Beyond the Rivalry: The Game Changers Timeline

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BJ's home of the save. - Hi, and welcome to Klet's Talk, the podcast where we break down storytelling across books, television, and film with a special love for book-discreen adaptations. Here we talk about craft, character arcs, structure, dialogue, visual language, and the creative choices that shape how a story lands. If you like thoughtful conversational deep dives, into the stories you can't stop thinking about, you're in the right place. Let's talk. - Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the podcast. This week I'm excited to follow up on something I had made mention of in last week's episode, where I was talking about the timeline of these new books that are gonna be featured in season two of heated rivalry. And I thought it might be helpful for everyone and myself to do a little refresher on the timeline and how that might affect what we might be seeing in season two. And then also just have this episode serve as sort of a standalone reference point for everyone ahead of season two, to cross-reference with whatever they choose to do in the show because inevitably there may be changes to the timeline. There might be some scenes that get moved around in different locations in the show for a multitude of reasons. But as a point of reference, I always like to go back to the source material and refer back to any major called out timeline references in the source material and where we're dealing with multiple books and we have confirmation now that we're going to be covering characters from other books. I thought that this might be helpful and also interesting. And naturally, I will follow that up by saying that there will be spoilers in this episode for all of the other books in the Game Changer series. But especially for the main characters, we're gonna be following alongside Shane and Ilya. So we're gonna be talking a little bit about Scott and Kip. We're obviously going to be talking about Ryan Price and Fabian and then Troy and Harris as well. And then naturally, we're gonna be dipping into events of the long game because all of these kind of coincide with one another. And I think it would be helpful to, at the very least, give viewers and book readers a little bit more context as to what's going on in that liminal space between the end of season one and the beginning of the long game book because we don't know where season two is gonna begin. And there's a lot that happens in the time jump between the end of heat arrival, read the book and the beginning of the long game, the book. So without further ado, let's get into the timeline of the Game Changer series. Spoilers ahead if you are looking to avoid those as always. And I hope that you enjoy this episode and can refer back to it as you might need leading up into season two. So when I am thinking about how heat arrival, read the show is going to tackle so much material from these additional books. I always like to think that Jacob is going to be true to his word where the show has been called "Heated Rivalry." That is the title of Shane and Ilya's first book. It's going to center around these two characters. So I do think that on our screens we will mostly be getting scenes and moments that directly affect and influence Shane and Ilya's story. But I also think it's important to have context for the other characters that we are going to see on our screens, especially if they might condense some of their storylines or leave a little bit more nuance and interpretation up to the viewers to fill in the blanks there. And Jacob has already made some changes to the timeline by way of Scott and Kip's story. So I'm not ruling out that that might happen again in season two. But I think having all of these major plot points in the back of your head leading up to season two is important, especially if we're not given a lot of time to explain who these side characters are in their full capacity. It helps to know what they've been up to in the background of all of the events that we have already seen on our screens for season one. And then again, that liminal space between the "Heated Rivalry" and the beginning of the long game is fascinating to me to wonder if they're going to cover it or fill in the blanks or have Jacob write some original material in that gap. So I thought it would be helpful not to do the entire timeline all the way certainly can. But at least start in and around the time that we see episode five and six. And we moved the timeline for episode three. The story of Scott and Kip, that got changed from the book. So I wanted to provide some context for that as well. So we're going to start with the year 2016 because I think that the show ends in 2017 but there are things going on with these other characters in 2016 that are worth noting. And then we're just going to go year by year and month by month and call out some of the important timeline beats and story beats. So the first thing to note is that in the year 2016, Ryan Price is traded to Buffalo. And we saw an episode four when Shane and Ilya are doing the tune amount scene together that Ilya pulls up a game on the TV and Ryan Price is playing for Buffalo in that game. So that is a cue for book readers that this is taking place in 2016. And of course, Jacob very kindly likes to put timestamps and dates on the screen to help inform the viewer as well. But important to note that that is the year that Ryan gets traded to Buffalo. The year before that, he had been playing for Boston. So Ryan is on Boston in 2013. And that's when Ilya first meets Ryan Price. And we don't get a ton of moments between the two of them. There are a few scenes in Tough Guy where Ilya and Ryan are interacting with one another. But the show sort of bypasses all of that by having the quick throw away line that Ilya says of, he keeps to himself, nice guy, it doesn't make friends easy. So that implies that Ilya knew him. Shane confirms that by saying you did his season with him in Boston. So it's important, again, to recontextualize the fact that Ryan Price has been traded a lot. The show has implied that through the dialogue that we get in that scene. And in 2016 is when Ryan gets traded to Buffalo. In June of that year, 2016, that's the year that Shane wins his second Stanley Cup. We also saw in the montage where Ilya is watching him win the Cup two times. They really kind of fast forward through that moment. But there's a whole season in between there where Shane leads the metros or in the book The Voyagers to their second win in a row, which is very difficult to do. And that's when we get that first drop of a dynasty. The same June, the character of Kyle, which he has featured in Common Goal. And we also saw him in episode three with Scott Hunter and Kip Grady and their friend group at the Kingfisher bar. He graduates from NYU and starts his master's degree that fall. So I really don't know if they're going to dive into Common Goal at all and get that character of Eric and Kyle. But important to know that Kyle is graduating from school at that time too. And then over the summer, in August, this is where we deviate away from the source material because in the book, Scott and Kip don't meet each other until January of 2017. But in the show, they changed the timeline around. And so they are meeting much earlier on. They meet in the 2013, 2014 season in the show. We watch Scott go to the Olympics in 2014 in Russia in that time. And then, presumably, we do a three-year gap between then and when we see them kiss on the ice, after