“I cognize determination are cheery guys successful the NHL, due to the fact that I met 1 of my teammate’s boyfriends. [But] it’s intolerable for a cheery hockey subordinate to travel retired wrong the adjacent 5 oregon adjacent 10 years; the media attraction would beryllium excessively distracting for the full organization, he’d ne'er survive.”
–former NHL enforcer Georges Laraque
*
“Are you ready?”
The sports cause is prepping his client, 1 of the National Hockey League’s biggest stars, for a large announcement. The subordinate shrugs. “Sure, I’m ready. Let’s go. Let’s bash this.”
The 2 men locomotion down the hallway of the NHL rink the subordinate has called location for fractional a decade, stopping extracurricular the media room.
“Look,” the cause says, grabbing his client’s arm. “You cognize I enactment you a 100 percent. But it’s been a agelong road, and you’ve made truthful galore sacrifices to get here. So if there’s immoderate crushed you privation to propulsion the plug connected this thing, immoderate crushed astatine all, conscionable archer maine present and we tin cancel this presser successful a heartbeat.”
It has made brand-new hockey fans retired of queer people who were ne'er funny successful the sport, and it has done truthful arsenic acold distant arsenic the United Kingdom, Australia, and adjacent homophobic Russia. How did this happen?
The subordinate sighs. “No, no, we’re not doing that. Listen, I’ve fixed this capable thought. All my teammates enactment me. So does management. And wherefore wouldn’t they? I helped get them this.” He forms a fist and turns it around, exposing a gaudy metallic ringing bearing the squad logo. “Besides, I’m acceptable for beingness financially. I’m locked successful with this radical for astatine slightest 3 much years earlier the limited-trade clause kicks in. So what if I suffer an endorsement woody oregon two? I wouldn’t privation to shill for a institution that felt that mode astir me, anyway. And hey, who knows? I mightiness adjacent get a fewer caller gigs conscionable for doing this.”
His cause smiles. “Can’t reason with that. Let’s go.”
Opening the door, the cause leads his lawsuit to the podium, wherever the player’s coach, wide manager, and squad proprietor await. The media lawsuit begins with the GM introducing the agent, who tells everyone however agelong and hard his lawsuit has been reasoning astir this day.
Then it’s the player’s turn.
“Good morning, everyone,” the hockey prima begins, his grin signalling large relief. “You’re looking astatine the archetypal NHL subordinate to accidental these words successful public: I’m a Stanley Cup champion who conscionable happens to beryllium gay.”
The flashes spell disconnected astatine once. A wood of hands goes up. The archetypal reporter’s question is the astir obvious: After each this clip successful the closet, what yet prompted him to travel out?
“Well, it was a fewer things,” the subordinate begins. “But the last trigger was the 5th occurrence of Heated Rivalry, erstwhile Scott Hunter has conscionable won the Cup and invites his same-sex person down from the stands to articulation him connected the crystal with his teammates and their families. And past they buss successful beforehand of everyone successful the arena, successful beforehand of the full world. Well, I person a spouse too—he’s close determination astatine the backmost of the room, I’ll present you afterward—and I conscionable thought, beingness is excessively short. I’ve achieved everything successful hockey determination is to achieve, and I conscionable privation to beryllium blessed successful each portion of my life. I privation to beryllium similar Scott Hunter. So present I am.”
Okay, truthful that’s conscionable a fantasy. As of this writing, nary specified happening has occurred due to the fact that of Heated Rivalry oregon immoderate different factor, and the secrets of closeted cheery NHL players are harmless for now. But the overwhelming occurrence of the Crave series, a Canadian accumulation whose US rights were picked up by HBO and caught connected similar wildfire internationally astatine the extremity of 2025, has reignited the speech astir homosexuality successful the past large nonrecreational sports league successful North America without an openly cheery player. It has made brand-new hockey fans retired of queer people who were ne'er funny successful the sport, and it has done truthful arsenic acold distant arsenic the United Kingdom, Australia, and adjacent homophobic Russia. How did this happen?
Until Heated Rivalry burned its mode into our minds, the astir notable onscreen attraction of cheery hockey players was Breakfast with Scot, a 2007 Canadian drama directed by Laurie Lynd and produced by Paul Brown, Howard Rosenman, and Nadine Schiff. Adapted from a 1999 novel, the movie was a large woody astatine the clip due to the fact that the Maple Leafs approved the usage of their logo and uniforms successful it.
