after they say i love you at the cottage and commit to building a life together, ilya points out to shane that he’s saying rozanov incorrectly, putting the emphasis on the Ro instead of the Za like in russian
“i’ve been saying your name wrong this whole fucking time?”
“is okay, many english speakers do that”
“it’s not okay, it’s your name”
ilya shrugs and they go back to their afternoon but shane makes a point to say it correctly moving forward
and it confuses mlh media and other players when all of a sudden shane is referring to roZAnov in post-game interviews or in the locker room. hayden and JJ exchange faces and mouth “what the fuck” whenever he does it or corrects them and the media only tolerates it for a little while until one new reporter asks
“one last question, shane, we’ve noticed you’re pronouncing ilya rozanov’s name differently. does that have anything to do with your budding friendship?”
and shane gives the best PR answer of all time, focusing on the irina foundation’s mission and impact, and he acknowledges his mother’s own experience with a non-western sounding name and how he’s committed to making sure hockey is a place where people feel accepted and welcomed
and everyone is just like there’s our perfect king, which yes, but also ilya will watch the interview on his phone in a random hotel room a thousand miles away, smiling at the screen, and swipe over to messages to send shane: ❤️
ellievsbear
gummygunk
origamiaround
blakekathryn
romaincrisis
