This is gonna sound a little obsessive...

he gets so horny that he has to call shane afterwards

and shane the little shit is so proud of himself and tops it of with asking ilya if he's got any plans for him that night, in russian! And that he thinks he deserves a reward

and despite all of this, despite shane acting like he's the one in charge it's actually ilya who's letting him do that

+ special shoutout to ilya calling shane brat

Because during The Long Game, Ilya decides not to tell Shane because it’s not his secret to tell, and Shane has to find out eventually, right? Wiebe says something like “I’m sure Ilya has told you that I understand a little bit about your situation.” And Shane is thinking like, what, you definitely don’t, you were a mid player at your absolute best. But eventually Wiebe gets the point across and it goes, I think, one of a couple different ways:

One: Shane HATES this information and tries to memory hole it immediately. Shane has had a complicated psychosexual attachment to every hockey coach he’s ever had, which is fine because hockey coaches are straighter than God. Even though both Shane and Wiebe are in happily married monogamous relationships, finding out that it’s actually hypothetically possible for a coach to experience reciprocal attraction to him is the worst thing that’s ever happened.

Two: Finding out that Wiebe is bisexual pushes Shane over the edge into having a meta-textual breakdown. Shane: “It’s fucking ridiculous. It’s absurd! We’re already the gayest team in the league. The gay married team. And now we have a gay coach?” Ilya: “Lubimiy, he is bisexual, do not make me ask Harris to give another PowerPoint presentation on bisexual erasure.”

i think (and again, could be fully off-base here) that none of these other couples will get a full, dedicated episode. troy and harris' story is too intersected with ilya, i firmly believe it'll run parallel to the hollanov arc. the other characters seem to truly be side characters, and i think they'll pop in and out.

but then when hockey becomes more serious and she takes a more managerial role, and as he gets better at masking, this rift starts existing. there's certain expectations he's expected to meet, required to meet. and to shane, if Mom Yuna sees Son Shane struggling, how will Manager Yuna be able to believe Hockey Shane that he can do it?

maybe david on his own was a temporary safe space as shane slowly transitioned out of that support system (both by himself and all the things that come with pursuing professional hockey) by distancing himself from first his mom and then his dad emotionally. there's still moments where he cannot help it (and he tries, he tries so hard) and he does everything in his power to make sure only his dad truly Sees in this period before he stops being Son Shane to them both. but eventually living away from them helps keep up the façade of Hockey Shane as Son Shane.

and then the cottage. he hasn't been truly Seen by them in years and years. and here he is baring his deepest and most personal secret that shows them his soul. and he didn't even get to choose to share it. he hasn't been pure Son Shane to them in more than a decade and he doesn't know what to do. his senses are going haywire. he hasn't had a truly personal chat with them in a Good While, let alone one of this magnitude. it's all so Overwhelming.

there's no scripts to hold on to. nothing he's ever read or watched can help him here. and then his mom — Mom Yuna, someone he doesn't really know very well anymore— is asking him to Look at her. and usually he could get away with acknowledging her presence but she keeps asking and asking and it hurts so bad and he doesn't want to. there's no added value, she can see his face anyways. he doesn't want to see himself being Seen. and then she Sees him and for a short while they're Mom Yuna and Son Shane again, working through a moment of emotional overload. but then a switch flips and Manager Yuna is in front of him, and it's almost worse having her see him like this. like Son Shane, who he can't seem to reel in no matter how hard he tries.

Staff member: Well,I'm sure HR and financial already went through everything important with you - travel expenses, dental plan -

Ilya*trying his damndest to be professional and not to make the obvious reference*

Bood,spying from the half open players' lounge door: Dental plan? Dental plan!

Barrett,reflexively,spot on Marge Simpson impression: Lisa needs braces!

Dykstra: Dental plan...

Chouinard: Lisa needs braces!

Dillon: Dental plan...

Wyatt Hayes: Lisa needs braces!

Bood: Dental plan...

Ilya: Lisa needs braces!

*all cackling*

Ilya and the Centaurs:

Shane Hollander Moodboard. To Me.

He goes in and immediately, day one, gets his ass absolutely handed to him. Slammed to the ground, choked out, beat to shit, no rest no mercy the entire time and he LOVES it. Getting pushed and tested, needing to figure out strategy, fully working his muscles and getting thrown around. He comes home bruised and sore and can’t wait to go back

Ilya isn’t super sure at first about his husband getting recreationally beat up, especially after going to a practice early on and getting nauseous from watching people choking Shane and purposely putting him in so much pain he’s forced to tap out. The spouse of another person at the gym says to wait a few months before trying to watch again

But after a while he starts regularly hearing Shane laughing and Anya happy barking from other parts of the house, and walking in to find the two playfully wrestling around. Or when they watch the Pike kids they all want turns to get flipped around and wrestled by uncle Shane

And then of course one day Shane texts Ilya saying he wants Ilya to help him learn a triangle submission, and he adds a winky face and Ilya is just ??? Ok? I guess? But then he looks one up and well. That sure. Uh. That sure would be his husbands big strong sweaty thighs locked around his head and you know maybe he shouldn’t be too hasty to judge this hobby

Very soon Ilya is looking up moves for them to “practice” and he starts to see the appeal of his big strong husband being able to manhandle him and also anyone else. When he finally goes to watch another practice he sees Shane taking down guys six inches taller and fifty pounds heavier with ease and no actually so sorry they can’t go out to eat with everyone afterwards he needs to get his hot sweaty husband home immediately

HUDSON WILLIAMS APPRECIATION WEEK

favorite interview: Shut Up Evan Podcast

HUDSON WILLIAMS APPRECIATION WEEK | Day 5: Favorite Interview