Sled Shack

* Crave
* Hulu
* SBS

**Sled Shack** is the first episode of Season 3 of *Letterkenny*.

## Synopsis

The Hicks build a sled shack on the sleddin' trail. The Hockey Players, now leading goal scorers, try to motivate the Irish to get a W.

## Cold Open

Wayne, with Daryl's assistance, delivers an alphabet aerobics on winter encouraging folks to get out.

> Trust a traditional turtleneck to maintain a toasty temperature over time. Ugly. Useful. Vile. Valuable. Whatever. — Wayne and Daryl
>
>

## Plot Summary

The Hicks visit a bar on The Rez and start a fight with one of the patrons and his friends. Tanis watches quietly, smoking a dart, and later she, Axe and Slash share a drink with the Hicks. The Hicks have apparently come over as a favor to her, and the Natives hand over packs of darts and pepperettes. She tells Wayne she "took care of" her pregnancy, i.e. had an abortion, to which Wayne responds that it is her right. She replies that it might not have been his, anyway.

   Dan, Wayne, and Daryl are ice fishing up country when Dan says he is hungry. Daryl says there is whitefish in the cooler, which he claims to have caught earlier, but Wayne points out that if he had, he wouldn't have stopped talking about it. Daryl suggests they could prepare it as "sushis," and Wayne as "sashimis," pluralizations which bother Dan. They proceed to talk about shrimps, eels, salmons, tunas, and so on to Dan's exasperation. He interrupts to ask when Katy is coming back from the city. Wayne does not know, but "she'll figure it out" and be back for sleddin' season, since Katy loves sleddin'.

Daryl observes that there is only one shack on the sled trail through Letterkenny. Wayne agrees this is an opportunity, and they get the idea to build another shed for socials, and they could build it and pay for it by selling $2 cans. Daryl suggests they could serve it with whitefish sashimis, and Wayne suggests perch and walleye sushis, provoking Dan's ire and an extremely methodically pronounced response:

> Hey! Walleye. Perch. And white fish. Are not. Shusee, or shaseemee, grade. — Dan
>
>

Wayne agrees, saying you'd have to do pot to accomplish that sort of appetite. Daryl disagrees, and bites into the raw whitefish.

Outside the hockey arena, Jonesy and Reilly go through their pregame checklist:

* Pregame sandos.
* Pregame nappies.
* Don Cherry's Rock'Em Sock'Em 6 for motivation
* Chel tourney for game situation visualization
* Second Chel tourney for peak performance imagery
* No pregame dump, but plans to boost one
* Caffeine
* Creatine

They are mobbed by an adoring crowd as they enter. A look at the player rankings shows them tied for first in the league for goals—and for penalty minutes—but a look at the team standings shows the Letterkenny Irish in dead last, with a record of 0-15-0.

Back at the farmhouse, the Hicks discuss plans for the new sled shack. They compromise on a size of 8′×10′, and on the layout for the space heater, mini-fridge, and so on. They are interrupted by Katy who has returned from modeling in the city with blonde hair and two "friends," Shep and Kingsley. They are shirtless under their coats, and explain that their shirts ripped because they are probably too fat. They discuss the ways they are too fat, but Wayne and the Hicks are not interested.

> Put a fuckin' shirt on. — Wayne
>
>

The Coach chews out the Irish in the dressing room after yet another loss, and for them pouting as if their little sisters had taken the last of their favorite Oreos. The only players he has kind words for are Reilly and Jonesy:

> I never thought those pheasants would fuck the dog so hard that you two would become my studs! — Coach
>
>

All he wants for the season is one win, which they plan to deliver through a strategy of "selfish hockey" on Reilly and Jonesy's part.

    The Hicks have gathered at the spot for the new sled shack when Katy calls Wayne to ask if her friends can borrow his clothes. Wayne tells her to give them the hand-me-downs from Dan's second cousin Jarrett, but the shirts do not fit, which they conclude is because they are too fat. Katy has them take off their shirts and lock the doors.

Down in the basement, the Skids contemplate that Devon has disappeared, with most of his things.

