In September 2010 in Montreal, Shane Hollander sticks to his strict daily routine while settling into his new apartment and preparing for his first NHL season. After completing training camp, Shane secures a roster spot with the Montreal Voyageurs and feels proud and welcomed, but his attention keeps snagging on SportsCenter coverage of Ilya Rozanov.

On TV, Ilya confidently claims he will score fifty goals by the end of February, then dismisses a question about outperforming Shane by saying, “Who?” Shane is infuriated by Ilya’s arrogance and the implied slight, and he privately vows to shut Ilya up when they finally face each other—while also admitting to himself that he has thought about Ilya since their secret Toronto hotel encounter.

About a month later, Montreal hosts Boston for the first NHL matchup between the two rookies, and the media hype makes Shane unusually nervous. Shane meets his parents, Yuna and David Hollander, for lunch; they try to calm him, praise him, and criticize Ilya as a dirty jerk. Shane tries to keep his anxiety focused on hockey, even as his thoughts keep drifting to the sexual edge Ilya has introduced into their rivalry.

During the game, Coach LeClaire sends Ilya out to take a face-off against Shane to satisfy the spectacle everyone wants. Ilya needles Shane at the dot, but Ilya’s distraction backfires and he loses the face-off—an early, irreversible “first” in their NHL rivalry.

Later in his Montreal hotel room, Ilya stews over the loss until his brother, Andrei, calls from home and asks for $20,000. Ilya suspects irresponsible motives but agrees to send the money to avoid further family pressure, resenting both Andrei’s demands and his father’s looming influence. Turning on the television, Ilya finds Shane giving a glowing postgame interview in flawless French, looking sweaty and triumphant; Ilya’s reaction curdles from jealousy into something more frighteningly intense, hinting that his fixation on Shane is deepening beyond rivalry.