Scott wins his Stanley Cup. So there's a little bit of a timeline discrepancy there. And it has been admitted by the showrunners that that was an error. It wasn't meant to be covered that way, or at the very least that question that comes up of what did they break up for three years in between, or were they together the whole time? That was a accident, so to speak, because in the book, they meet in January and six months later as when Scott wins the Cup and they kiss on the ice. So it's a much more rapid version of events in the book than we see in the show. But in August in the books of 2016, that's the last time that Scott hooks up with someone who isn't Kip. And then in October, Montreal plays Boston and Ilya and Shane hook up at Shane's condo. which again was omitted from the show and Ilya watches that footage of Shane's cottage on the TV. So we got a little snippet of that in the show again included in that montage and they have omitted Shane's condo from the show which is again a choice for budget constraints and trying to make the most of the sets that they had on hand and I think that a lot of people were upset about that but to me it makes total sense if you're trying to make the most of your sets that you have and you don't want to have to shoot all of these different scenes in multiple locations whereas you could just omit it and have them hooking up in hotel rooms and then one time in Boston for the tuna mount scene. I was fine with that change but I know some people were a little upset about that and then in November of 2016 is when Shane and Ilya hook up in Boston and the tuna mount scene takes place so again that's in November Shane freaks out after they say each other's first names for the first time and he leaves then he meets Rose at that bar in Montreal and in December he and Rose begin dating and are caught together by paparazzi and it gets pushed all over the internet leading up to Christmas time. Scott scores a goal right before meeting Kip in November and then he ends up getting superstitious about that. He goes on a streak after he meets Kip. Scott keeps track like most hockey players do of when the last time he scored was and then is convinced that he has a good luck charm when he finally meets Kip in 2017. So as we move into 2017 which again is the year that the show ended on and season one. There's a few big timeline events that take place. Hayden's daughter Amber is born and presumably that's some time in May because we see Shane and Ilya in the cottage in July sometime and they're talking about Amber and they be being born recently. Then in the background Troy Barrett's father leaves his mother for a younger woman and then the character of Harris Rover goes through a surgery to get a valve put into his heart. He has heart problems. That is a big story beat of his and I presume they're going to cover that but that takes place in the year of 2017 as well. So those are all big timeline events that don't have specific dates that they tear inspire in but we can kind of assume when and then in January that is when Scott and Kip meet at Straw and Barry. That night he scores three goals and has two assists. It's a big deal for him in terms of turning his drought around and he starts to think that there's some superstition that he should subscribe to about getting the smoothie before the game and that's what kick starts their whole storyline. So again that's January 2017 in the book and in the show that takes place in 2013 2014. In January of 2017 is when we see Shane and Rose break up in downtown Montreal and old Montreal and he admits to her that he is gay. The same night Ilya and Svetlana hook up with each other in Boston and then at the end of the month in January is the All Star Game in Tampa Bay which again we see in episode five and we get the events of Ilya's hotel room where Shane admits that he's gay and they talk about getting together one day and traveling together and the show skipped over that because I think they made a really brilliant choice to omit the intimacy from the viewer and keep that between the two characters but if you haven't read the book there's a really beautiful scene that takes place in that gap that we are not privy to in the show that I really really love. In February of 2017 we get a lot of timeline events for Scott and Kip. Most notably that this is when they are officially dating in the book Scott loses to Ilya punches Ilya. This is also when Scott and Kip celebrate Valentine's Day together. There's a character named Frank Zulow who gets arrested and put on waivers. Then the Avmerals beat Montreal and Shane and Ilya start to casually text one another. So this is around the time where we see them casually texting in the show. The gala that we see at the end of episode three also takes place at the very end of February in the book. The Olympics are all there's a lot of timelines mudge and going on with Scott and Kip's storyline in the show. So moving into March of 2017 is Kip's birthday. He tries to give him a very expensive present which Kip rejects. We saw in the show rather that Kip is celebrating at the King Fisher bar with Scott outside the window and it looks like they've broken up with one another. So again that's a change from the book and then the next thing for Scott and Kip is they go to the Met together and they get photographed there. We get the gallery scene in the show so that's another minor change that the show only covered the gallery scene where Scott freaks out about being seen with him. Then in March during the Montreal and Boston game Ilya's father dies. And so again Ilya and Shane hook up before the Montreal and Boston game in March of 2017 and then later in March when he is back home in Russia we get the Russian monologue scene that takes place with the two of them. But in the book there's also a lot of Skype calls that the show did not include where Shane and Ilya have a lot of conversations while Ilya is still in Russia. And again if you haven't read the book there's a lot of really juicy moments that take place between them on those Skype calls that we skipped over on the show. So it's a little treat to go back and read those moments between them because we did not get to see them on our screens. Then in April of 2017 is when Shane gets his concussion in a game against Boston by Cliff Marlow. In the book that's when he admits to himself that he's in love with Ilya. This is also around the time in the book that Kip starts to get frustrated with having to hide his relationship with Scott. So we did get a little bit of that in the show that they covered and then the playoff start in the April. So there's a lot of games going on. Montreal is playing Detroit and New York is going into round two to play against Boston. In May of that same year the admirals actually beat Boston in the playoffs and kick Ilya's team out of the playoffs. That's when Scott and Kip have a fight about their relationship and we did see that conversation take place in the show in a much more condensed timeline. So in the book this is happening during the playoffs when Scott and him start to argue about Scott's feeling of responsibility. Being the reason why he will not come out. In the month of May in 2017 and again I doubt we're going to get a lot of this information but the characters of Kyle and Eric start to become a little bit more prevalent in the timeline specifically Eric the goalie on the admirals. He comes out to some of his teammates in the month of May 2017. They continue to win in the playoffs. They knock out Detroit and advance to the Stanley Cup final in the