59 pages • 1-hour read
Game Changer
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Background
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of anti-gay bias and cursing.
Cultural Context: Hypermasculinity and Homophobia in Professional Hockey
Rachel Reid sets Game Changer within the world of professional hockey, a sport characterized by a culture of hypermasculinity that emphasizes physical dominance, aggression, and team conformity. This environment has historically fostered anti-gay bias, making it a high-stakes setting for a closeted athlete. According to a 2015 international study on anti-gay bias in sports, “Out on the Fields,” 82% of participants reported witnessing or experiencing anti-gay bias, with anti-gay slurs being commonplace in locker rooms and on the field (Zeilger, Cyd. “New Study Shows Widespread Fear of Homophobia for Gay Athletes.” Out Sports. 9 May 2015). In particular, hockey relies on fighting and physical violence, allowing and encouraging physical altercations to solve disputes and for possession of the puck. Players are often expected to endure pain silently and hide vulnerability, while meeting fan expectations of stoicism and toughness. Additionally, team dynamics rely on trust and respect, meaning that harmful stereotypes about dishonesty related to someone exploring their sexual identity, as well as male discomfort with queer individuals, can undermine these dynamics. At the time of the novel’s publication in 2018, no active National Hockey League (NHL) player had ever come out as gay; the first, Nashville Predators prospect Luke Prokop, would not do so until 2021.
This real-world context directly informs the anxieties of New York Admirals captain Scott Hunter, whose fears of rejection and career sabotage are well-founded. Scott’s internal monologue reflects this reality: “NHL players […] used homophobic slurs liberally” (29), and his teammate Frank Zullo reinforces this hostile atmosphere by calling another player “a fucking queer” (97). At the same time, he fears the response from the his teammates were he to reveal his sexuality, emphasizing to Kip that his hockey team is his family, and sewing distrust among them would be detrimental to their success. His struggle is not merely a product of personal insecurity but a direct consequence of a deeply ingrained culture within professional sports, making his journey toward self-acceptance a powerful commentary on the pressures faced by closeted athletes.
Genre Context: The Conventions of M/M Sports Romance
Game Changer is a notable entry in the M/M (male/male) sports romance subgenre, joining other novels like Him (2021) by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy and the Scoring Chances series by Eden Finley. This category of fiction explores queer relationships within the competitive and often hypermasculine world of athletics. The novel employs several popular tropes to structure its narrative and explore its central themes. The “secret relationship” is a primary driver of the plot, as Scott Hunter’s career as a famous hockey player necessitates that his romance with Kip Grady remain hidden. This secrecy forces their relationship to exist almost entirely behind the closed doors of Scott’s apartment, leading Kip to feel like a “dirty secret” (271). Additionally, the novel utilizes the “celebrity/everyday-person” dynamic, contrasting Scott’s fame and wealth with Kip’s life as a smoothie shop employee to examine issues of power, vulnerability, and identity. Similar to the trope of royalty falling for a lowborn person in romantasy literature, this relationship questions Kip’s disbelief that Scott would be interested in him while highlighting Scott’s desire to live a normal life with desires similar to Kip’s. While these dynamics initially add a layer of intrigue to their relationship, Kip ultimately must decide whether he is willing to sacrifice part of his identity to remain a secret in Scott’s life. Game Changer ultimately subverts this convention by providing a hopeful and public resolution. Rather than concluding with the couple finding happiness only in private, the story culminates in Scott spontaneously kissing Kip on the ice after winning the Stanley Cup. He later confirms their relationship to a reporter, stating, “He means the world to me and I love him” (355). This triumphant ending champions public acceptance over private suffering, reflecting a broader shift in contemporary romance toward affirming and celebratory depictions of queer love.
Series Context: Establishing the World of the Game Changers
Game Changer is the first installment in Rachel Reid’s popular Game Changers series, a collection of interconnected standalone novels set in the world of professional hockey. As is common in the romance genre, each book in the series focuses on a different couple while building upon a shared universe of characters and settings. This inaugural novel is crucial for establishing that universe, introducing readers to the fictional New York Admirals hockey team, its organizational culture, and key players who will feature in future stories. The narrative provides a detailed look into the lives of the athletes, from on-ice action at Madison Square Garden to private moments on the team plane, creating a rich and consistent world for the subsequent books to inhabit. The novel also establishes the central thematic project of the series: the exploration of diverse relationships and identities within a hypermasculine environment. By centering a queer romance between the team captain and a man outside the sports world, Game Changer immediately challenges traditional narratives of love and masculinity in sports fiction. Furthermore, it introduces several key secondary characters who become protagonists in later books. Scott’s teammate Eric Bennett stars in Common Goal (2020) as he explores his bisexuality late in his hockey career, while Scott’s on-ice rival, Ilya Rozanov, is the protagonist in the “enemies-to-lovers” plot of the series’ second book, Heated Rivalry (2019). Game Changer’s final scene, during which Rozanov and several other hockey players meet at the gay bar Kingfisher, emphasizes the shift that is occurring within professional hockey with regard to players’ views on sexuality. The final moments of the novel lay the groundwork for further exploration in the series’ other six books.
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