Chapter Text
September 2019
“The season’s cancelled!”
Shane’s voice sounded slightly panicked over the phone.
“What?”
Ilya had just come back from a run through Ottawa and was about to head into the shower, when Shane had called.
“They cancelled the season!” Shane repeated, his voice a pitch too high. “What am I going to do, I- I can’t- they even cancelled training! What- How-”
“Okay, okay, take a deep breath”, Ilya sat down on the couch, rubbing the sweat off his face with a towel. “Is going to be okay.”
He listened to Shane’s breathing slowly getting steadier.
“Better?” Ilya asked.
“Yes, I- thank you. I just got the mail from the GM. I didn’t even think before I called you.”
Ilya put Shane on speaker and opened his mail account on the phone. There it was.
From: Ottawa Centaurs GM
To: Ottawa Centaurs Team, Ottawa Centaurs Staff
Subject: MLH Lockout
Dear players, dear staff
As you have all heard in the last few weeks, the MLH and the MLHPA have been in long and intense talks about the new collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Unfortunately, a new agreement could not be reached before the expiry of the old CBA. As a result, the MLH has decided to cancel the season until a new agreement can be reached.
We will inform you about any further developments as soon as they are known.
Best regards,
GM
“Fuck”, was all that Ilya managed to say after he read the mail.
They of course had seen the writing on the wall. As players in the MLH, they were automatically members of the players union, the MLHPA, which had kept them in the loop about how the negotiations about the new CBA were going. They had known that it didn’t look good. But still… Cancelling the start of the season, locking out all players from playing in the MHL, that was still an extreme measure.
“Yeah, fuck sounds about right”, Shane said over the speakers.
Both stayed silent for a bit.
“There was already one lockout, yes? In the past?” Ilya said into the silence. He vaguely remembered reading about it when he was a teenager in Russia.
“Um, yeah, the 2004-2005 season was cancelled. They couldn’t agree on a salary cap. Was a huge deal here in Canada. I was still playing in the Juniors, so it didn’t affect me directly… But it was crazy, at least what I can remember…”
Shane got into professor-mode and Ilya just let him explain what happened last time. He maybe understood two thirds of the things Shane said, but it was just nice hearing him calm down.
“So… what did the players do last time?” Ilya asked when it seemed like Shane was finished.
“Depends. I think some went to the AHL, the rookies played Juniors… And some players played for teams in other leagues…” Shane trailed off.
“That’s it!” he exclaimed after a few seconds.
“What’s it?” Ilya asked.
“We can play in Europe!” Shane sounded so excited, Ilya had to smile.
“Hm, tell me more?” It did sound intriguing, not playing in North America. As long as it wasn’t Russia, of course.
“I- I don’t have more, I literally just thought of it.”
“Okay, so, you can think about Europe some more, while I go and take shower and think about you, deal?”
“Um, yeah, sure - wait, what do you mean-”
Ilya laughed. “You know exactly what I mean, moya lyubov”, and hung up.
Shane video called two hours later.
“Alright so. I think I have a plan”, he started. He was sitting in bed, glasses on, a nervous smile on his face.
“Okay, let’s hear.” Ilya sat down on his bed and made himself comfortable.
“I think we should play in Switzerland. They have a good league, everything is close together, they are a small country after all, so we wouldn’t be more than two hours from each other, even if we have away-games in different parts of the country. And I looked at some pictures, it looks so nice, I first thought it’s photoshopped.” Shane talked fast, almost too fast for Ilya, a clear sign that Shane was really excited or nervous - or both.
“Switzerland… Yes, I have been once as a Junior. Was nice place - that’s where ABBA is from, yes?”
“That’s Sweden, idiot.”
“Oh. So no, I have not been then.”
“Anyway”, Shane rolled his eyes and smiled. “Switzerland is perfect.”
“Hm, yes, Haas is from Switzerland and he is not bad.”
Shane nodded. “I already looked at some teams. I’m sure we can find two teams that would take us in.” He clearly had done his research.
Ilya was about to agree, when another thought popped into his head. “What if we played for the same team?”
Shane’s mouth dropped open slightly. “Um… y-yeah, I mean, maybe?”
Ilya chose his next words carefully. “To the public, we’re friends now. So makes sense, that two friends would play on the same if they could for a while, yes? Just to see what it’s like. We could even say we didn’t know we signed for same team at first.”
Shane seemed to think it over, like adding a new variable to the equation.
