Gabe was very young, and he seems to mostly identify as American, as he's played for American teams internationally. He does speak French fluently. This post is a good source for some French articles about Gabe, and also gives some insight into his family dynamics.

Junior Boston Bruins

The earliest evidence I've found of Will and Leno being friends is them being on the Junior Boston Bruins together in 2015, when they would've been 10 years old. Leno says (2:21:06) that they played in different leagues during the regular season, but were on the Jr Bruins over the summer. This video (1:44) includes the two of them playing together around the same time. It's hard to say how close they were at this age, but they definitely knew each other.

Slight Tangent: Will Vote

So this really does not matter at all, I just want to mention it. There's this guy named Will Vote who is childhood friends with Will Smith. He's a 5'8" scrawny white boy who didn't get drafted and still attends BC and he somehow manages to remain at the scene of the crime in all of this. I don't know if he's important. I don't know how much of the drama he knows. I just know that he's there. If you're wondering who the mystery fourth person is in a picture, it's probably Voter.

National Team Development Program

The National Team Development Program, or NTDP, is the team that represents the United States at the IIHF World U18 Championship, or just U18. They technically have two teams, the Under 18s and the Under 17s. Both Leno and Will were invited to play at the NTDP in 2021. This meant they had to move to Michigan. The Smith family bought a home in Michigan while retaining their Lexington house. Will Smith, Will Vote, and Ryan Leonard lived there together. Smith and Voter's moms took turns staying with/looking after them in two-week long shifts. I know for certain that Will was taking online classes with his Boston high school, St. Sebatian's, and retained several friends from that school (he had already committed to Northeastern University with some of them at this point).

The NTDP is where Leno and Will first met Gabe. The three of them were put on a line together and saw a lot of success. Will played centre, with Gabe on the right wing and Leno on the left. Even at this time, they were being called the best line in junior hockey.

Fun fact: this is where they first played against Macklin Celebrini as a trio! Mack was on Chicago Steel at the time. Also the first time you can see Mack ragebaiting Leno.

2023 NHL Draft

Here's some pictures of the gang at the NHL Entry Draft Combine because I think they're so silly. I also encourage you to check out this video about Leno getting drafted. It gives some good insight to the process, as well as Leno as a person.

The 2023 NHL entry draft took place in Nashville, Tennessee, from June 28-29. Will Smith went 4th overall to the San Jose Sharks. Ryan Leonard went 8th overall to the Washington Capitals. Gabe Perreault went 23rd overall to the New York Rangers. Both Will and Leno thought that Gabe was seriously overlooked. They're constantly emphasizing how smart he is.

Boston College (23-24)

Will, Gabe, and Leno had all already committed to playing hockey at Boston College before the draft, and so had a lot of their friends from the NTDP. Leno was one of the first to commit. Will had committed to Northeastern University a few years ago but de-committed around Christmastime and committed to BC instead. (all of that is covered in wonderful detail here). They basically peer-pressured Gabe into committing with them, as Gabe says here (0:34).

Boston College is a Catholic school. As mentioned earlier, Leno and Will were both raised Catholic and seemingly still are. I have seen nothing to indicate whether Gabe is religious or not. While Leno and Will can both be seen wearing crosses, if Gabe ever wears a chain, it's usually with his dad's jersey number. He might be Catholic, as a lot of hockey players are and his family is from Quebec. We won't know unless he tells us directly, I suppose.

Will, Leno, and Gabe were all communications majors. Will and Leno took all the same classes together, including theater. Gabe was in 4 out of their 5 classes, as he took French (yes, French. A language he already speaks fluently.) Gabe and Will shared a dorm. I haven't found any info on Leno's living situation during their freshman year, but it's safe to assume he lived on campus. Also, Leno was very invested in getting good grades, moreso than a lot of their teammates. Which is interesting to me, considering he's the same guy who later says "just because I went to college doesn't mean I'm smart."

During BC, Will wore the number 6, Leno wore 9, and Gabe wore 34 (Gabe's dad wore numbers ending in 4 throughout his career, and Gabe does the same).

