Coming to terms with your sexuality
There are two threads in Check, Please!: #Hockey about characters coming to terms with their sexuality. On one hand, the novel's main character, Eric Bittle, wrestles with his sexuality in public on his vlog and proudly comes out. On the other hand, Jack (one of Eric's teammates and his romantic interest) is deeply closeted. He fears that coming out would mean that his professional hockey career would end before it began, and that his family and the public wouldn't accept him. Because of this, Jack can never fully embrace or come to terms with his sexuality. Eric's story is portrayed in a more favorable light, and the novel argues that everyone should be free to publicly state their sexuality without fear of reprisal.
Expectations
As the son of a famous former NHL player and a prospective NHL draftee himself, Jack is tremendously burdened by the expectations the public and his family have for him. The public wants Jack to succeed in college. In fact, they expect him to succeed and parlay a successful college career into an NHL career. His family feels less strongly, but they still expect him to succeed. Jack's journey shows the psychological toll these expectations can have. Those expectations have consequences beyond his career. They start to affect his relationship with Eric. Because of the weight of his expectations, Jack isn't willing to come out and embrace his sexuality in the same way that Eric does. He worries that people will think less of him. Overcoming that pressure and learning how to carve out his own path and set his own boundaries is a crucial aspect of Jack’s character arc and his success outside the hockey ring.
Learning to work as a team
A crucial aspect of the story is Eric learning to work as a team. Although he had played hockey for much of his life, he never really had to work in a team (he focused mostly on solo figure skating). The people on his college team help him learn about how to work with other people to accomplish a common goal, something which Eric appreciates. Working together, the team also helps Eric grow as a person and overcome the challenges in his life, showing the importance of a supportive community (especially when you are going through a difficult time).
