Chapter Text
Here’s the thing…
Actually, there are many things, first of them being that Yuna has a burner Twitter account. Of course Yuna has a burner account, not just one, many in fact. She uses them for her job as Shane’s manager, to keep tabs on hockey news, the league, rumor mills, and on occasion, Rozanov. Ever since Shane’s career skyrocketed after his rookie year, her assistant is the one who most often uses those accounts to gather intel without accidentally liking something they are not supposed to on main.
But there’s another one that she keeps private that no one knows about, not even David. She initially got it the year before Shane was drafted, when it was still niche and not many mainstream outlets adopted it, before it truly took off and became one of the most important platforms where people interacted. The main reason she got it is to have a place to yell about her honest (read: unhinged) hockey opinions, which are definitely inappropriate coming from the mom and manager of hockey’s biggest rising star.
Y.S.☑️ @HockeyMama • 1hr
I asked Santa for skills guys for Montréal. Santa said no. We can’t have nice things because the dumbasses in the front office are naughty.Y.S.☑️ @HockeyMama • 5min
Hey Coach Theriault, new idea: Have you tried calling 911 to ask for help finding a new goalie?
The second thing is – complicated, like all the things involving Rozanov are. She doesn’t know much about him at first, other than that he’s a strong, perhaps the strongest, prospect coming out of Russian that’s got all the scouts talking. She reviews his tapes along with Shane and watches Canada play against Russia (and lose) in the World Juniors Championship final in 2008. Rozanov is less of a defensive forward compared to Shane (and thus less well-rounded, in her opinion), but has more power and aggression (and the skills to back it up) than any other player in his generation. Even Shane, not that she will admit this out loud. He will go far, she thinks, after seeing him play in person for the first time.
Shane tries talking to him but apparently he is a jerk about it, which, honestly, tracks with stupid young, non-media trained dumb hockey boy behaviour. That is precisely why Yuna started Shane’s PR-training young. It's a vicious world out there, but deep down, Yuna loves a mean, unfiltered chirp. Although, he should quit smoking. Doesn’t he know that stuff will kill him? She wonders what his parents think about it.
Then at the 2009 draft, he is first overall, to the Boston Raiders. She is disappointed but not surprised, another thing she will never admit out loud. She doesn’t believe Rozanov is better than Shane, but Boston has always been a very physical team, and given the choice between an equally good aggressive centre versus a strategic one, Rozanov is the right choice for them. She’s competitive but not blind or unrealistic. Plus, she suspects the entire hockey world has underestimated Rozanov’s intelligence. They won’t know what hit them and it will be interesting to watch.
Yuna’s ecstatic to have Shane so close to home in Montreal. He’s worked harder than most his entire life and she and David are so proud of him. They hug before and after Shane receives his new Voyageurs jersey and all cry a little bit.
Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Rozanov standing with a man who must be his father. Rozanov senior doesn’t seem all too happy with his son, on what must be the most significant day in his life up to this point. What on earth can he possibly be upset about? She watches Rozanov’s father set a firm hand on his shoulder and says something that results in a frown on Rozanov’s face. It looks for a minute that Rozanov is going to say something back but he doesn’t, instead schools his boyish features into a neutral expression. He then turns and speaks with the coaches and GM from Boston, making them all laugh. Yuna feels something behind her chest that she can’t name. Shane needs to watch out for this boy. She files it away.
Y.S.☑️ @HockeyMama • 32min
Baardsson should go back to Mites to learn how to skate. I almost feel bad for his liney who has to spoonfeed him the puck. Wait, I don’t.
Y.S.☑️ @HockeyMama • 17min
Instead of working on bringing a team back to Québec City, sure, let’s expand to Yeehaw, Florida.⮑Y.S.☑️ @HockeyMama • 13min
Hot take: if water doesn’t freeze in your state naturally, you don’t get to have a hockey team.
Y.S.☑️ @HockeyMama • 2min
Seriously do I have to do all the work around here? Yes I do. Yes I do.
The next time she sees Rozanov in person is at the CCM shoot just before the start of their rookie season in 2010. It’s Shane’s biggest sponsorship to date and he understandably overthinks once the contract is signed just like Yuna does all the time, chronically, although she no longer shows it, from many more years of practicing ‘fake it until you make it’. She’s glad it’s a joint campaign with Rozanov; the rivalry angle will be a great marketing success. Maybe his parents got him a good agent. It’s still strange that no one comes with Rozanov, not even his parents. He’s still just a kid (the same age as her own baby) and someone should be there to watch out for him.