The boys stayed on a line together and were widely considered the best line in college hockey. I truly can't emphasize enough how good they were together. Will had this to say about their chemistry:

"Every game we go into as a line we want to be the best line on the ice. And we take that personally if we’re not. So, every game we are super competitive, and we all want to go out there and dominate. These two guys feed off of me and I feed off of them, so we are always giving our best for the other guys."

Now, there are a lot of people who will tell you that Gabe and Leno were more friends with Will than they were with each other, and that Will was the glue holding their group together. To a certain extent, that is true- but Gabe and Leno were friends! Look at how smiley Gabe gets when Leno is brought up!! Look at how he stares at Leno!! Look at these pictures!!!! Would you do that with a guy who's just a friend of a friend??? I don't think so!!!! That being said, it does seem like Will and Gabe were very close in a way that Leno wasn't really a part of.

BC ultimately lost the National Championship game 2-0 against Denver University. You can watch the full replay of it here, but the most important parts are at 1:52:04 and 1:54:00 where you can see Leno crying on the ice, and his teammates helping him up. Will goes to hug Leno, and he turns away. Which could possibly indicate that there was already some tension? More likely, Leno was just really upset.

Here are a couple videos from their freshman year: (x) (x)

World Junior Championship 2024

From December 26 2023 to January 5 2024, Will, Gabe, and Leno competed in the IIHF World Juniors Championship. This did cross over with their time at BC, during winter break.

They ultimately won, with Leno scoring against Sweden in overtime to cement their victory. Everybody makes their little instagram posts about it, but by far the most lethal is this one that Leno's because of that evil evil caption (Will posted a reel because he wanted to be different.)

2024 NHL Draft + The Macklin Celebrini of it all

Yeahhhh, we do have to talk about Mack.

On May 7th, 2024, the Sharks won the first overall pick of the 2024 draft. So, they basically won Mack. Mack was present for the draft lottery.

On May 28th, Will Smith signs his ELC, meaning he will play with the San Jose Sharks for the 2024-25 season. Apparently someone in his home felt the need to decorate about it.

On June 28th, the NHL Draft takes place and Mack is officially drafted to the San Jose Sharks. We do know that Will attended based only on his instagram story. Ostensibly he was there to support his NTDP teammate Zeev Buium, who was also drafted that day.

I don't know if I can say for certain that Will left BC to play with Macklin, but. Man. As soon as Mack was drafted, everyone was talking about Mack and Will playing together. (x) (x) The two of them get extremely close during training camp, which is around the time that Mack officially signs.

I'll include this here, I guess, since it crosses over into Sophomore year. There's a lot of instagram shennanigans around this time that maybe point to a falling out between Will and Leno? Obviously as outsiders we can't say for sure, it just looks weird. I highly encourage you to look through that linked post, as it explains things much better than I could, but I will mention things as they come up. Gabe and Will both post their sad little stories about Will leaving.

Sophomore Year (24-25)

Both Gabe and Leno decided to stay at BC for a second year rather than sign with their respective teams. In this article, Leno basically says that he felt he had "unfinished business" because of their championship loss.

Leno and Gabe stayed on a line together. At least at the Beanpot, Will was replaced by junior Andre Gasseau, but it was sometimes James Hagens? Idk. When Will gets his first goal, Leno and Gabe both repost it to their stories.

During sophomore year Leno lived in what he called an 8-man, basically a shared apartment with seven other people. He was not living there in Freshman year, because the 8-person dorms are not available to Freshman. I don't know where Gabe was rooming without Will (though I personally like to imagine he was in the 8-person dorm, based on absolutely zero evidence).

Leno and Gabe return to World Juniors for their second gold. Leno is captain this time around (frankly an astonishing choice). But without Will around, BC isn't performing quite as well. However they DO manage to win the hockey east final against BU! And apparently, Will and Mack had made a bet based off of that game, so Mack is seen wearing Will's old BC jersey during walk-ins. Eventually, Will does have to wear Mack's jersey when BU wins a game. This post goes more into the jersey bet and how utterly insane that is.

On January 20th (which is the day before Leno's birthday) the Sharks play the Bruins in Boston and a bunch of BC guys attend. They even get a group photo with Will! Gabe was a part of this group. There are eyewitness accounts to say that Leno was at the game, apparently picking up trash? But Leno is notably not in the group picture. Also Will does not post anything for Leno's birthday, which he has done in years prior.

