In a way it’s easier for the Centaurs than for the Metros, because the institutional culture is very different. Also, the Centaurs got a totally different lead-up to the revelation that their Captain is bisexual.
Every group contains a mushy middle, who go with the flow. I’m sure there are players on the Centaurs who are NOT cool with Troy being gay and Ilya being bisexual. And I’m sure there are players on the Metros who are (reasonably) cool with Shane being gay. Remember, hockey teams are big, and we only get a small number of named players on either team with personalities. But in both groups, they go with the majority consensus pushed by louder people with stronger feelings.
Which in the Metros is that Shane is an evil traitor who’s sleeping with the enemy, and in the Centaurs “Troy’s a cool guy, and it sucks Ilya and Shane got outed”. We don’t actually meet a lot of named Metros or Centaurs. There are surely others as well who are more on the fence and going with the flow. Peer pressure at work.
But getting back to institutional culture, I need to break it down, because there are different things happening.
Coach Wiebe vs. Coach Theriault
The Ilya and Wyatt Factor
The Troy and Harris Factor
The Ilya and Shane Factor
Coach Wiebe vs. Coach Theriault:
A fish rots from the head, meaning the attitudes of whoever is in charge permeate downwards. Metros coach Theriault is viscerally disgusted with Shane when the tape leaks. Yeah, the League told THeriault to bench Shane, but it’s clear he would’ve done it anyway. To Theriault, Shane falling in love with his rival is an unpardonable sin. That attitude permeates down to the players Theriault coaches.
And I’m guessing the Metros GM and owner feel similarly. So even before the tape leaked, Shane being gay was an embarrassing secret that was not to be spoken of. “Thank God he doesn’t want to come out publicly and be an activist like Scott Hunter. We never have to talk about it or think about Shane being gay once we know. We can just ignore it.” After the leak, the gloves came off. So the Metros players are getting direction from above.
Also, Shane is their best player, but he’s been with the Metros for a decade. Management and Coach Theriault have become complacent about quite how much Shane brings to the team. He’s always been there, improving them. But they've never had to do without him. They don't recognize how much of those 3 cups came from Shane's brilliance as well as team effort and good coaching.
And then we have Coach Wiebe, who is (very quietly) bisexual and has his own experience of having had his career derailed by a same-sex crush. When Theriault confronts Shane, he asks “Was it a joke?” And Shane knows the only acceptable answer is yes. When Wiebe “confronts” Ilya about the video, he asks, “Is it serious?” But he’s not asking if it was a joke, he’s asking if Ilya and Shane’s RELATIONSHIP is serious.
Wiebe already realizes it wasn’t a prank. He just wants to find out if this was a hookup or a serious relationship. These are ENTIRELY different conversations between captain and coach. Wiebe doesn’t say outright “I accept your relationship”, but he definitely holds space for Ilya to admit it in a non-judgmental conversation.
Wiebe also benches Ilya, but unlike Theriault, he makes it clear it was the league’s decision and he tried to advocate on Ilya’s behalf with Commissioner Crowell. Same outcome as Shane and Theriault, but getting there in a radically different way. Wiebe also says he’s spoken to the GM and owners and they support Ilya.
The Centaurs GM and owners aren’t necesssarily less homophobic than the Metros GM and owners, but Ilya is their best player, and they haven’t had him long enough to grow complacent about what he brings to the team. It’s only Ilya’s third season in Ottawa, and he’s brought them into playoff contention (along with Wyatt Hayes and Troy Barrett). Shane’s heroics for the Metros started eleven seasons ago.
Also, Wiebe, the GM, and the owners have probably realized (or soon will) that Ilya signed with Ottawa to be geographically closer to Shane. One of the best players in the League chose to come to a shitty team because he was in love with Shane Hollander. And Ilya has improved the Centaurs. Their love story is helping Ottawa’s bottom line.
The Harris Drover Factor:
The Centaurs already have a flamboyant gay man on staff who has to frequently interact with the players (Harris, their social media person). They’ve powered through the initial weirdness of having a very out and proud queer person in their midst. They’ve realized he’s a professional, hes’ good at his job, he makes them look good to the fans, and he’s not trying to “convert” the straight players. And Harris is a likeable guy.
There probably was some initial weirdness, at least for some players. But I’m sure Wiebe, Ilya and Wyatt would’ve cracked down on anyone expressing that too openly. Some Centaurs may not be 100% comfortable with Harris, but the consensus opinion is he’s a cool guy who tells funny stories. So they tamp that down and go with the flow.
So the Centaurs’ institutional culture is already primed for an out gay player. Because they have a good relationship with an out gay front office person whose job involves regular interactions with the players. Yes, the Metros also have someone who’s out and gay, Shane. But Shane can’t talk about his secret relationship with Ilya (not that most of them would want to hear it). Harris can and likely does mention dates he went on that were terrible, Shane isn’t in a position to do that. Shane's gayness is something the Metros never talk about. Harris's gayness is something he freely discusses.
The Ilya and Wyatt Factor:
Ilya is one of the best players in the league, and he chose to come to a terrible team. Ilya is apparently straight, but an aggressively inclusive ally. He’s friends with Shane Hollander, who rumour has it is gay. He invites gay, lesbian, and trans players to coach the Irina Foundation summer hockey camps. While in NYC, he goes to the gay sports bar Scott Hunter owns and bickers with him there. While acting like that's a totally normal thing to do. Ilya’s the captain and comes down hard on homophobia. So more homophobic Centaurs learn to keep it to themselves.