month of May. Scott comes out to his coach in that month and him and Kip go out to dinner at a fancy restaurant together and then at the end of May is when they start the Stanley Cup finals and that's when we enter into June where we see both Shane and Ilya watching the playoffs from home. They are texting each other over the phone. Ilya and Shane both witness Scott bringing Kip down onto the ice kissing him coming out publicly and Ilya decides that is when he is going to go to the cottage that summer. Then in the same month of June after the Stanley Cup final we see the MLH awards where Scott is presented with the MVP trophy. He actually in the show they kind of skip over this a little bit and then Ilya makes mention of it in episode six but that night Scott invited other players to join him at a gay club for what was called Scott Hunter night and Ilya goes to that event and we learn about that in episode six of the cottage. Then in July is when Shane and Ilya go to the cottage together they admit they're in love with one another Shane and Ilya tell Shane's parents that they're together we also get the first time Ilya really talks to Shane about his mom in that moment and that is where the show chooses and season one but in the timeline things continue on in September when Kip starts grad school and NYU so again they haven't covered that in the show they're probably going to include that at that point and then we go through the whole holiday season where we don't get really any updates on anybody so that's the whole blank space that they could fill in in the timeline before we enter into the year of 2018 which is very much a heavy Ryan Price year in the storyline. Ryan at some point is traded to Toronto over the summer so he is starting with a new team at this point Harris in 2018 is hired as the social media manager for the center so this is when he gets moved to the team first we also learn that during 2018 is when Troy Barrett is dating his first boyfriend Aiden Delacruz who is an actor and Eric Bennett who is the goalie for the admirals and his wife Holly are separated at that point in time so his storyline kind of kicks off then And then ESPN also comes up with a documentary about Scott coming out during this time in July of 2018. So again, there's a whole year essentially where we're skipping over. That's when Ilya signs with Ottawa. So Ilya makes that decision in 2017 at the cottage, but it doesn't happen until the following July. And he sells his condo. He buys a house in Ottawa. He starts to get rid of most of his car collection in that time. So I suspect that they're going to cover some of this in season two, because I think that's a huge, huge life change that we should see at least glimpses of in some capacity, especially how emotional that's going to be for both of them for Ilya to have the conversation with management at Boston, the team that really drafted him in his career has only existed with. And having to tell them that he wants to leave them to go to Ottawa, I think that's just too big of a moment to not cover in the show. So hopefully we get coverage of that. Shane also comes out to his teammates over the summer that year. And to his agent, Farah, who we know has been cast in the show as well. So that summer, I really think that they're going to have to include in the show because it's too important to not see what's going on with them emotionally. And it's also the first year that they're in a committed relationship with one another. So I do suspect that we're going to get something from that summer. And that following fall is when Ryan starts in Toronto. So this is where the new characters have a lot of overlap that I think is important to remember and keep in mind before starting season two. And I don't know how much backstory they're going to dive into in the show. So this is all I think good context to have in the back of your mind leading up to this new season. So in September is when Ryan starts his first season with Toronto in October is when Troy and Adrian Delacruz meet each other at a party in Vancouver where Troy is from and then Ryan and Fabian meet each other in Toronto for the first time since they were 17 years old. When Ryan was living with Fabian's family, his family was a billet family for him when he was playing hockey up there and they reconnect with one another in that fall. That's an important timeline event because their relationship is one where they're not meeting for the first time on screen. They've met each other a long time ago when they were kids and had a crush on one another back then. And that's kind of where their story unfolds is from that 17 year old version of themselves and who are they now then in November of 2018 is when Hayden learns about Shane and Ilya for the first time. So that I also think is going to be really important to show on screen. I want it to kind of tie into the whole my dinner with Hayden scene that happens in that liminal space too. So I do think that we're going to get a proper scene for that. We also in November have Ryan going to see Fabian perform a concert and meet the rest of his friend group who have also been cast in the show and Toronto has a game against Ottawa while Ilya is still getting used to his new team Ilya and Dallas Kent and direct in that game. So I hope that we're going to get a little bit of that we haven't had the formal casting announcement for Dallas Kent yet, but I absolutely know that he's going to be a pivotal part of this story for season two as well. There's also a mention that Shane's having an outstanding start to the season. So in the background we as readers know that him and Ilya are together and he's really happy and everything starting to go really well for him hockey wise. So that's also happening in November when people are starting to notice how strong of a season he's having. And then we get another Fabian concert where Ryan attends and they have their first kiss in November. It's also when Wyatt Hayes asks him to volunteer at the Children Center together. So that's when Wyatt's character and Ryan's character become friendly. We start to get Wyatt folded into the storyline because again at this point in time he's still on Toronto with Ryan and Troy before he gets traded to Ottawa. Then they go to Dallas Kent's birthday party. So Ryan, Wyatt, Troy and Dallas are all at this birthday party. Ryan is really unhappy there. It's a very awkward moment for him because he does not like Dallas Kent. And so he leaves and he goes to Terrick's birthday, which again is one of Fabian's friends who we have seen was cast already for the show. And that night is the first time that he and Fabian Ryan and Fabian hook up that month is also the month where Shane and Ilya announced properly the arena foundation and that their friends. And so we get a mention of that in the epilogue and we are kind of in the head space of Shane and Ilya that a little bit, but we also in tough guy are on the receiving end of that news. So the Toronto team is watching the press conference in their locker room when this happens and there's a lot of commentary around the two of them announcing this joint foundation. And that's when Ryan decides to come out to his teammates on Toronto for the first time. And he gets into a confrontation with Troy and Dallas because there being bullies about it and he stands up for himself. And that's a really important scene that I think we're going to get on screen as well. So that happens all in November of 2018. Then in December of 2018, there's a few scenes where Ryan and Wyatt keep going back to the children's