Will was at the beanpot (with Mack of course) but seemingly didn't hang out with any of his old BC buddies. Mack is also there and can be seen mingling with BU players, and even reading their starting lineup for the night.

For Will's birthday, March 7th, Gabe posts but Leno does not.

BC loses to Denver again in the semifinals. They're not getting that championship. On March 31st, 2025, it is announced that Leno has signed with the Capitals and Gabe has signed with the Rangers.

The same day he signs, Leno gets a text from an unknown number claiming to be Alex Ovechkin and asking him if he wants to go to sushi. It turns out to actually be Ovi, and a bunch of the Caps party with the BC guys. I can't stress enough that this is a real thing that happened.

Leno's debut (April 1st) in Boston was just one day before Gabe's (April 2nd) in New York. A number of BC guys, including Voter and Jacob Fowler, showed up to both Leno and Gabe's debut games wearing their BC jerseys backwards so that the guys could see their numbers. Put that in the category of Things Moon Is Super Normal About.

Leno seems to fit in right away with the Caps, they all adore him. He moves in with his teammate Pierre-Luc Dubois and his wife Maddy for a few months, and they do their best to teach him to be a real grown-up. Ovi is calling him "Kiddo" and "Baby". He's getting pet like a dog. He's the baby brother of the team and honestly, he's thriving. Also he makes his playoff debut!

Gabe is having a very different experience. He spends a lot of time going back and forth between the Rangers and their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack. At least when he is with the Rangers, he has a tall brunette to stare lovingly at.

Summer of 2025

Mack and Will go to Worlds with Sidney Crosby. Sure, why not.

Okay, aaaand we're back to instagram shenanigans. It truly never ends with these people.

On May 29th Leno makes his little goodbye post to BC, where he calls it the best two years of his life. Will is not in any of the pictures, but he does comment "6934🥲". Also, The picture of Gabe and Leno looks suspiciously like a photo of Will and Mack that Will posted. Make of that what you will. Also Gabe's comment further cements to me that the love is real!!!

On June 5th, Gabe posts a cheeky little photo dump! This functions as his goodbye to BC (even though he already posted like two goodbyes). Let's take a look at some of the pictures:

Okay, looking good, looking... wait, what's that? That second to last picture? Did Gabe, Leno, and James Hagens push two queen sized beds together? And then he and Leno laid in bed together on their phones? Why did he post this??

ANYWAYS. On July 9th, 2025, Gabe Perreault posts this nuclear bomb:

So... I don't really know what to say about this. There's no beef??? I guess??? The comments from their friends/BC teammates seem surprised, so some people think that this post is more for appearances. They're clearly wasted as hell. I don't fucking know, man. Why is Will Vote tagged? Why did Matt Rempe comment "ladies loved this one"? Why did Jacob Fowler comment a Rocky gif? Why do they all look so stupid? Who picked that fuckass song? The photo is apparently from some kind of event at Will's family's home on Cape Cod. I have yet to see evidence of any other guys being there, but surely they must have been?

On July 15th, Will and Leno are both at a Coldplay concert. It is unclear if they went together.

On July 24th, Will and Leno participate in Shoulder Check. Gabe was supposed to be there too, but wasn't for whatever reason. This is the first time that Will and Leno play on oposing teams, and it's... it's fine, actually. They're acting So Normal.

On September 3rd Will posts his summer photo dump which features A Whole Lot Of Gabe. Leno is nowhere to be found (despite the fact that he was at some of those events).

NHL (25-26)

Will and Mack continue to be attached at the hip. Everybody act surprised.

December 3rd, 2025. The Washington Capitals play against the San Jose Sharks. This is the first time that any of the boys have played against each other in the NHL. The vibes are a little weird. There's this video of Will and Leno giggling together and then Will immediately locking back in, which. whatever. Ultimetly the Caps win 7-1. (Mack's number is 71. by the way.)

On December 13th, Will gets injured in a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Mack immediately turns around to fight the guy that hurt Will. Will is put on IR for thirteen games.