Starting goalie Wyatt Hayes is the other best player on the team, and is an All Star. He has a sister he adores who’s a married lesbian with a child, and he does not like homophobia. In an environment full of toxic masculinity like his former team Toronto, Wyatt doesn’t Bring up his lesbian sister or her family. But once in Ottawa, he’s open about them. Amazing goalie, saves them from humiliation when the other Centaurs are struggling. An important leadership voice and an assertive ally.
And again, anything Ilya and Wyatt say to their team gets backed up by Wiebe. So the coach and the best players are setting the tone for everyone else to follow. Homophobes know to grumble very quietly. And the mushy middle realize maybe queer people aren’t as scary as they had assumed. Since Wiebe, Wyatt Hayes, and Ilya are all apparently straight, and don't find queer people scary.
The Troy and Harris Factor:
Troy Barrett gets traded to Ottawa mid-season, has a bad reputation but he’s a great player. He initially stumbles and the Centaurs wonder if he’s worth it. He’s also a total grump on and off the ice. And then he starts following the social media guy around like a duckling that’s imprinted on a human. Troy starts clicking with his new team on the ice, and off the ice, his crush on Harris is becoming fairly obvious.
It’s cute, and the Centaurs are watching the romance play out in real time. Troy’s emerging relationship with Harris coincides with him becoming an asset to the team, and much less of a surly grump off the ice. Watching them fall for each other is cute and charming for the other players.
It’s also very PG rated where the Centaurs can see. Troy isn’t dragging Harris into equipment closets to blow him. The most sexual thing they do at work is kiss in Harris’s office. It’s a cute gay love story that isn’t sexually threatening to straight men’s perceptions of their own masculinity.
And they realize peer pressure of the negative kind was what made Troy such an asshole when he played for Toronto. He was closeted and terrified of being outed. So he participated in homophobic and sexist bullshit to protect his own secret. The Centaurs are thinking, “Wow, homophobia and having to be closeted must suck. Since Troy’s actually a cool guy now.”
Troy comes out to the team, and people are happy for him. At least the named Centaurs are. We don’t know about the unnamed Centaurs. But again, institutional culture is playing a part, in a positive way. Some of them are weirded out, most likely, but the team culture rewards being happy for them. Or at least not being vocally unhappy about having an out gay teammate. Wiebe reacts well, and so do the GM and owners.
The Ilya and Shane Factor:
When Ilya and Shane get outed, the Centaurs have already done this, with Troy. A pattern has been set. No such positive pattern has been set at the Metros. The Centaurs are riding a high, they’re making the playoffs for the first time in a decade. And Ilya was a big part of that. Of course they want him to be happy in his personal life.
It’s kind of weird that Shane Hollander is apparently who makes him happy, but they roll with it. Anyone who has a problem with it learns to keep it to themselves for fear of a harsh reaction from the coach or other prominent players. And the mushy middle go with the flow.
With the Metros, everyone feels betrayed, including the coach, the GM, and the owners. Shane didn’t follow the unwritten rules, and worst of all, he isn’t even repentant. He won’t beg forgiveness for falling in love with his rival.
Then Tripgate happens, and everyone except Hayden and JJ turn on Shane. The Centaurs haven’t made the playoffs in a decade. It’s embarrassing for an amazing team like to Metros to lose to them in the first round. It MUST be because Shane threw the game for his boytoy. Everybody at the Metros thought Shane fucking his archrival was a terrible idea, and Tripgate just confirms it. They need a scapegoat for their embarrassing loss, and Shane is an easy target.
The Centaurs realize Tripgate was an accident in part because it benefits them. They can be clear-headed about the fact that sometimes players trip. Especially when they’re exhausted at the very end of a hard-fought playoff game. They are predisposed to think Shane is innocent (which he is).
They got to the second round of the playoffs, and they don’t want to think it’s because their captain’s boyfriend threw the game. They want to believe they earned it (which they did). So they’re predisposed to give Shane the benefit of the doubt, unlike the Metros.
The Centaurs are also reading that statement Farah wrote about Shane and Ilya having been in a relationship for “several years”. I’m sure they discuss it among themselves and soon realize Ilya moved to Ottawa 3 years ago because it was the closest MLH team to Montreal.
THey made the playoffs this year because Ilya fell in love with Shane Hollander several years ago. They should send Hollander flowers for dickmatizing Ilya into leaving Boston! Also, the coach, GM, and owners are likely having similar realizations.
Shane gets hounded out of Montreal, and the Centaurs are primed to be sympathetic. They’re getting one of the best players in the league, and he’s taken a substantial pay cut, as well. Just to live in the same city and play alongside his fiance. How could the Centaurs get any luckier? Of course they’ll be welcoming.
Montreal’s homophobia is helping Ottawa by getting them Shane Hollander, just as Toronto’s misogyny and embrace of rape culture helped Ottawa by getting them Troy Barrett. Every time other teams show their prejudices, the Centaurs get stronger.
Even the Centaurs who privately think it’ll be fucking weird to play alongside husbands know the institutional culture won’t tolerate them saying so out loud. And the mushy middle are going with the flow as usual. And that's how you create a welcoming team in a sport rife with homophobia and toxic masculinity.
There are some good human beings in the Metros as an organization (mainly Hayden Pike and JJ Boiziau). There are rather more good human beings in the Centaurs as an organization. But also, peer pressure can be a good thing. And the Centaurs and the Metros had very different lead-ups to finding out their respective captains were in love.
