Shane is trying, really trying, to stick to the plan, and he thinks he's going to settle down with a woman and have kids and all that just not yet right? He can just postpone it a bit, he's focused on hockey and they are winning and it's not a good idea to fuck that up so that's why he's not dating, right?
And in a way he starts dating Rose because he's fucked things up with Rozanov, he really needs to get his shit together, and he's just clicked with someone like he never does, and what if this is it? This is the girl he was supposed to find? And she is perfect and nothing is wrong with her. She is nice and he likes her and they have fun and she is sweet and considerate and funny.
And he maybe wouldn't have ever considered dating her if it meant he would have to give up Rozanov, but he already gave up Rozanov so there's nothing to lose and everything to gain. He has the two cups and he's older and maybe he can start the settling down plan.
That's why he's open to dating Rose.
Now picture the Tuna Melt hasn't happened right? And they're fucking but Shane is still in complete denial over his own feelings and absolutely convinced that he's just another hookup to Rozanov. This is the time of the LA blowjobs and the Mexico Top.
And his friends are trying to set him up with people. And they always bring up these very nice, very sweet, very perfect girls, who are fit but not hockey players.
And then JJ has a fucking lightbulb moment in his head and takes Shane out to a party where the Montreal PWHL team is (the women's hockey team), and they watch as Shane gets literally picked out by a muscular, tatted, smoking, curly haired bisexual woman, who is rude to him, insults his hockey to his face and aggressively flirts with him and flusters him to hell, and she has an accent (you choose wich one, lol).
And then Shane has the exact same thought process he had when he met Rose, except it isn't "if I don't like this wonderful woman who makes every sort of sense for my future plan dream then who am I gonna like"
It is "if I don't like this scary woman who is doing everything I want done to me then who am I gonna like" and he is like, well, this wasn't part of plan, but this is a woman, and I like her, and this never happened before and I'm never going to find this again so I have to take this chance.
And he starts dating this woman, I'm gonna call her Lilith just for the bit, and the plot kinda goes the same as the canon one.
There is not the same mainstream media coverage that with Rose, but in the hockey world is still huge because Captain Canada Shane Hollander is seen dating for the first time and is this rude but badass player from the Montreal Women's Team and no one would have expected it right? Good Boy Hollander with Scary Lilith.
But at the same time makes a lot of sense and there's a lot of memes going around in hockey twitter about how obviously THE Shane Hollander would only start dating someone who knew puck. That guy eats hockey, breathes hockey and now fucks hockey.
Also good for him for bringing more attention to women's hockey.
Tuna melt doesn't happen because this goes public before the game in Boston and Shane sends Lily a text saying something about how he's not interested on continuing anything now he's in a relationship but he hopes they play a great game.
Ilya is still having his whole arc of "He's with someone he can be open with, someone he has a future with, someone who can hold his hand" but he doesn't even have the Tuna Melt Fiasco to fall down into to feel rejected, because Shane never rejected him, Ilya never made any move, never once, to signal that he liked him like that.
It's still a pity party in Ilya's mind but the shit going on his head is a crazy mix of "He can be happy now this has nothing to do with me" and "But what if I tried, what would he have done if I pushed for more" and a decent share of bitter "Is he even getting fucked like he wants? Like he needs? Like I did? She can't make him beg for cock like I do, she can't make him cry like I do."
And meanwhile Shane is convinced he figured out how to be straight. He thinks Lilith is great, they tease each other and have fun and he gets to be a bit of an asshole, a bit of a bitch, and the sex is not that bad. That's right folks, the sex is NOT THAT BAD!!! Why you ask? Because this woman is an experienced bisexual who owns a strap on and has perfected how to use it. Sure they took a while to figure it out because she had to coax Shane to open up about liking it up the ass but they got there.
The timeline of this is such that he ends up with her earlier than he did with Rose, say October instead of November, and they still break up just before All-Stars, so January.