Shane starts out stiff but relaxes as they do more poses. Rozanov riles him up, not maliciously, but almost like a school boy pulling the pigtails of girls he likes on the playground. Yuna finds it harmless and just watches from the sidelines. They start roughhousing, which makes the shoot take longer but produces the best pictures in Yuna’s opinion. She takes a few shots with her own small camera.
Later that evening, while she’s waiting for the elevator to take her down to the hotel bar to meet up with David, the elevator door opens to Rozanov standing in it alone. He looks even younger than he did earlier in the day, without the padding and skates, the professional makeup, and harsh fluorescent lighting. Despite realizing the elevator is going in the opposite direction almost immediately, she has an intense urge to step in and introduce herself but the door closes before she can. She regrets not acting faster.
Boston Raiders☑️ @BostonRaiders • Oct 10
The wait is over! We are thrilled to welcome #1 overall pick @Rozanov81 joining the roster for 2010-2011. It’s the start of a new era in Boston.
#MLHBostonRaiders #BlackAndGold #IlyaRozanov
Yuna follows Rozanov’s rookie year almost as closely as she does Shane’s. He’s out there boasting about scoring 40 goals this season within the first few games, then moves the goal post to 50 goals. He and Shane trade goals scored back and forth, but Shane consistently has more assists. She tells everyone that this clearly demonstrates Shane is the better two-way forward of the two, a true playmaker, and selectively omits that the Voyageurs is simply a more cohesive team with a stronger top-six plus dynamic defense pairs.
Boston Raiders☑️ @BostonRaiders • Oct 10
The wait is over! We are thrilled to welcome #1 overall pick @Rozanov81 joining the roster for 2010-2011. It’s the start of a new era in Boston.
#MLHBostonRaiders #BlackAndGold⮑Y.S.☑️ @HockeyMama • Oct 10
Can't wait to see Rozanov play in the MLH this year! He’ll be a force to be reckoned with!
Y.S.☑️ @HockeyMama • 7min
What a beautiful game tonight! Debut game and first hat trick! 4 goals total! Love this energy!
#BostonRaiders #BlackandGold #RozTheBoz
She watches Rozanov’s games and interviews with and without Shane. Like Shane, Rozanov is rapidly emerging as an MLH superstar with top-level competitiveness. He’s fast, he’s strong, he’s got a killer slapshot, and he’s well loved (or hated, depending on which side of the net you fall onto) by players and fans. She’s not sure why she also searches for any mentions of family and friends at his games but finds none. Even Rozanov senior from the draft doesn’t make an appearance. Rozanov seems to be a mystery born out of the cold, unforgiving Siberian tundra. Yuna thinks this sometimes and then she sees a glimpse of the boyish vulnerability slip through his boisterous exterior at interviews where, for a brief second, he looks lost and scared. She wonders where his mom is.
When the time comes for the All-Star Weekend, no one is surprised that both Shane and Rozanov are voted to attend. They seem to have fun during the skills competitions and playing on opposing teams as usual, despite none of the goals or wins actually counting toward anything. Hunter, by Shane’s account, is a good captain in real life, especially to the younger players, taking them under his wing in and outside of the rink. All the players like him and it feels like a team despite them only playing together for two days. If only Hunter had that kind of consistency during his regular season.
Rozanov talks about his goal-scoring ability again to the press and ropes Shane into it this time, although the way he builds up the whole thing suggests he’s in on his own joke. None of it matters when Shane helps Rozanov with an unnecessarily long-winded question that is basically ninety percent fluff. She is immensely proud of Shane for putting aside the rivalry narrative and helping someone in need.
The season continues to grind after All-Stars, with all the young rookies, Shane and Rozanov included, looking worse for wear because they have yet to get accustomed to the pace and demand of playing a full 82-game year at the highest level of hockey. Somehow, not by miracle but by relentless dedication and perseverance, Shane and Rozanov are both moving closer and closer to the lofty goal that was set at the beginning of the season. Yuna feels immense pride for her boy and, perhaps, for another boy who is not hers, which is not something she’s ready to unpack.