hospital together a few times. There's also the announcement that Wyatt gets traded to Ottawa. So this is a big deal for Ryan in particular because Wyatt is like his one friend on the team at this point and he is about to leave him with Troy and Dallas Kent who are homophobic assholes essentially. There's also the moment when Fabian writes a love song in it's about Ryan. So their relationship is progressing. And in the background of everything while Ilya is, you know, experiencing his first year on Ottawa. Harris drovers family opens their cytory and Ilya goes to the opening. So that's something that happens again off screen. It's referenced in the long game. We don't actually ever see what happens during this soft opening, but Ilya meets Harris's family during that moment. Then we don't really get anything going on over the holidays and then we're into the year of 2019. So that's when we get some big changes that fold into the long game in particular, but also a lot of story beats from these other stories. So in this year, Shane and Ilya have cameras following them around documenting their seasons on their different teams. Ilya also changes his management and him and Shane are now both. Ilya joined with Ferra so she again is a character we know has been cast already so that's going to be probably an important scene that they'll cover in the show in January of 2019. There's a big confrontation between Ryan and Fabian where they break up because Fabian learns that he is taking. And he is addicted to them and he has to really deal with this very dark place he's entered into with the addiction and how dependent he's become on those medications and around that same time is when the player Duncan Harvey dies and it's of an overdose. It's very relevant to Ryan at that point in time and Ryan and Ilya attend his funeral and we've already seen behind the scenes shots that look like they've already filmed this for season two. Ilya skips the all star weekend in order to go to this nobody really from the league goes to this funeral. It's a very poignant moment for Ilya in particular. We are going at this scene from Ryan's point of view and tough guy essentially and he's fascinated when Ilya shows up and that's also when Ilya invites Ryan to coach during the summer camp with him and Shane for the first annual game changers camps and Ryan's really shocked and touched the Ilya would think to invite him to that. This is also the month when Fabian releases an album and puts on another show and Ryan and him get back together again and they have their big conversation about what their relationship is going to look like what Ryan wants to do with his career. So that's a big moment to there's essentially a big gap then between January and then the summertime so that year Washington wins the cup and then we fast forward we're in July. This is the first year of the game changers hockey camp where Ryan chooses to attend and while he's there he ends up walking in on Shane and Ilya kissing in the locker room. He's also joins in on on that first year to so I do think we're going to get that because I think it's quite funny to picture Ryan walking in on them and then making reference of it in your two. So that's basically all that happens and that's documented in that summer is that the first annual game changers camp takes place and Ryan finds out about Ilya and Shane. And then in November of that year is when Scott and Kip get engaged and they get engaged at the King Fisher bar in New York City. This is also around the same time that Eric and Kyle's characters start interacting with one another for common goal and Ilya. ends up going to the King Fischer bar where he asks Scott to coach at the camp with him and Shane, he also starts to notice that Eric and Kyle have a little bit of a vibe going on, and so that is where Ilya kind of is floating in and out of these other books in that timeline. Then in December of 2019, we have a lot of Kyle and Eric moments, they go to a couple of events together, Eric comes out to Scott for the first time, then we actually get a moment and a reference in Troy's storyline where his boyfriend Adrian goes out to Toronto to visit him for Christmas time. And then in Scott's book, Scott Kip and all their friends go to a Christmas drag night together in New York City and then we're into 2020 and I got this question in the last Q&A about how they're going to handle COVID, but in this series, COVID doesn't happen. So there's no worry about COVID happening in season two or beyond. So in January of 2020 is when we get another all star game, and this is when Eric Bennett announces that he's going to be retiring from hockey, we see Shane and Ilya competing against each other in a lot of the all star game competitions. We see Troy talking to Scott and congratulating him on his engagement and thanking him for coming out. So that's a huge moment for Troy storyline to essentially insinuate that Scott coming out meant a lot to him as someone who is heavily closeted at this point. And Ilya also extends an invitation to coach at the summer camp to Eric and Eric comes out to Ilya as well in February of 2020 is when Shane starts to monitor his food and starts his performance diet. There's also a breakup between Eric and Kyle around this time and then we fast forward into the spring of 2020 and they get back together. So there's, you know, a lot of stuff that could be theoretically happening in the background in the show, but I really doubt they're going to cover any of that by may of that year. Scott and Eric together by the King Fisher bar in New York City, it's a joint effort that they both go into and again, that's the bar that we've seen on the show already that Kip Frequence, it's a sports bar. So I'm sure we're going to get some coverage of that at some point. And then during the playoffs of that year in the course of the playoffs at some point, Ilya gets his loon tattoo. So hopefully we'll get a little bit of insight into how that goes because it's just something that's mentioned in the book, but not fully fleshed out. And I think that would be a really fun scene for them to cover is why did he decide to get it? Why did he decide to go to that particular shop? Did he get it done at home? Did he get it done in New York? What I would love to have them deep dive further into him getting that tattoo then in June of that year is when Montreal wins the third Stanley Cup with Shane, he wins the consmouth trophy. That's a really, really big deal for him to have one at three times. And then in July of that year, Scott and Kip get married, they go on their honeymoon to Europe, Shane and Ilya come out to Ferra at the very beginning of the long game. Again, this is where the long game picks up, then they go to their second year of the game changers camp where we get to see all these other characters that they've kind of assembled in the background over the years to take part in it. And at that point, we also in that book get introduced to Ryan and Fabian as an as an out couple and Shane and Ilya go on a double date with them that year. We also have JJ bringing the Stanley Cup to the camp with the kids. There's a concert that Shane and Ilya attend of Fabians together and that's a huge scene that I know for fact they're going to cover, especially since we have Fabian cast already. And then Shane has his own cup day where he gets the Stanley Cup for a day. That's not something that's covered in the book. So I hope we get a little bit of insight into what he wants to do when he gets the Stanley Cup for the day. And if Ilya is there or if Ilya