This is different and the relationship last longer because while Shane is convinced that he figured out the straight thing, Lilith slowly was figuring out that this kinda feels like the time she was hooking up with an ace friend, they were both getting off but the vibes were different. In the middle of this period Lilith starts to introduce Shane to some queer friends and lingo and spaces and he's like "its ok its not weird my girlfriend is bi no one would think anything of seeing me here" but he's both absorbing shit and relaxing in queer spaces and soon they're in the middle of dinner and Lilith starts the "I think you're not attracted to me" conversation.
And it goes longer than it did in canon, and they're cozy and talking about this stuff and Lilith might not learn about Ilya, but sort of learns about Lily, about the fact that there was a man, at some point, and it was different with a man, it was better.
It ends the same way that with Rose, they are friends still and love each other, but the thing that's different is that Shane now has the presence of this queer friend group (he's still invited to brunch with Lilith's friends), and the support of someone who knows him, and who gets him, really gets him. And Lilith, unlike Rose, lives in Montreal. He has this now, all the time, and won't lose it.
They do post a statement about not being together anymore pretty soon bc Shane doesn't want to scare off Lilith's prospects (she thinks this is funny and that this might have to do with "Lily").
Then All-Stars happens and it goes not exactly like canon, because the Tuna Melt didn't happen, and Ilya hasn't shown his cards about caring about Shane yet.
But Shane is still more confident, even more in this universe, and more settled, and comes out to Ilya in the hotel room. Ilya this time though doesn't laugh, because the "I'm gay" comes also with a few comments about how great Lilith is, and how comfortable he felt hanging out with queer people. And Ilya now holds the cards and is in the conflicted position of "this cannot lead anywhere for us", but also the realization that Shane can choose someone else, that he can find a man who he wants, that if he figured out and accepted he's gay he may stay on the closet, but he may find someone in Montreal, someone he can have in the down low but all the time, close to home, who can wait for him in his apartment that Ilya hasn't even seen yet, someone who can tell him he loves him and fall asleep with him and stay over and cook for him or even make him a sandwich...
Ilya says he can't have him, but Shane still says that's not what he asked, and the emotional progress is still made and the Tampa Hotel Room ends up in the same way than canon, they acknowledge what they have isn't just fucking and they open up about a lot, specially Ilya, who feels like a train ran him over, and they start using their first names.
Then most of the first book canon happens the exact same way, and this divergence has consequences only in the world post cottage, where Shane has a different, more extensive and more rich and more queer support group that makes the idea of coming out to the world less terrifying, though still not an option to him yet.
The only immediate consequence this divergence leads to? When people in Shane's life find out about Ilya, they take a look at him, consider him, then remember Lilith, and no one asks "There were no nice men in Montreal?", because it's pretty evident that Shane Hollander never wanted a nice anything.
Bonus:
At some point, maybe at the cottage, maybe in the last year Ilya has in Boston, Ilya is jealous, and horny, and he has Shane all to himself. He started this night sweet, but now he's pounding him into the mattress, watching him lose himself, watching him cry out, and he says "You missed me, yes? You missed my cock? You were months without this, couldn't get it, couldn't get off, with your girlfriend and she could play hockey, but not fuck you like I do, she couldn't make you take it like I do, couldn't make you cry her name like do, beg like I do... Say it, Shane. Say she couldn't fuck you like this, that you missed cock."
And Shane is maybe quiet too long, and not because he's overwhelmed, but because he's a really bad liar, at least to Ilya, who can see he's trying to come up with a response that doesn't give something away. That won't do. He slows down, glacial pace barely considered moving that makes Shane squirm and look at him with tortured pleasure, and a bit of panick, and asks. "Shane? Say it Shane. Say the truth."
And Shane only gasps "Yes, yes, I missed your cock, o-of course, but there was pegging."
They have to have a whole new round of reassurances that he's gay Ilya, he doesn't want his ex-girlfriend.