On December 23rd, The Caps play the Rangers. There's pretty limited interaction between Leno and Gabe on ice. After the game, Leno says that he and Gabe exchanged a "couple words." Which could mean literally anything I guess. The final score is 7-3 Rags. (73 is Matt Rempe's number. By the way. Just in case you were wondering.)

For Christmas Eve, Leno posts a picture of himself scoring on the sharks (slide 4). You tell 'em, king.

Gabe plays for the Rangers during the Winter Classic! And a few weeks later he scores two goals in one game! I don't want to jinx anything but it's looking very good for my boy.

On January 15th, 2026, The Sharks play the Capitals in DC. Will is still on IR at this point, though apparently Will and Leno went to dinner the night before the game. Neither of them have commented on it from what I can tell, so god only knows how that went. Final score was 3-2 San Jose. Not a narratively significant number for once! Good job boys, we did it! Also, Will comes off IR like a day later.

Leno's birthday was January 21st and neither Will nor Gabe posted about it.

Two days later, January 23rd, the Sharks played the Rangers. Gabe and Will got dinner the night before. We also got this article where both Gabe and Will talk a bit about playing against each other for the first time, as well as this video which covers a lot of the same territory. It's nice to see that they still speak very highly of each other! That being said, during the game Gabe elbows Mack in the face. It does look prettyyyy intentional. The Sharks Broadcasters felt the need to add that Gabe and Will would have an "official breakup" after the game. Uh. Do with that what you will. Will is asked about it here (2:33) and jokes that Gabe should've gotten a longer penalty. The final score was 3-1 San Jose.

In Conclusion

Good god, I hope that's everything. Again, there's always going to be a lot going on behind the scenes that we don't know about. There's also some stuff I left out, like the fact that Gabe's favorite midnight snack is milk and cookies, and Will and Mack are known to order milk and cookies in their hotel rooms.

Personally, I go back and forth on whether or not there's any actual beef here. Sometimes friends drift apart for no reason. Professional hockey players are also very busy people. Maybe they just didn't have time to post for their buddies' birthdays. I don't know, man.

* = focuses on women who play hockey (including field hockey)

fiction:

beartown trilogy - fredrik backman

indian horse - richard wagamese

small ceremonies - kyle edwards

logan in overtime - paul quarrington (or king leary by the same author)

sophie fournier series* - k.r. collins

iced!*- judith alguire (technically out of print, but available secondhand)

we ride upon sticks* - quan barry

firekeeper’s daughter - angeline boulley

searching for terry punchout - tyler hellard

finnie walsh - steven galloway

the last season - roy macgregor

the good body - bill gaston

please let me know if you have literary fiction recommendations where hockey plays a significant role in the plot or setting!!

nonfiction:

the game - ken dryden (+ his other books)

the greatest game - todd denault

the boys of winter - wayne coffey

boy on ice - john branch (would probably pair well with game change)

we breed lions: confronting canada’s troubled hockey culture - rick westhead

let us play: winning the battle for gender diverse athletes - harrison browne

call me indian - fred saskamoose

the russian five - keith gave

larionov - igor larionov (I think it’s out of print, but there are inexpensive used copies on sites like abebooks)

blood feud: detroit red wings vs colorado avalanche - adrian dater

the rebel league - ed willes

the california golden seals - steve currier

zamboni rodeo - jason cohen

the “down goes brown” history of the nhl - sean mcindoe

journeyman - sean pronger

honorable mentions (not about hockey, but would probably complement the other books thematically if read together):

there’s always this year: on basketball and ascension - hanif abdurraqib

friday night lights - h.g. bissinger

if you want hockey romance:

do yourself a favor and read anything by taylor fitzpatrick!! the between the teeth trilogy is such a great read.

I started this series inspired by a series ive been doing for two years on my main thinking it wasnt going to be a crazy amount of work based upton last season's stats.

but the sharks have been abnormally good and its been a lot of work but so extremely fun to get this series done! above all it's been incredible to see the response these got every time, those that watched out for me to post or who I saw in my activity every time its been insane n incredible to have this series get so much love! so ty all for supporting the series and loving it so much