They say it’s better to show than tell. That’s why this opens with a handful of images that, to an untrained eye, look unrelated: Macklin Celebrini’s GQ cover spread, Dylan Larkin being compared to a literal terrorist, the NHL’s god‑awful Hot for Hockey campaign, and Carter Hart’s allegations. All of these moments happened within six months of following the NHL.
So what happens when a league signs accused rapists, lets a new culture swallow the old one, and refuses to acknowledge its female fanbase until Heated Rivalry and Off Campus prove fanfiction is profitable? You get the stuff of PR nightmares.
I. The Culture Shift
There was a time when hockey was blue‑collar — gritty, respectful, ego‑checked. I don’t blame modern players for lacking that ethos. Youth hockey today is a pay‑to‑play industrial complex selling false promises of scholarships and cutting off access even for upper‑middle‑class families. That pipeline produces a league full of rich kids.
There are exceptions: Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Macklin Celebrini. There used to be Connor McDavid.
But American wealth breeds entitlement. It’s keeping‑up‑with‑the‑Joneses mixed with hyper‑competitiveness. I won a gold medal; now I need a Stanley Cup. And honestly, Hellebuyck’s behavior is far more offensive than Larkin’s — at least Detroit’s dysfunction is mutual. Jack Hughes couldn’t take a joke from a reporter, and I wasn’t surprised by that locker room at all. I’ve loved hockey my whole life, but watching his mom try to clean up his mess was… revealing.
The “toughest sport in the world” has become coddled. Winning matters more than anything: profits, fans, teams, even players’ health. (Though that last one has always been an issue.) The Oilers signing an alleged rapist cost them fans. When you lose fans, you lose revenue. On paper, winning a Cup should maximize revenue. But at what cost?
There are no values anymore, just winning. And it shows when teams hire not only alleged rapists, but coaches who ignored abuse — physical or sexual — within their own organizations.
Winning isn’t everything. Money is. Fans have power. I wonder if they’ll use it.
II. Report: NHL Thinks Women Think With Their Clit
Signing alleged rapists rarely goes over well with women.
It’s no secret that some women enjoy romance‑genre escapism. Heated Rivalry dropped in January and hockey’s popularity exploded. Off Campus followed and poured gasoline on the fire. These books aren’t about hockey so much as romance with hockey as a backdrop.
The NHL’s response? Instead of a themed night, a soundtrack edit, or a book club, they created Hot for Hockey: real players written in romance‑novel style. It’s degrading to everyone involved. But hey — “woman think hockey player hot.” That sells, apparently.
Celebrini’s interviewer didn’t learn the lesson. Many genuinely believe women watch hockey because the players are attractive. Sure, some do. I had a crush on Zach Parise in ninth grade. I still have a soft spot for Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya. But I watch hockey because it’s fast, thrilling, and unifies a city. It’s euphoric.
What’s worse is watching women feed into the stereotype — tagging players as their perfect y/n partner, going to games and talking about “gooning” at players. It’s creepy, dehumanizing, and would cause an uproar if it happened in women’s sports.
These men aren’t always good people. Dylan Larkin has mountains of gay fanfiction written about him. After his encounter with Kash Patel, I can't help but chuckle at that. I’m not holding up a weird and innappropriate sign at a game. We’ve lost decorum.
III. Old Fandom Rules x New Hockey Rules (Dead Dove: I Will Force You To Eat)
I’m a principled First Amendment activist. That means I support people’s right to write about real hockey players putting dick to asshole. I don’t always want to, but the slippery slope argument exists for a reason.
But RPF used to have decorum. Rule one: you never talk to the subjects of RPF unless they’re in on the joke. Gabe Saporta writing fanfiction about himself and William Beckett? Fine. Linking fanfiction about Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini in a GQ profile while interrogating him about his relationship with Will? Weird. It makes female fans look like perverts. I support your right to be a weird pervert — just don’t involve the subjects.
This all ties back to hobby becoming commodity. Most fandom content — gifs, zines, kinked‑out JJK fanfiction — is made out of passion. Heated Rivalry wasn’t. It’s the domino that tipped us here.
Fanfiction shouldn’t be for profit. It’s a hobby. The best works are written with heart, not money. The worst ones get published. Heated Rivalry is poorly written. Fifty Shades is poorly written. The Love Hypothesis is poorly written. You get the point.
The NHL knows “willmack” is profitable. They’re using the ship name to hook new fans. I feel bad for those kids. Naruto came out before both players were born, and yet they have more fanfiction than mid‑tier Naruto ships. It’s not that it can’t exist, but it’s just a depressing commentary on the moment we’re living in.
IV. Conclusion
Maybe it’s because I grew up in Pittsburgh, but sports feel fundamentally different from anime, comics, or music. Sports are visceral civic pride. They inspire me. I don’t want to open AO3 after a hockey game.
I like that edits have softened — JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure NBA edits, hockey edits to Taylor Swift songs. Globalized fandom can be fun.
But sports are real. Real systems, real consequences. Criticizing Kishimoto’s mid ending is not the same as criticizing the NFL’s handling of CTE. Yet we treat them the same in this bizarre homogenization of fandom, and leagues feed into it. Maybe they know it dilutes real criticism.
The NHL has a PR problem. They need to rein in diva players. They need meaningful, non‑creepy fan engagement. They need to stop making players uncomfortable and stop making abusers comfortable. Fans are the reason the league exists. Stop giving them money. Stop engaging with slop content. And to the new fans from Heated Rivalry and Off Campus: learn fandom etiquette before behaving strangely. The loudness of those fans directly shaped how Celebrini was interviewed. It’s obvious.
Sports PR is hard. I don’t know what I would’ve done about the alleged rapists — the Canadian legal system is a mess. We don’t know the truth, which is why I say “alleged,” but the court’s behavior was confusing at best.
If I wanted to engage female fans, I’d post cool edits, highlight players they like, actually survey them, and sell better women’s‑cut merch. For teams like San Jose with strong LGBT fanbases, a small nod to Heated Rivalry makes sense — the score is good, and hearing it at a game would be fun. Maybe one joke during a real rivalry like Washington vs. Pittsburgh. Keep it light. Know your stakeholders. Balance growth with caution. The NHL has failed every test.
I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving hockey. But right now, it’s embarrassing to be a woman who loves this sport.
Elizabeth Caroline, author of this blog has a Bachelor of Science in Sports Management from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
