(source)

You think Shane “gets turned off when his boyfriend loses his games” Hollander would actually want to be with someone who wasn’t as good as him? The whole reason why they’re rivals, why they work together as friends and as partners, is because they are equals on pretty much every single level. Neither of them are the better hockey players than the other because they are literally both tied for first. They are leagues ahead of anyone else in the league with only the other to match them. They are equals. They can only talk to each other abt their hot takes on hockey bc they’ll say shit like “idk I js think that if you score on an empty net it shouldnt count” and the other will go like “right???” meanwhile if they said that to anybody else they’d get ragged on for being arrogant. Nobody does it like they do, Your Honor.

now while I do personally believe that Shane is the more analytical player and Ilya is more instinctual in his playing, they’re both still tied for first. They are both generational talents and they know it, they know that they can only be challenged properly by the other and that’s part of the attraction/thrill for them.

but like, I keep seeing fics where at some point they mention that Shane is the better hockey player or that Shane is the best hockey player in the league and Ilya is second and like. no. Their whole thing as rivals is that they are equals, they can only be matched by each other. If they weren’t equals in every meaningful way, they wouldn’t be rivals. (And I do believe in my heart that if they weren’t rivals, shane’s interest in Ilya would’ve plummeted and vice versa.)

and like don’t get me wrong, I love Shane as a character, but we as a fandom do tend to make it look like Ilya doesn’t care about hockey. Now, Shane’s life is pretty much 100% hockey, yes, but if Shane’s life is 100% hockey then Ilya’s life is 95% hockey. Just because we typically only see Ilya in clubs in the books or fucking Shane or eating shit does not mean he doesn’t take hockey seriously. He does, he has to to be one of the best in the entire league, it’s just that all that shit happens off screen and. well. it’s clear that Shane’s got some problems regarding control in his life and often restricts his diet or his workouts for a sense of control meanwhile Ilya goes to clubs and drinks to feel in control of his life so we’re shown Ilya in clubs and fucking instead of training. It (their need for control stemming from the pressure of being generational talents, the pressure from the media, from the fans, from themselves, from their families) shows differently for both of them (and we tend to make those coping mechanisms their entire personalities) but at the end of the day, it’s another point where Shane and Ilya are equals/understand each other in a way no one else could. Fucking around with their health in order to feel in control due to the immense pressure from the media, family, and from constantly being number 1.

not to mention ilya’s whole “Hollander’s weak backhand” joke is just so much funnier when they’re equals. Like sure they are equals in literally almost every single thing, but ilya’s backhand is 0.00000005% stronger than Shane’s and while that difference is nothing to anyone else it’s jarring to them and it’s just funny because sure Shane’s backhand is better than pretty much everyone else’s in the league besides this one motherfucker who won’t let it go.