David Hollander

David Hollander is Shane Hollander’s father, a supportive presence whose importance emerges through ordinary family care and a pivotal moment of recognition. He shares in the practical, affectionate life of Shane’s family and is present when Shane begins to bring his relationship with Ilya Rozanov out of secrecy at home.

Identity and Family

David and Yuna Hollander have one child, Shane, and have given him extensive support. Shane loves them, understands how much they have done for him, and does not feel the need to distance himself from them. Their closeness is longstanding: they attended many of his home games, and they could also see him regularly when he played junior hockey in Kingston.

That support is part of the foundation of Shane’s career. He recognizes that his parents contributed their time, money, and energy to help him reach the NHL, and he is grateful that they live close enough to remain involved. David’s place in the family is not defined by speeches or demands; the book shows it through sustained presence and the ease of their everyday contact.

Everyday Care and Humor

A conversation about furnishing Shane’s living room gives the family’s affection a domestic scale. Yuna offers him an old lamp from the den, while David jokes that their millionaire son does not need their old furniture. Yuna insists that it is a nice lamp, and David counters that money can buy anything. Shane offers to take her lamp shopping the next time his parents drive up, an offer that pleases her.

The exchange presents David as part of a family comfortable enough to tease one another while taking each other’s preferences seriously. The joke about Shane’s wealth does not displace the care behind the visit: Yuna is thinking about his home, and Shane responds by proposing time together. David is present in that affectionate negotiation, rather than standing apart from the ordinary details of his son’s life.

Presence in Shane’s Hockey Life

At a crowded hockey gathering, Shane scans the room for his parents and finds David slumped in a chair, drinking what Shane assumes is a Sprite. David looks exhausted. Shane tells him he is stepping outside for air and promises to return; David agrees, adding that he will soon try to persuade Yuna that it is bedtime. The exchange is brief, but it shows David accompanying his son through the demands of his public career while also sharing the familiar task of managing a long evening with Yuna.

The Family Learns About Ilya

When Shane arrives at his parents’ home with Ilya, he wonders whether they have been watching through a window. He enters without knocking, as he never does with them, and finds both parents rising from the couch. David has already told Yuna what he saw. Her shock is immediate, and Shane asks his parents to talk with him.

David’s clearest response comes as a quiet recognition of the duration of Shane’s concealment: he says that Shane has been holding the secret inside all this time. Yuna, alarmed by the possibility that Shane might have let Ilya win, asks him directly; Shane emphatically denies it. The parents’ responses differ in form: David names the weight of the secret, while Yuna moves quickly toward practical questions and proposes solving the problem. David’s part in this scene is restrained but consequential. By telling Yuna what he witnessed, he has already helped bring the truth into the family, and his remark acknowledges that Shane’s secrecy was not new or casual but something he had carried for years.