doesn't get to partake in that with him, I hope they do a little bit of a coverage on what he might have done, even if it's just a throw away line implying what he did that day. That August is when Scott Narek reopened the King Fisher bar. They've redone the hole inside after they bought it. And so that's when the grand opening takes place again. And then in the fall. There's the home opener for Ottawa against Montreal and we get introduced to the character of Luca Hoss. He scores his first NHL goal in that game. There's also a great scene where Shane is playing against Boston and scores on a breakaway and he uses one of Ilya's moves and Ilya is watching the game with Yuna and David. It's really funny. So I hope that we get that scene as well. I think that there's going to be quite a few scenes where we get Ilya hanging out with Shane's parents. So I'm looking forward to that. There's a road trip where Shane goes out to Los Angeles and meets up with Rose Landry and they go shopping with one another and they talk about everything going on in his life and Ilya and all that stuff. That would probably be something that gets included because it's one of the few scenes where Shane and Rose are together and we know that we're going to get more Rose in season two. Then there's a game between Ottawa and Montreal where Shane and Ilya are playing against each other. Luca scores a goal. He stays in Montreal that night to stay with Shane with the permission of his coach. And nobody knows that that's why he's staying there. It's under the guise of working on the arena foundation. So that's a really cute scene and an important one in the story. And then there's a great moment that happens that same weekend essentially where Jackie sprains her ankle and Shane and Ilya have to go over and babysit the kids while they go to the hospital. And that's when the kids marry Shane and Ilya in the living room. It's the cutest scene in the world. I really can't wait for that scene to take place so that all happens in October at the very beginning of the 2020 season. Ilya then goes back to Ottawa and JJ is trying to set Shane up with a guy. So this is when we start to see the struggle that Shane has with his own team of not being able to tell them the truth but them knowing that he's out and he does have a few guys on that team that are supportive of him, namely JJ and Hayden, but of course they don't know that he is in a committed relationship with Ilya at this point. And then at the end of October, Ilya hosts his Halloween party at his house. He had been feeling like he hasn't been a very good captain and so to make up for that he invites everybody to a party at his house. And Shane ends up seeing him in his costume. He's dressed as a gladiator and driving all the way from Montreal to Ottawa in order to beat with him that night. So that's another scene that I'm sure we're going to get a more flushed out version of in the show. So October has a lot of important moments in it. Then when we enter into November is when Ilya gets really upset when Shane leaves and decides that he needs to start seeing a therapist. So that's when he starts working with Galina. I'm excited for all of those scenes because I think those are going to be a really important vehicle for info dumps for Ilya's character in particular and there's going to be a lot of heavy Russian scenes for Connor story. I have no doubt if they're going to include a lot of moments with Galina. The month of November is also important because the documentary that Shane and Ilya had spent the last season filming starts to come out and the two of them decide to watch it together. This is a really important scene as well because he sees his concussion happening for the first time and how Ilya looked at him afterwards on the ice. They have a really touching conversation about how Shane doesn't understand how nobody can see how much Ilya loves him just based on that footage that he sees. And then the next day is when the commissioner of the league calls Shane in for a meeting in New York City. So he attends that and then Ilya continues his therapy with Galina. So there's a lot of moving parts going on with Shane and Ilya in November. And then for Troy, this is when everything goes wrong for him. So Adrian breaks up with him on FaceTime. Then everything that comes out about Dallas Kent is right after that. Then shortly after that, Troy's ex-boyfriend Adrian announces that he's actually engaged to somebody else. So that throws him into a tailspin and then there's more allegations against Dallas Kent coming out at the same time. Then by the time the fourth allegation comes out, Troy lashes out at Dallas during practice, not knowing that someone is recording it and then that recording leaks online and Troy is traded to Ottawa after that after being reprimanded by upper management in their coaching staff. So I had mentioned in the previous podcast episode how this is important for the storyline as a whole because we need to see how the league, instead of punishing the perpetrator or the person being accused, they're actually punishing Troy for speaking out against the behavior. So it reiterates to the viewer who might not be familiar with the culture that these characters are living in, just how detrimental it can be for someone who is afraid and why that fear is so deeply ingrained into character. like Troy, but also we see that very heavily was shamed as well. So Troy's traded to Ottawa. He immediately joins practice. He meets Harris for the first time in November and obviously he needs Ilya. And so there's a lot of catching up to do for him joining this team a month into the season. This is when we start to see that he's also spiraling, but Troy is obviously dealing with more than just hockey. Ilya doesn't know that, but he can sense that there's something greater going on. And so that kind of is where their relationship dynamic kicks off is in this November time period when everything's going wrong for Troy. Troy and Harris start to interact with each other a lot too because Troy being the new player needs to do a lot of social media work with Harris. So he starts doing a Q&A video with him. They have a few moments where I think both of them are surprised by how accepting Harris is of Troy and how he's choosing to believe he's a better person than his reputation suggests. And so that's a really important moment that I think we're going to see play out between the two of them as well as the road trip to Vancouver. So when they fly to Vancouver, it's important to remember that that's where Troy is from originally. That's where his father is and his father, like I mentioned earlier, had left his mother for a younger woman. He's not a great guy and we get to see that play out in the book. Hopefully we're going to get a good amount of that on screen too. But Ilya essentially catches Troy buying alcohol, getting drunk before a game and he confronts him about it and puts two and two together after meeting Troy's dad and the lobby that he might be drinking because he doesn't want to have to deal with his father wound. And obviously we know that Ilya has that in common. So they have a conversation and I think that that's a really important one that has to be shown on screen between the two of them. Also, Troy has a really hard time the rest of that road trip. So that's a super important time period and his introduction with Ottawa in particular, but also getting to know Harris. And so when he comes home from that road trip, Harris and him start to interact more and Harris is somebody who I think is trying to see the