> He had everything here. Hours upon hours of ultra-competitive gaming laced with hip-hop karaoke. Add a dash of late-night loitering and a splash of petty vandalism. — Stewart
>
>

    A tearful Roald points out he has left behind a guitar, which Stewart and Devon had gone halfsies on in grade six, and a television they had taken from Devon's grandma in grade three to play Ecco the Dolphin on. Stewart smashes both, and finds it therapeutic. They are interrupted by a masked figure in a clown costume, presumably Devon, who throws a stink bomb in their midst.

The Hicks contemplate the new sled shack, built with the help of Tyson and Joint Boy. Daryl fires up the generator and Dan tests out the motion sensor lights. They christen it with a Puppers.

Reilly and Jonesy discuss the night's game. They have achieved a Gordie Howe hat trick, took 18 shots on goal, and played no less than 38 minutes—but still lost the game 9-4. They ask the other players what happened, and the other players admit that their wives have all left them—odd, since they loved them so much. The source of the turmoil turns out to be Angie, whom they all want for themselves and soon get into a fight over.

    The Hicks return to the sled shack after dark. As Dan walks into the motion sensor, they see that it has been trashed, with cans strewn everywhere. Wayne—with Rosie at his side—promises to kick the shit out of whoever did this.

## Quotes

* Wayne: How're ya now?
Tanis: Please don't talk to me like a fuckin' hick.
Wayne: Not so bad.
* Dan: Says he pulled a pikes, a perch, a wallseyes and a trout.
Daryl: Is that a brook trout?
Wayne: No, it'd be lake trout.
Daryl: Why's that?
Wayne: 'Cause we're on a fuckin' lake, Dary.
* Coach: My boys, I skipped curfew call for you last night 'cause I knew you'd be doin' legs, and I didn't want to interrupt.
Reilly: We've been doin' legs two-a-days since the first week of summer, Coach.
Jonesy: Blocked every wheelchair ramp in the arena so we'd have to do stairs.
* Coach: What's our mantra?
Reilly and Jonesy: They don't ask how, they ask how many.
* Daryl: Pretty good spot for pissin' over there.
Dan: Pissin' outside's for dogs and degens.
Daryl: I piss outside as much as the dog does.
Dan: Well, I'm not above it either. I'm just sayin'.
* Katy: My friends need to borrow clothes.
Wayne: Give 'em barn clothes.
Katy: I won't have barn clothes in the house; they stink.
Wayne: Guess you have to put your friends in the fuckin' barn then.
* Roald: Devon hated petty vandalism. He called it two-bit.
Stewart: Shabby.
Roald: Shoestring.
Stewart: Mmm, hence the term, "petty," Roald. Don't be redundant.

## Callbacks and Running Gags

### Introduced

* Wayne likes to wear turtlenecks in the winter, because you lose a lot of heat in the neck
* Jivin Pete's a decent guy
* Piss outside as much as the dog does
* They don't ask how, they ask how many

### Recurring

* Alphabet aerobics (A Fuss at the Ag Hall)
* Who's a good guy (The Election)
* Letterkenny could use some kind of bar (A Fuss at the Ag Hall)
* I'm surprised we're not… right now (Uncle Eddie's Trust)
* Dan's second cousins Garrett and Jarrett (Ain't No Reason to Get Excited)
* Hold my spitter (Ain't No Reason to Get Excited)

