The NHL as a Political Product

Much of the tension in the show is a "forbidden love" between two NHL stars of popular and historical franchises (Original Six in the Canadiens and the Bruins). Hockey is seemingly more culturally ubiquitous in this universe, considering the types of sponsorships and media attention the kids are getting, but falls into many of the same criticisms of broader issues with North American society - White, upper class, male-dominated, cisheterosexual. The show, however, doesn't set this up, considering the three main hockey players we've followed throughout the show (Hollander, Rozanov, and Hunter) are all pretty comfortably gay and the show seems unwilling to present any real, honest tensions with homophobia or even polite discomfort. And that's fine if they don't want to put that in the narrative, but it makes the conceit of these gay relationships feel weird. The supposed conservatism and homophobia that exists in the NHL, this huge obstacle that prevents these characters from having their happy ending is actually the ghost of an elephant in the room. It's supposed to be there, and as a real hockey viewer, it's weird that it's walked around so obviously.

Part of this is the way Reid presents homophobia in Russia compared to these supposed tensions in "the West" of North America; while Vaughn and Hollander explicitly express concerns about the safety of gay players in Russia, for example, Hunter and Hollander's own concerns about their sexualities in the NHL are more nebulous. Hunter's logic, in particular, is depicted as an individual choice of living up to the standards of his dead family, while Kip is perfectly fine being openly gay in 2013 (?). The players, instead, are too scared to be true to themselves - Hollander is quite literally running away from domesticity with Rozanov in episode four - but Reid and Trieby keep failing to actually present the real issue that exists in the league, which is what may pressure the players to feel this way in the first place.

Hockey, historically, is commonly critiqued on how it fits into specific images of the Canadian identity specifically that often displaces immigrants, people of colour, queer identities, etc. The NHL, as emblematic of the "best of hockey," falls into many of the same pitfalls of all sport media products, in which it's able to present itself as a perfectly depoliticised, meritocratic space. Don't get me started, I have many specific lectures loaded on this specific topic. Similarly, the real NHL is complicit in reinforcing these bodies of power for personal or corporate interest. I would not recommend looking into the ownership of your favourite hockey team unless you're in the mood to get upset. But, broadly, the NHL has struggled with its politics over the years, including the banning of any "specialty" jerseys (including charities, celebrations of racial and ethnic minorities, and yes, Pride); the current commissioner, Gary Bettman, is notorious for being anti-labour (having led the league through three separate player strikes), desperate to grow hockey's audience and mass appeal at the expense of its existing, reasonably successful markets, and recently, joining the Trump administration in their attempts to block transgender athletes from competing. Players themselves are not exempt from these similar problems. The Hockey Canada case has demonstrated the lengths the system will go to protect players who cause harm. One of the faces of the NHL (blegh), Matthew Tkachuk, is on the same council as Bettman.

This sport, like anything else, is a political product. It reflects real problems in the world, sure, but also has its own incentives to grow its audience, maintain capital, sustain an audience and build upon a history and culture that aims to benefit itself. Writing about hockey, or the aesthetics of hockey, more accurately, for Reid, requires some engagement with the sport as a cultural space. The show/novel, specifically, is a narrative that needs these ugly aspects, this "grit" of the real NHL to feel authentic, or to feel as those there are real stakes, but the creators are ultimately too scared to actually confront this part of its world, and makes the story feel insubstantial as a result.

Hollander and Whiteness

Look. The narrative is sandblasted hockey rpf, alright. I hate to break this to you if you didn't realise this yet. It's painfully obvious if you watch the sport. It's fine. The reason I bring this is up is that the person Hollander is obviously based off of is White. And this player's status as a Canadian icon is as much tied to his Whiteness and the image of him as an ideal Canadian citizen as much as it is to his success within the sport.

So, Hollander is racebended to be biracial - specifically, his mother is Japanese and his father is White. From my understanding, his racialised status does not affect the narrative very much in the novel, because again, he's originally written as White. The dynamics of Asianness and "model minorities" especially as used against other minorities is not a thing I'm going to dive into but please know I have been mulling over this since I've started consuming this piece of media.

In the show, they try to rectify this by attempting to bring up his racialised status specifically as a point of interest. His mother (who is also his agent?) repeatedly reminds him of how important he is as a role model to other Asian kids. Hollander is asked if he struggled in the locker rooms in juniors as (ostensibly) the only Asian player. There are no demographics about this fictional NHL, but I don't believe I've seen an Asian extra mulling on the ice. The NHL is mildly more diverse than it is in the show - Larry Kwong played for the New York Rangers in 1947-48 season as the first Asian professional hockey player, and the NHL currently features a number of successful Asian players, including Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki and Dallas Stars Jason Robertson.

(The mediocre Asian players deserve their recognition too, so - shoutout to Kailer Yamamoto and Kiefer Sherwood and Arshdeep Bains also. There's more of them. I wasn't gonna write them all out.)

Hollander's Asianness, however, is always brought up as a point of contention - a sign of his abnormality, a lack of belonging. It even appears to make him "less" of a man. His teammates see him as unable to date or maintain a heterosexual relationship (while Rozanov is consistently seen as at least picking up or capable of picking up women). He's the one presented as having "feelings" over Rozanov, worried about his well-being and his family, and acts like a sad wet guy to the point of begging Rozanov to blow him in a public bathroom. It's also worth noting that Hollander is written to prefer bottoming and penetration. To emasculate Hollander like this, to deliberately racebend this character from White to Asian and then write him like this is a choice that I can't help but be critical of.

You wrote a lot to just say you don't like the show

I mean, yeah. My inability to get into this show has honestly made me feel like a bad fujoshi. Fandanshi. Whatever. But I like hockey, despite its problems, and it's weird to see this NHL-like veneer painted over a story that doesn't want to touch the meat of the sport at all. And it's extra weird to me to see it bring people into the real sport?