Icing Waved Off (Minnesota Minks 1)
Basics
Genre: Queer sports romance
Word count: 120,000+ (help)
Status: Editing/rewriting scenes
Tropes: Teammates to lovers, friends to lovers, slow-burn
Themes: Comphet, self discovery, self-acceptance, mental health rep, toxic masculinity in male sports, sports-compliant homophobia (idk how else to word that lol), team as family, non-toxic homosocial bonds
CWs: This story discusses/deals with internalized and externalized homophobia, compulsive-heterosexuality, unintentional emotional cheating (due to the comphet), anxiety disorder + anxiety attacks, grief from loss of a loved one, toxic masculinity in sports, and unhealthy coping mechanisms (including alcohol, marijuana, and cigarettes).
Description: Teddy Wilson has it all: alternate captaincy of an NHL team, a nice house, a beautiful fiance, and great teammates. But something has always felt… off. It isn’t until his fiance asks for a break just after the season starts that Teddy starts to question who he really is, and why his fiance Eleanor thinks he cares about his teammate/best friend James more than her. With his hockey stats dropping and pressure from the league growing, Teddy’s mental state starts to crack. And when he and Eleanor mutually agree to call off the wedding, Teddy feels like his entire world has been twisted inside out.
James Parker knows who he is, he just wishes the rest of the world knew, too. He also wishes he didn’t have growing feelings for Teddy, who is very much engaged to a woman. To save his friendship with him - and his relationships with the rest of the team and league - he just has to hide the part of himself he’s been hiding for years. This becomes more difficult when Teddy is in desperate need of support and comfort, and James is unable to stop himself from offering them.
Team Info
Name: Minnesota Minks
League: NHL
Location: St Paul, MN, USA
Head Coach: CJ Brooks
Captain: Mikail Neiminen
Alternate Captains: Marcus McDonough and Teddy Wilson
Mascot: Marty the Mink
AHL Affiliate: Iowa Martens
Main Characters
Teddy Wilson:
- 24 years old
- LW
- Number 67
- Alternate Captain
- Born in Kingston, ON, CAN
- Comphet through the roof
- Generalized anxiety disorder
- Engaged to Eleanor Montgomery
James Parker:
- 25 years old
- D-man
- Number 21
- Born in Hamilton, ON, CAN
- Closeted gay
- Undiagnosed but raging ADHD
Eleanor Montgomery:
- 24 years old
- Born in Kingston, ON, CAN
- Engaged to Teddy Wilson
- Veterinary Technician
Secondary Characters (teammates)
Jeremy Alistair
- 25 years old
- D-man
- Number 74
- Born in Boston, MA, USA
Brayden Comeau
- 26 years old
- LW
- Number 27
- Born in Seattle, WA, USA
Noah Jensen
- 27 years old
- LW
- Number 51
- Born in Copenhagen, DNK
Marcus McDonough
- 26 years old
- C
- Number 15
- Born in New York, NY, USA
Mikail Nieminen
- 29 years old
- C
- Number 58
- Born in Tampere, FIN
Gabe Pine
- 19 years old
- D-man
- Number 10
- Born in Vancouver, BC, CAN
Colby Richards
- 19 years old (but will adamantly tell you he’s almost 20)
- RW
- Number 3
- Born in Detroit, MI, USA
Other Characters
Teammates
- Chris Adams (D)
- Freddie Dupont (G)
- Adam Ekstrom ©
- Elijah Lewis (RW)
- Stephen Muller (RW)
- Liam Nox ©
- Lucas O'Reilly (LW)
- Dominic Schwartz (G)
- Oliver Svennson (D)
- Samuel Thornton (D)
- Nikolai Volkov (RW)
- Aaron White (D)
Management/support staff
- CJ Brooks (Head coach)
- Hank + Steve (equipment managers)
- Joe King (reporter)
- Robert Langley (reporter)
- Ericka Lionel (head of pr)
- Hariette Porter (reporter)
Family members
- Penny Campbell (Brayden’s girlfriend)
- Abigail McDonough (Marcus’s wife)
- Kathryn Nieminen (Mickey’s wife)
- Rowan Nieminen (Mickey’s son)
- Allan Parker (James’s uncle)
- Beth Parker (James’s mom)
- Caleb Parker (James’s late father)
- Caleb Parker Jr (James’s newphew)
- Ruby Parker (James’s sister)
- Charles (James’s brother-in-law)
- Greg Wilson (Teddy’s dad)
- Kylee Wilson (Teddy’s sister-in-law)
- Nicholas Wilson (Teddy’s brother)