I think it's somewhat exaggerated. It's not the same authors writing the origin story over and over for three years for the same couple. The difference between Hockey RPF and other fandoms is that people tend to abandon pairings in this fandom as "new canon" tends to split pairings up. The few pairings that have stuck around *do* get new narratives written for them. Sid/Geno had Geno joining the Pens and forming a relationship with toaster!Sid that culminated in a cup, then there was the h/c concussion/jaw/knee injury era, then a rash of fics where they acknowledged the possibility they might not win another cup but that there was no one else they'd rather spend their life striving with. Sometimes people do go back to the original well, but a lot of my times it's someone new to the fandom.
Re: Fics You Want
I think it's somewhat exaggerated. It's not the same authors writing the origin story over and over for three years for the same couple. The difference between Hockey RPF and other fandoms is that people tend to abandon pairings in this fandom as "new canon" tends to split pairings up. The few pairings that have stuck around *do* get new narratives written for them. Sid/Geno had Geno joining the Pens and forming a relationship with toaster!Sid that culminated in a cup, then there was the h/c concussion/jaw/knee injury era, then a rash of fics where they acknowledged the possibility they might not win another cup but that there was no one else they'd rather spend their life striving with. Sometimes people do go back to the original well, but a lot of my times it's someone new to the fandom.