Regina

Regina is where Ilya Rozanov first encountered the Canadian hockey phenomenon Shane Hollander in person, during a December 2008 tournament that brought the world’s best teenage players to Saskatchewan. The city’s cold and unassuming rinks make the setting a practical counterpoint to the immense expectations surrounding the two young players—and to the rivalry taking shape between them.

Setting and Tournament

The story opens with Ilya crossing a bitterly cold hotel parking lot on his way to the team bus. For him and most of his teammates, this was a first visit to North America, but Regina did not feel overwhelming: Saskatchewan offered little to distract from the cold and hockey, both familiar to the Russians. Two days before Christmas, the tournament occupied the place the holiday might otherwise have held in the players’ lives.

Ilya arrived with a particular interest in the Canadian star. Both he and Hollander were expected to be among the top two selections in the following June’s NHL draft, and the hockey world was already debating which would go first. Ilya was tired of hearing Hollander’s name and imagined the tournament as his opportunity to establish himself instead.

The Practice Rink

The Russian team reached its scheduled practice as the Canadian team was finishing. Ilya paused with teammates to watch the Canadians run drills, but the players wore nameless practice jerseys, so he could not identify Hollander before his assistant coach called him into the dressing room. The schedule was tight, and the Russians took the ice after it had been cleared by the Zamboni.

The practice rink was small and run-down, unlike the large downtown arena where the actual games would be played. A sparse audience watched from the stands: scouts, a few relatives who had travelled from Russia, and local hockey fans. Halfway through practice, Ilya noticed a young man several rows above the penalty box in a Team Canada cap and jacket, accompanied by a man and woman he took to be his parents. He wondered whether the spectator was Hollander, but could not tell from the ice.

The Tournament’s End

Regina’s tournament concluded with the Canadian team enduring one more humiliation: the Russian players, fresh from celebrating, lined up to exchange handshakes with their opponents. Shane performed the ritual without feeling its sportsmanship in his heart. He believed the Russian team had played dirty and hated competing against them; at the same time, he could not dismiss how good Ilya was. The final handshake thus closes the tournament with rivalry sharpened rather than settled, while the earlier practice-rink glimpse marks the first time Ilya had a chance to observe Shane beyond the noise of the press.