“Is good idea, Shane. No one will suspect anything, we could even live in the same house, different apartments.”
Shane took a deep breath. “Yeah, I mean, that sounds wonderful… but… can they afford both of us? They don’t have the budget the MLH does. And I’m sure they know of our rivalry in Switzerland. It would raise questions, we would be in the spotlight for sure. I doubt that’s any easier than here.”
Ilya could understand Shane’s doubts. But he was determined to quell them. “Yes, sure. But we don’t do this for the money. I have enough money. You have enough money. It would be for us, money is only- what’s the word- second place.”
Shane nodded, nod fully convinced yet. So Ilya continued. “And for our rivalry. They might know, but it’s not like here, I’m sure. There will be questions, but then we will change those questions to ‘Hollander, how is it playing on same team as best hockey player ever?” and ‘Why has Rozanov scored two goals more than you tonight?’”
“Fuck off”, Shane smiled, then got serious again. “Are you really sure that’s what you want?”
Ilya could’ve rolled his eyes, but instead he smiled. “More time with you? Yes, of course.”
So it was settled then. They would inform Farah, their agent, so that she could start negotiations with their first and second pick teams, and they would play in Switzerland. Together. What could possibly go wrong?
October 2019
Shane and Ilya’s agent had worked her magic. Though, to be fair, Farah didn’t have the hardest time convincing the Swiss team to sign two of the biggest MLH-stars on to their roster, especially after they had asked “How much pay do they want?” and the answer had been “Doesn’t really matter, as much as you can pay.”
“Do you think they believe this is a dream and they will wake up and find out they signed Pike instead?” Ilya asked Shane as they got off the plane at Zurich airport in Switzerland.
“Ha-ha”, Shane replied, but couldn’t suppress a smile. “Hayden’s happy in the AHL, as long as he can stay close to Jackie and the kids.”
They had not been the only ones to find new employment elsewhere during lockout. JJ Boiziau also signed in Switzerland, but for a different team in the French speaking part of the country. Cliff Marlow, Ilyas former Boston-teammate, also signed the same team. Ilya couldn’t remember the name, though he was sure Shane could.
As for Ilyas Ottawa teammates, Luca Haas was obviously also back in Switzerland, playing for the team where he had come up through all the youth divisions before being drafted by the Centaurs.
Hayes as a goalie had had a much harder time finding a new team, eventually opting to stay back in Canada. Evan Dykstra went to Sweden, but Zane Boodram was playing for yet another Swiss team.
There had been plenty of chirps in the Centaurs group chat, about who will be the biggest asset to their new team, and Ilya was actually really looking forward to playing against some of his teammates.
“Would have been perfect opportunity to leave country and never come back”, Ilya mused.
“Oh shut up, Hayden loves his family, you know that”, Shane replied, as they were walking into the private arrival area.
“Mister Hollander, Mister Rozanov?” A brown-haired woman holding a sign with the team's logo on it stepped in front of them when they entered the airport.
Ilya tried to remember the name of the person who was picking them up, but failed. Luckily for him, he had Shane.
“Yes, Miss Keller, right?” Shane said and held out his hand.
“Oh, yes, right, but please call me Hannah”, she said while fumbling with the sign in order to shake Shane’s hand.
“Okay, Hannah, in that case I’m Shane”
“Ilya”, said Ilya when Hannah Keller turned to shake his hand too.
“Okay, good, perfect, Shane, Ilya, I hope you had a good flight! Can I just say, on behalf of the Bern Capitals, we are delighted to have you here!”
The Capitals were one of twelve teams in the Swiss National League. As the name suggested, Bern was the capital of Switzerland. The team had a long-standing history, with many cup wins under their belt - none however in the past decade. In that regard, they weren’t unlike Boston and Montreal when Ilya and Shane had started with them. They could’ve gone for a team with better chances for the cup, but ultimately, they purely decided on vibes.
Ilya saw how Shane tried to say something, but Hannah just kept talking.
“So, we will see to your bags, so don’t worry about those. You can follow me through the passport control, and then we will have a car waiting, that will take us first to your new lodgings, and then afterwards we would like to show you the arena…”
Hannah just kept on talking, and while they were walking through the airport, Ilya glanced at Shane, who was smiling at him. At that moment, he would’ve loved to hold his hand, but instead, he settled for a smile.
“Ready?” he whispered as they left the airport.
“Ready”, nodded Shane.