goodness in Troy right away. And Troy hasn't really had anybody do that for him. And he's always suspicious of why the people on Ottawa are being so kind. And it's a great way to showcase how the culture on the Centar's team is very different from other teams that he's been on. And so there's a great scene where they go to Booth's house for a barbecue where we get to see more of that kind of dynamic between all these players on display. And I think that those scenes are going to be really important to include for Ilya in particular because as great as a team, the Centar's are culturally, they're losing. And he's spiraling in the background throughout all of this. So putting him in situations where you can see that parallel of he should be happy with this group, but he's not happy. I think that those are going to be really effective and also a great way to include all of these side characters, Wyatt and Troy and Harris without all of the focus being on them. We can follow Ilya around in those scenes and pick up what the inner monologue that he has in the book is going to look like by having him interact with those people. Then by the time we get to December, we have a series of events where Shane and Ilya are trying to meet up with one another in between their busy crazy schedule. Harris also brings Kyron the dog to practice. That's when Troy and Harris start to spend more time together walking the dog together. Ilya also continues to go to his therapy appointments. And then we get a great scene where a lot of the players on the Centar's go to the Children's Hospital, sign autographs for people. And then while we get Ilya interacting with everybody and witnessing Troy and Harris's sort of suggestive friendship that they've got going on, that's also when Troy and Harris spend time together driving around on Christmas night around the same time that there's more allegations coming out about Dallas Kent. And then there's a game in December where Ottawa plays Toronto and Ilya ends up punching Dallas after he talks about Shane on the ice. And then Dallas essentially beats Troy up on the ice afterwards. So there's a really big brawl that takes place in December on the ice. And that's an important moment for Troy because he notices that Ilya blows up after Dallas says something about Shane. Then that same month they go to New York and Ilya decides to take Troy with him to the King Fisher Bar in New York City, which again is where Eric and Scott own the bar in New York. And they all hang out together. And that's the night that Troy comes out to Ilya. And Ilya transversely admits to Troy that he is bisexual. So that's a super important scene. I think this is all going to get a really good chunk of time in an episode together because a lot of this is going to move the storyline of Troy and Harris up a bit in the timeline, but also give us a really big window into how isolated and alone Ilya feels because a lot of that is in her in her model. That they're going to have to come up with a way to show us on screen. Then we also get the phone call between Ilya and Shane where he tells Shane that he told Troy he's bisexual and the aftermath of that because again Shane is in a very different position than Ilya. And this is kind of the start of where a lot of their arguments are going to come from and problems that they have to address within their relationship. So that's an important phone call that I'm sure we're going to get on screen as well quickly followed up by them spending time together for Christmas and arguing over Christmas because Shane and Ilya are with Shane's parents and they're bickering with one another. Ilya gives him a framed photo from their photo shoot that we saw in episode one the CCM photo shoot. It's a really touching moment, but there's a definite error of uncertainty between the two of them. They can both tell that things aren't great between the two of them and they're trying to figure out how to navigate it. At the same time Troy and Harris are texting each other over Christmas so they're thinking about each other and then the next day after Christmas Ilya asks Shane if he would go to his team's get together. They're having a barbecue again at Boots House and they have a blow-up fight and that's when Shane gets really nervous that he's ruined everything that they're breaking up that Ilya is going to leave him and that's when he goes back home to Montreal with his tale between his legs and calls his mom and he's freaking out and Ilya goes to his therapy session and we get a little more of a window into how bad his depression is getting and the two of them decide that they're going to talk to each other about it when they're in person together once again and that leads us into January of 2021 and that's when the plane incident takes place. So in the first week of January Dallas Kent is being revered for how good he's playing and he gets named player of the week so again that irritates everybody in our side of the storyline that he's continuing to play despite the fact that he's had all of these allegations come out against him and then we see the flight to Tampa turning into that scary moment for Shane and Ilya and Troy and Harris but mainly Ilya who sends what are essentially he thinks are his last words to Shane via Instagram DM the plane ends up ultimately landing safely but Shane finds those messages after his game and the two of them have a phone call and I think that that's going to be a really impactful moment not only for Shane and Ilya but in the background we're going to see Troy and Harris because that's a pivotal moment in their storyline as well. I think that the funny moment or I guess not funny but it could be funny is JJ realizes how upset Shane is that Ilya is playing almost crashed and he's saying how oh gosh I feel so bad for you my dude like Ilya is straight and the ladies man and you have a crush on him like that must be really horrible and Ilya obviously we know as bisexual but nobody on Montreal knows that and so Shane has to lie about that ultimately after that scare Shane realizes that if something were to have happened to Ilya he would have had to mourn him privately because nobody would know what he meant to him and that they were together and that's when he decides to propose to him and when Ilya's team gets home from their road trip Shane is already at Ilya's house and he proposes to him in the living room so that's a really really beautiful moment that takes place in January of 2021 and then Ilya skips the practice the next day which in role model we have this funny moment where Troy thinks that's interesting that Ilya skipped practice today well we know that it's because he and Shane got engaged the night before in that same month Troy starts to be more active on social media about sexual assault survivors and advocating for them we also get Ilya continuing on with his therapy realizing that even though he and Shane have gotten engaged it doesn't fix a lot of their problems that they have with one another but he starts to turn things around on his team and become a better captain in his own eyes and they start winning they start their winning streak they are celebrating that night after they start their winning streak and that's when Troy and Harris hook up with each other for the first time. So again, that's January of 2021. But then they decide that maybe it's best if they just are friends with one another and that's when they get into this kind of limbo that we see them go through. In that same month, Crowell decides to call Troy into his office to confront him about his activism