But it hasn’t aged each that well. Given the grade of reactionary homophobia successful the mainstream hockey satellite of 2007, a movie that mightiness person meaningfully explored the conflict to clasp one’s ain existent aforesaid portion ignoring what others deliberation astir apt shouldn’t person been pitched arsenic comedy. The titular Scot is simply a gender-divergent teen who, successful the aftermath of his mother’s cause overdose, has been placed successful the attraction of his stepfather’s cheery member Sam, a sports lawyer, and his spouse Eric, a retired Maple Leafs subordinate turned TV sportscaster. Within minutes of his archetypal scene, it’s wide that the predominant schtick of the movie volition beryllium Scot’s flamboyance and however the show gags astir it exposure Eric’s hair-trigger paranoia arsenic helium tries to stay closeted astatine work.
By contrast, Heated Rivalry arsenic queer taste hockey contented blows distant everything that came earlier it.
In fairness, determination is thing perchance moving successful a queer child’s guiltless puncturing of the self-denial of his closeted cheery parental figures. But determination is nary a hint of existent gayness successful this film, which besides happens to beryllium wholly sexless. And the characters are one-dimensional. Scot’s self-confidence successful genderqueer look seems unrealistic for his property and for the times, and yuppie Sam is excessively perfect. As for Eric? The comic entreaty of his hockey bro uptightness and closetedness—even aft his NHL career—fades agelong earlier the blessed ending, erstwhile helium embraces his much authentic self. But the Leafs—pre–Brian Burke and You Can Play—were bully with it.
By contrast, Heated Rivalry arsenic queer taste hockey contented blows distant everything that came earlier it. For this we tin convey the root material. Rachel Reid, a Halifax-based writer and lifelong hockey fan, invented a full caller subgenre of romance fiction: the cheery hockey romance. Reid had go disheartened by the homophobia she saw ruining her favourite sport, truthful she came up with her Game Changers bid arsenic a mode of imagining a amended hockey satellite wherever cheery men did not unopen down their feelings but leaned into them. The 2nd publication successful the series, Heated Rivalry, was published successful 2019. Six years later, it became the centrepiece of a virtually game-changing tv series.
Heated Rivalry is the communicative of 2 NHL players who transportation connected a torrid cheery emotion matter from the closet. For evident ineligible reasons, the league is ne'er really named, and squad names and logos are changed. But we tin safely presume that the Montreal Voyageurs and the Boston Bears are stand-ins for the Habs and the Bruins. From their archetypal gathering astatine the World Junior Championship erstwhile they’re seventeen, the mixed-race Japanese Canadian Shane Hollander (who volition beryllium drafted by Montreal) and the Russian Ilya Rozanov (who volition beryllium drafted by Boston) person an instant carnal attraction that volition not beryllium denied, contempt taste and taste differences and their competitory presumption arsenic the 2 champion young players connected the planet.
Somehow they support their narration a concealed for astir 8 years, discreetly gathering for passionate sessions of rough-and-ready enactment whenever they can—despite the challenges, erstwhile they’re successful the large league, of playing connected antithetic teams. Their families, friends, teammates, and the remainder of the hockey world, including their fans, don’t fishy a happening due to the fact that some are masculine presenting and day women, and they are presumed to hatred each different arsenic rivals (which they bash erstwhile they archetypal hook up). Inevitably, their mendacious beforehand collapses erstwhile they recognize that their communal attraction goes overmuch deeper than specified lust and they are hopelessly successful love.
Heated Rivalry is 1 of 8 Rachel Reid romance novels that absorption connected LGBTQ+ hockey players. After selling similar gangbusters, it was lone a substance of clip earlier 1 of those books got optioned, and it was Reid’s bully luck that autarkic creator Jacob Tierney, the openly cheery shaper of Letterkenny (twelve seasons, ending successful 2023) and its spinoff, Shoresy (four seasons, opening successful 2022, with a 5th confirmed arsenic of this writing), was a fan. After buying the movie rights to Heated Rivalry, and with the bid to beryllium produced by Accent Aigu Entertainment successful relation with Crave, Tierney deed golden erstwhile Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie showed up for their 2025 auditions to play Shane and Ilya, respectively.
Williams, a twenty-four-year-old Canadian of mixed British/Dutch and Korean descent, was calved and raised successful Kamloops, BC and earned his acting certificate from Langara College’s movie arts program. Before becoming an actor, Storrie, a twenty-five-year-old American from Texas, trained successful gymnastics and spent portion of his precocious schoolhouse acquisition successful France, wherever helium learned French and developed an involvement successful different languages. At the clip they were formed successful Heated Rivalry, Williams and Storrie were some moving arsenic waiters. Within a fewer months, some would beryllium planetary superstars acknowledgment to their smoking-hot chemistry arsenic Shane and Ilya.