Y.S.☑️ @HockeyMama • 1d
You can’t win every game but in order to win you have to fucking hate to lose. Don’t wait for a 19 yo to teach you that.
Just as for All-Stars, Shane and Rozanov are predictably nominated for rookie of the year, along with some poor kid from the SF Hammerheads who is, arguably, a very good defenseman but is basically third-wheeling this thing.
At the MLH awards gala, Yuna tries to take on all of the drinking and schmoozing while Shane quietly lives through one of his worst nightmares, the one where there are too many lights and too many people and they all want to talk to and make physical contact (aka shake his hand). She scans the crowd for Rozanov and tells herself it’s to scout out the competition.
When they announce Shane as the winner of the 2011 Calder, Yuna cries and hugs Shane and David before Shane gets up on stage to deliver the speech she helped him prepare. She looks over to Rozanov, who is sitting with a couple of Raiders players and the Boston front office. Rozanov senior appears to be absent again and he doesn’t seem to have come with anyone else.
At some point during the gala, Yuna steps out onto the balcony just to have a breath of fresh air while David keeps Shane and the people who keep on coming up to them entertained with stories of the great Canadian wilderness; or sometimes keeps them away by pontificating on the virtues of CPP actuarial models. She’s standing behind a large potted plant that perfectly camouflages her dark green gown when the door opens again and someone steps out. They sound like they are on the phone, voice low and restrained, only answering with single syllables or grunts.
And, look, Yuna is not technically hiding from Rozanov specifically, although she is in a more discreet spot because she came out to be left alone for a bit. It’s too awkward to announce her presence now. She peeks over the foliage and sees Rozanov with a drawn expression. The conversation he is having sounds Russian and the only word she catches is ‘papa’ right before he hangs up. He doesn’t move and neither does she.
Yuna watches Rozanov stay in the same spot for several minutes, his head bowed down so she can’t see his face. He takes out his phone and then puts it back in his pocket again and lifts his hand to rub his eyes before stepping back into the gala hall. She releases a breath she doesn’t even know she’s been holding once he’s done and decides she can use ten more minutes out here by herself.
Later that night as she lies next to a sleeping David, mind racing, she thinks about Shane, the crazy season he’s just finished and the next one ahead. The Voyageurs is coming together as a team and they’ll make the playoffs next year if the current trajectory holds. The future has great potential. She believes in Shane because he’s got what it takes. But at the back of her mind, she’s scared, scared because hockey is fast and unforgiving, scared because Shane is still her baby and weighed 6 pounds and 5 ounces when he came out. He has almost 100 pounds and a foot on her now and she still wants to protect him. She will protect him.
Also at the very back corner of her mind, she thinks about the other boy who she knows almost nothing about off the ice except that he’s from Moscow. Is someone protecting him?
Y.S. @HockeyMama
I'm sure you get this a lot, but just want to say what a wonderful rookie season you've had. You have so much raw talent and you are getting better every day with more experience. I can't wait to see you take the team to the playoffs next season. I'm rooting for you!
Yuna contemplates adding a heart emoji at the end like she does for Shane but decides against it.
Roz @Rosanov81
Thank you.Y.S. @HockeyMama
👍
The DM response comes as a surprise weeks after the MLH awards night when Yuna isn’t expecting to receive anything back at all. Rozanov is presumably staying in Russia for the summer. She doesn’t want to give the impression this is some sort of creepy parasocial interaction with a deranged fan like she worries about for Shane, so she replies with a simple thumbs up. Maybe Rozanov looked at her handle and thinks it’s safe to talk to a mom who likes hockey. Or maybe he just thinks she’s a loyal fan. Nonetheless, he should never believe who people say they are online. After a few moments thought, before she can talk herself out of it although it’s the exact same thing she tells Shane, she amends:
Y.S. @HockeyMama
Don’t talk to strangers online. Don’t give anyone any personal information. Like it or not, you are a celebrity now.
Y.S. @HockeyMama
I have a kid around your age and I tell them the same thing.Roz @Rosanov81
👍
Yuna is both relieved and bemused when she sees Rozanov’s short reply. Somehow very similar yet completely the opposite of what she feels when Shane insists on doing his own laundry in a very particular way that takes way too long.
She hopes Rozanov’s mom gave him a tight hug when he arrived home.