## Cultural References

* There are no defined standards for "sushi-grade" fish; it is a marketing label which suggests fresher or higher-quality fish, but only as defined by the supplier. Many freshwater fish like walleye or perch are not considered suitable for sushi not because the flesh is unsuitable, but because they have parasites which may lead to illness or infection if consumed raw.
* *Don Cherry's Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Hockey* is a series of hockey highlight videos hosted by iconic sports commentator Don Cherry. Video 6 is longer than most, at 90 minutes, and features a segment with Cherry giving safety tips for young players.
* "Chel" refers to the EA *NHL* video game series produced by EA Vancouver since 1991.
* Creatine monohydrate is an amino acid which naturally occurs in the body, mostly in skeletal muscles. Creatine supplements are taken to increase muscle mass during resistance training and to improve performance in high-intensity exercise.
* Shep and Kingsley's comparisons: Dr. Seuss book *The Cat in the Hat*; arcade fighting game *Mortal Combat*; New York City borough Staten Island; Italian city-state, the Vatican. Later, major league baseball team the L.A. Dodgers, major league baseball pitcher Roger Clemens, pickup truck Dodge Ram, disguising clothing pattern for hunting and combat camouflage.
* "Oreo" is a brand of cookie consisting of a sweet crème filling between two wafers (usually chocolate-flavoured), introduced by Nabisco in 1912 and now produced by Modelez. In addition to several different varieties, starting in the 2010s, Mondelez began producing a number of special varieties featuring additional flavours, often available only for a limited time.
* "Selfish hockey" refers to practices that prioritize an individual player's statistics over team play, with its practitioners derided as "puck hogs"; it goes against both the cultural ethic of the game and the long-term success of the team. Through it, Reilly accumulates 18 shots, which he compares to Alexander Ovechkin, and Jonesy plays 38 minutes of the game, which he compares to Duncan Keith.
* Hockey sticks are taped to increase friction and reduce the accumulation of snow on the blade, thus improve handling; when the Coach says Boomtown doesn't need stick tape, it is because he does not want Boomtown to even touch the puck, with Reilly and Jonesy playing "selfish hockey."
* A "Gordie Howe hat trick" occurs when a player has one goal, one assist, and one fight in a single game; although named for him, Howe himself only accomplished two in his long career.
* "W motherfucking five" is a reference to CTV News television magazine *W5*, whose name in turn is taken from the five basic interrogative pronouns that begin with W: who, what, when, where, why. CTV and Crave are both owned by Bell Media.
* Yorkie wanting to go "Warcraft all over my man shaft" is a reference to Blizzard Entertainment fantasy video game franchise *Warcraft*, whose most widely played version is the MMPORG *World of Warcraft*.

## Trivia

* Roald mentions Stewart stealing a TV from Devon's grandma to play *Ecco the Dolphin* on Sega CD. The Sega CD edition of the game was released in Canada in early 1993, which would place Stewart's earliest possible birth year, assuming an otherwise ordinary school career, as 1984 or 1985. This does not definitively give either Devon or Stewart's age, however, as it is likely that they would have played the game some time after its release, especially if their enthusiasm for vintage games and systems began in childhood. Alexander De Jordy, who plays Devon, was born in 1993 and Tyler Johnston, who plays Stewart, was born in 1987.
* Although Canada was declared officially metricated in 1985, and the dimensions of the sled shack might be expected to be given in centimeters or meters, Canadians use a mix of metric and Imperial/customary measures in day-to-day life, especially in rural areas. Feet and inches are common to indicate one's height, and Fahrenheit temperatures and Imperial/customary measures for volume and weight are common in cooking.
* Alexander de Jordy left the show after its second season to pursue other opportunities, but Devon's disapperance has never been explained in-universe, and he is never mentioned again after Stewart's tirade in this episode.
* Kingsley is not only the name of one of Katy's model friends, but is also the "K" in K. Trevor Wilson (Dan), though his actual given name is Trevor Kingsley Wilson.

## Music

According to Tunefind, the following songs are featured on this episode:

* Sunrise by Art d’Ecco (opening)
* Rita Mitsouko by Art d’Ecco (opening)
* Compression by The Hunches (fight at MoDean's)
* Lord by Smokey Robotic (the crowd greets Reilly and Jonesy)
* Tetrapod by Bignic (Devon is gone)
* No Sleep by DZ Deathrays (closing credits)

## Appearances

* Wayne
* Daryl
* Dan
* Reilly
* Jonesy
* Katy
* Shep and Kingsley
* the Coach
* the Letterkenny Irish
	+ Barts
	+ Yorkie
	+ Scholtzy
	+ Fisky
	+ Boomtown
* Stewart
* Roald
* Clown (Gae)
* Angie

## Locations

* Ice fishing hut (first appearance)
* Sled shack (first appearance)
* Hockey arena
* Farmhouse
* Basement

## Gallery

*→ See **58** images from Sled Shack at **Images from Sled Shack**.*

## External links

* Sled Shack, IMDb
* Sled Shack, The Produce Stand podcast
* Sled Shack, How Are Ya Now podcast