Photo courtesy of IMDb.
By Irena Mesa
If you haven’t heard, “Heated Rivalry” is a LGBTQ romance TV series based on books from the “Game Changers” series written by Rachel Reid. It follows Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, star hockey players who are bitter rivals from the start of their careers.
Despite being rivals on the ice, they develop feelings for one another.
When the show’s first two episodes were released on Nov.28, the series had a small following made up of book readers who were excited about the adaptation. By the time that episode 5 dropped, everyone’s bags were packed for a trip to the cottage with Shane and Ilya.
Hockey merely serves as the background of this story, as Shane and Ilya’s romance is the focal point of the show’ssix episodes. In some ways, hockey and its surrounding culture serve as a villain to the story, or the reason that Shane and Ilya have to hide.
This aspect is directly referenced multiple times within the show, most notably in Scott Hunter’s speech at the beginning of episode 6 (The show takes a brief detour from their story in episode three, which tells the story of Scott Hunter, another hockey player who falls in love with Kip Grady).
“When I was a teenager, I realized that I may be that thing that hockey players like to throw around as an insult. The kind of language that I heard on the ice and in the locker room every day was a constant reminder that I was different,” Hunter said in an acceptance speech after winning the cup and coming out on national television.
The NHL chose to conveniently ignore that aspect, as well as what made the show so special to viewers. Instead, they focused solely on the new influx of fans who weren’t already watching hockey.
“There are so many ways to get hooked on hockey, and in the NHL’s 108-year history, this might be the most unique driver for creating new fans. See you all at the rink,” the league said in a statement.
Once the show was beginning to get traction online, many clubs began to subtly reference the show by playing songs featured in the show, such as “All The Things She Said” by Harrison during games. The subtlety was quickly replaced by direct references as the show continued to blow up online.
Gary Bettman, the league’s commissioner, even said that he binged the entire show in one night.
Despite the outward enthusiasm, the league has historically not been accepting of the LGBTQ+ community — evidenced by the actions that they have taken. Among the MLB, NBA and NFL, the NHL remains the only league to not have any openly gay players.
In October 2023, the NHL banned all teams from wearing themed jerseys or uniforms for theme nights — which included Pride Night — and putting rainbow tape on sticks. The decision was made after a few players, such as Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Ivan Provorov and Ottawa Senators goaltender James Reimer refused to participate in their teams’ Pride Night festivities.
The ban on Pride tape only lasted for about two weeks. It was lifted after Travis Dermott defied the ban and used the multicolored tape during his team’s home opener.
The ban on wearing themed jerseys during warmups still applies, but it hasn’t stopped teams from designing them and highlighting the artists and their work. One recent and popular example is the Seattle Kraken, which designed a jersey with a rainbow unicorn centered within its traditional logo.
While Sean Avery, a retired NHL player, claimed that the success of “Heated Rivalry” could help encourage players to come out, Brock McGillis, the first pro hockey player to come out after retiring, believes the show will have the opposite effect.
“I hate to be negative because I really enjoy the show. But I also don’t believe that many hockey bros are going to watch it,” McGillis said. “And I don’t think, if they are watching it, they’re talking about it positively.”
François Arnaud, who plays Scott Hunter, told Andy Cohen that the NHL has done a great job in capitalizing on the popularity of the show, but wants the league to do more.
“Their sales are going up apparently… The Boston Bruins tagged [Heated Rivalry] online. I’m just hoping it’s backed up by actual openness to diversity,” Arnaud said. “If you’re going to use our name, back it up with real-life shit.”
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Written by: Irena Mesa on February 10, 2026.
Last revised by: Alisha Durosier