Reid told interviewers that erstwhile successful speech with Storrie, she felt similar she was talking to the precise Ilya she had created.
The media run to present Heated Rivalry came successful the aboriginal autumn of 2025. Publicity stills showed 2 blistery young men successful their mid-twenties facing each other’s sweaty, bare torsos, their foreheads touching and their eyes closed, their lips lone inches apart. The subordinate we’d soon cognize arsenic Ilya had his fingers wrapped tenderly astir Shane’s neck, portion Shane had an limb astir Ilya’s waist. Just beneath their bellies, their hockey pants were some unfastened astatine the top. By the clip the bid launched connected November 28, that representation and the trailer were everyplace connected societal media. Broadcast rights had been sold to HBO Max successful the US, and further rights would beryllium sold to UK and Australian broadcasters, portion different countries clamoured to leap aboard the Shane and Ilya train.
It wasn’t hard to spot why. Apart from their physically complementary attributes (both athletically built and smooth-skinned, the Eurasian Williams’s musculature is softer and rounder, portion the lily-white Storrie’s is harder and much defined), the characters’ communal attraction is each the much believable due to the fact that of the actors’ evident comfortableness with each other. Later, Reid would remark connected however haunted she was by the actors’ convincing performances, by however perfectly matched they were for their roles—particularly Storrie’s rendition of Rozanov with his note-perfect Russian connection skills and accent. Reid told interviewers that erstwhile successful speech with Storrie, she felt similar she was talking to the precise Ilya she had created.
I knew what she meant by this. I didn’t motion up for Crave to ticker Heated Rivalry until aft I’d work the book. But adjacent arsenic I was reading, the names Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov were burning into my encephalon similar Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. Thanks to respective weeks of pre-launch promotion, Shane and Ilya appeared successful my caput arsenic the actors who played them due to the fact that I had seen capable of Williams’ and Storrie’s shirtless, sweat-dripping torsos successful online memes and successful the bid trailer—enough images of their climax-ready faces gazing into each other’s eyes—to easy admit them if I ever happened to spot them connected the street, contempt ne'er having seen oregon heard of them earlier the PR run began.
Social media commentary connected Heated Rivalry exploded aft the bid launch, conquering my Facebook leafage similar nary different popular civilization improvement earlier it. Thanks to the platform’s algorithms, the Heated Rivalry onslaught began with dozens of posts that pushed different contented disconnected my quality feed. From ELLE Australia: “How Heated Rivalry Became the Romance for Straight Women Who Need a Break from Men.” From Gay Culture Geeks: “Just weeks ago, [Storrie and Williams] were some waiting tables … Now they’re … attending manufacture parties astatine the Chateau Marmont with Baz Luhrmann.” Et cetera.
With its six episodes for play 1 breaking records, the bid was rapidly renewed for a play 2. Heated Rivalry became the highest-rated TV amusement of 2025, with occurrence 5 matching the last occurrence of Breaking Bad arsenic the highest-rated TV occurrence of each time. As January 2026 progressed, the amusement had drawn 600 cardinal minutes of views successful the US alone.
Its stars were grant presenters astatine the Golden Globes, appeared connected each large speech show, and served arsenic torchbearers for the Winter Olympics successful Italy. They adjacent served arsenic peacemakers successful the midst of actual, real-life hockey scandals. During his February 28 quality arsenic impermanent big of Saturday Night Live, Storrie shared the signifier with Quinn and Jack Hughes, leaders of the US men’s hockey team, who won Olympic golden astatine the Milano Cortina Games. The specified beingness of these players created contiguous hostility successful the workplace audience, fixed the nationalist relations catastrophe of their post-victory celebration, successful which immoderate players’ behaviour was wide regarded arsenic insulting to the Olympic golden medal–winning US women’s hockey team.
After teasing the Hughes brothers astir their deficiency of cognition astir Heated Rivalry, Storrie said, “I anticipation that immoderate hockey players watched it,” cueing the accomplishment onstage of US women’s squad leaders Hilary Knight and Megan Keller, which prompted chaotic assemblage applause. After assuring Storrie that they’d seen Heated Rivalry, Knight commented astir their quality connected SNL: “We thought it was going to beryllium conscionable us, but we thought we’d invitation the guys too.” Keller added, “Yeah, we thought we’d springiness them a small infinitesimal to shine.” The Hughes brothers rolled with it, the infinitesimal defusing the ungraded arsenic they erstwhile again declared their respect for the women’s team.
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From Cutting Edge: Hockey arsenic Queer Culture. Used with the support of the publisher, Arsenal Pulp Press. Copyright © 2026 by Daniel Gawthrop
English (US) ·