Troy Barrett, a Canadian hockey player for the National Hockey League (NHL) who has recently been traded from the division-leading Toronto Guardians to the last-place Ottawa Centaurs, poses for official photographs with his new team. The photographer, a woman named Gen, comments approvingly on his public confrontation with Dallas Kent, his former teammate and best friend. Troy reflects on the viral video where he called Dallas a rapist during practice, his realization that his former team prioritized protecting Dallas over holding him accountable, and his subsequent trade.

In the locker room, Troy encounters Wyatt Hayes, a former Toronto backup goalie now thriving as Ottawa’s starter. Although Troy has been unkind toward Wyatt in the past, Wyatt offers him a cautious chance to prove that he’s changed. Team captain Ilya Rozanov confronts Troy about his friendship with Dallas before giving him a grudging welcome.

Harris Drover, the team’s social-media manager, arrives with Chiron, a puppy in training to become a therapy dog. Troy is immediately struck by Harris’s open display of Pride pins and rainbow symbols. As a closeted gay man still reeling from his breakup with his secret boyfriend Adrian Dela Cruz, Troy feels intense envy of Harris’s ability to be openly gay and accepted.