online and Ilya ends up defending him about that, which becomes relevant again when Shane and Ilya have to talk to Crowell about themselves later on down the road. Harris then also invites Troy to go to Fabian's concert. So that's another crossover between them is that Harris is a fan of Fabian and Troy attends that concert with him. Then the all-star break is when that concert takes place. So Troy ends up seeing Ryan at the concert because obviously Ryan has retired by this point and he's following Fabian around for all his concerts and Troy takes the time to apologize to Ryan for how he spoke to him when they were on a team together. He comes out to him and Troy and Harris decide to go home with one another even though they agreed to just be friends with each other not that long beforehand. And then during all-star weekend, we get this really great hook-up scene between Shane and Ilya in their hotel room. They compete against one another again for fastest skater and there's a funny moment during that whole interaction and then Ilya is confronting Commissioner Crowell during that all-star game about how he is talking to Troy about how he runs his social media. There's also a few moments or weekends where Troy and Harris they get away with one another so they go to this spa together and then they also go to Harris's family farm together and Troy gets to meet his family so if they do a standalone episode for them, I suspect that that would show up there and then that's when we enter into February. So Troy decides to come out in February and he tells Ilya that he wants to do it during Pride Night for the team. He also decides to come out to his mother, Troy and Harris decide that they're going to come out to the team so there's meetings with Coach Weeb and then there's meetings with Harris and them trying to decide how they're going to tell the team. Ultimately they tell them in the locker room, Troy kisses Harris in the locker room and Ilya is upset by that in his own way. I think he's jealous, I think he's happy obviously for them and he had wanted this from the beginning but he has his own sadness that comes from watching him be able to do that and not feel like he's able to do that with Shane so that's when he decides to go back to therapy again. He hadn't been for a number of weeks at that point and when they go to Boston he decides at that point to have dinner with Svetlana and tell somebody about Shane so he tells Svetlana that he is with Shane and that's a really touching scene that I loved in the book but Svetlana seems to know in the show so that's going to get rewritten. I'm really curious how they're going to approach that. I hope that there's going to be more than just this one scene with Svetlana because she's a character that I think they could weave in really well to the show version of events so I'm curious if they're going to rework that in any capacity then shortly after that Dallas Kent gets arrested so that's a huge moment in the storyline as well is Troy finding out that Dallas has been arrested right before the Pride Night game and they're playing against Toronto so that's a big deal for Troy because it's against his old team and his father shows up to that game he tells his father that he is gay at that time he uploads a video online so everybody knows that he is gay ahead of the Pride Night game and there's a lot of fan support during that event and Ilya is really happy for him again but he's exhausted by it and so sad by it and so after that game he drives to Montreal to see Shane and that's a really important moment in their relationship too because I don't think that Shane fully grasps just how upset it made him until Ilya goes to see him that night and that's essentially where the end of role model ends up because Troy and Harris decide that they're going to move in together they decide to adopt the dog Kairan together and that's kind of where their story ends in their self-contained book but in March we have a continuation of their storyline in the long game because Ilya goes to the farm with Troy and Harris there and that's when he meets the dog Ania for the first time and decides to adopt her and so in March we get Ilya having Ania at the house when Shane visits him and he brings Ania to Montreal with him when he goes down there and the Pike kids get to meet the dog and that's when we get Hayden filming that fan mail video that ends up going viral and revealing that Shane and Ilya are together to the world because they are caught making out in the background of that video accidentally so that happens in March and that's when all the damage control has to go into place with their agent Farah and also the two of them get told by their teams that they're not allowed to play because of a mandate coming down from Commissioner Crowell who wants the two of them benched but we see this discrepancy between how each of the teams handles this news because Ilya's coach handles it really wonderfully comes out as bisexual himself to Ilya tells him about when he was playing and how he had been hooking up with a teammate for a time and that he is going to make sure that his team is supportive of him so Ilya is left at home and doesn't go on that road trip but at the very least knows that his team is supportive of him whereas Montreal is not as forgiving or kind about it Shane gets benched and his own teammates are furious with him accuse him of lying to them and handle it exceptionally bad so that's something that I think we're going to get seen to see on screen because we only hear about it really in the book there are some dialogue exchanges between him and JJ but I think that that's a scene that might get a little bit more screen time on the show because of how significant it is and also the fact that Shane breaks his performance diet because he's so upset by everything that happened and he gets on a call with Ilya about it and the two of them have to figure out how they're going to navigate this and in a way Ilya is relieved that it's out there and that people know but Shane's handling it very differently we get the conversation where Shane and Ilya go to the NHL offices and they talk to Crowell we get the scene in the trophy room between Shane and Ilya which I know everyone is very excited to see the big confrontation between Shane Ilya and Crowell is going to be really important especially if they do all of those smaller conversations between Crowell and Troy and Crowell and Shane and talking about the views of the league he's going to be kind of the figurehead of the league so I think they're going to have a number of conversations between Crowell and these players but this big one is going to be a huge deal because Shane chooses Ilya in this scene he also records the conversation on his phone the two of them leave that office and go out together hand in hand and have dinner with one another which is something they never thought they'd be able to do and then they decide to post a statement on Instagram announcing that they've been together and formally coming out to everybody online and then JJ and Shane also have a big conversation between the two of them where they're able to kind of find common ground with one another again so I think we're going to get a character like an overarching storyline arc with JJ and Shane in particular that's when we end up in April of 2021 so Shane and Ilya are both playing again but again Montreal does not react as warmly to him being back on the ice as Ottawa does for Ilya and ironically the two of them are playing each other in the first round of the playoffs so not only are they dealing with their own locker rooms but they're dealing with the fans and then they're also dealing with the pressure of being in the first round of the playoffs and having to competing against each other after announcing that they're engaged to one another because Ilya tells his team that they're engaged so we kind of speed through the first round of the playoffs and eventually it goes to a game seven and it goes to an overtime in a game seven and Ilya ends up scoring the game winning goal and winning the series for them but not after Shane trips trying to back check on him and his team accuses him of doing it on purpose to allow Ilya to win and so that reiterates once again that Shane is in a very hostile environment that's compared to Ilya's team and how they are handling this news and so Shane goes into his own sort of depression after they lose and then he gets to cheer on Ilya as they continue on in the playoffs all of the Hollanders go to his playoff game in the next round which is really really important for Ilya to have his family in the stands and then they're playing New York so there's a great scene where Scott Hunter goes to Ilya's house and asks Shane and Ilya if they would want to take part in this group he's putting together that is going to to try and help fight against the homophobia in the league and improve the culture in the league. And so the two of them agree to take part in that with him. And then Ottawa ends up losing the next night to New York. Ilya starts to spiral after that. And I think he thought that coming out and being out and announcing that he's with Shane would fix a lot of his problems. But this is when he has to confront the fact that he has depression and nothing is fixing it fully. And he's going to have to continue to work on this. And so he gets home from this playoff loss to Shane in Ottawa. And they have this really poignant moment together where he admits to Shane that he is depressed. And the two of them have to confront that together. And he's worried about how that's going to affect Shane and that Shane will blame himself. But the two of them are committed to having him get help. That's when we're kind of dialing down to the end of the long game. So in May of that year, Shane turns 30 and we kind of gloss over his internal feelings about the food and how he eats his sweet treats on his birthday and how he's loosening up on his diet. So we see that that's kind of a mental shift that he has had after his season ended. But he also has decided that he is no longer going to play in Montreal. And so that's a decision that he and Ilya come to and that they're going to handle at some point over the off season, how they want to get him onto the centaurs because obviously Ilya is hopeful that that's where he wants to be and they'll play together. But Shane wants to make sure that he's getting paid what he's worth. And so there's a whole discussion about that going on in the background. But the big important thing is that he has decided he no longer wants to be in Montreal. They also decide to send out their invitations to their wedding post a video announcing that they're engaged formally to the world. And they've decided that it's just going to be something very small in the backyard in Ottawa, in July. So in July, Shane ends up signing with the centaurs. And that's again something that I hope that we get coverage of in the show where they dive into how that contract worked out and what those discussions look like. So I hope that we get a little bit of insight into that. And already we can get this very clear contrast between how the centaurs treat them versus Montreal because after Shane signs with them, they pay for Ilya and Shane to go out to dinner in order to celebrate that they're both on the same team together. Harris also gets a promotion at that point in time. And then on July 10th, Shane and Ilya get married in Ottawa in the backyard. And so that's the second wedding of the two of them that I'm looking forward to seeing play out on screen. There's a lot of really sweet moments in and around that. There's also a lot of characters meeting each other. This is when Rose and Svetlana get to interact with one another. So that should be a very interesting scene to see how they're going to film that, especially since it's meant to be very low key in in the backyard. Then we get this very arbitrary mention of the two of them going on a honeymoon to Ibiza. And then the following October is when Shane and Ilya step out onto the ice together for their first ever game on the same team with one another. On the centaurs and Ilya is Captain. Shane is no longer Captain. And that leads us right into Unrivaled, which is going to be very exciting to see how Rachel decides to cover the two of them being out and married and on the same team and how they're going to handle all of those dynamics. And they touch on the fact that Ilya is on his medicine. He's working through his depression, but there's still obviously going to be hurdles that these two characters are going to be going through. And the big bad of that book is supposed to be a hockey podcast. So I'm sure there's going to be continued themes about the toxic culture. And hopefully some of that group that Scott is putting together is going to show up in that book as well. So that's a really, really long dump of information and timeline references. But hopefully as you're listening through this, it gives you a better picture of what's going on in tandem with Shane and Ilya's story and how it could be woven into Shane and Ilya's story for season two. But also I don't think that you can just jump right into the events of the long game without covering the end of 2017 and all of 2018 essentially. And most of 2019 before we dive into the events of the long game. So I've talked about this a few different ways. How I think they're going to structure season two. I think that they could approach it a handful of different ways. It really all comes down to how many episodes are going to be allocated for each season if they're filming season two right now in its entirety. And they're not filming seasons two and three at the same time. Again, we don't have confirmation of that. It's just people speculating. So I'm excited for whatever we get because somewhere in the middle of that is that bonus scene of my dinner with Hayden. And that's also really important. So there's plenty of content that they have to film and shoot. And I'd rather them flush it out fully and not cram it all in and skip over some of these important parts. But like I say all the time, I'll be happy with whatever we get. I think you can deduce from some of these storybeats that I mentioned in this podcast episode, the ones that are kind of the heavy hitters, the big swing moments that absolutely deserve screen time. And then there are a few that I think you can do offscreen effectively. And it's not going to impact the story as deeply. So anyway, that is the timeline. Hopefully this is helpful to you. And you can refer back to it ahead of season two. Here is to see if any of this gets rearranged and what they omit and what they might add in, what they could write original scripts for, what they could take direct dialogue from. It's all going to be really, really fun and interesting to see how it all pieces itself together. And it's a giant puzzle that I'm really excited to see the end of. So hopefully you enjoyed this episode. As always, if you made it to the end, thank you so much for listening. I really, really appreciate it. And I will talk to you all in our next chat.