This Rivalry is Hot… & a Hit!
I didn’t expect a gay hockey romance to be the star of the new year, but I am not complaining. Heated Rivalry is everyone’s new obsession: it’s hot, it’s steamy and there’s a whole lot of… exercising. The show was created with five dollars and a dream, and by that, I mean it was created for a very small audience subscribed to the Canadian streaming platform “Crave” and is based on the book series Game Changers by Rachel Reid. Once the internet started wondering how you can pirate Canadian shows, HBO Max picked it up, and now it’s all over. Inescapable.
The show follows two rival professional hockey players — Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams), an awkward Canadian boy, and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie), a rude and sassy Russian — as they battle it out on the ice while secretly battling it out in the bedroom.
There is something so delicious between the two of them. We meet them as young teenage boys entering the professional hockey scene. Shane is signed to the Montreal Metros, while Ilya signs with the Boston Raiders. These two fictional
teams are notorious enemies, which sets the two-star players as automatic rivals. The sexual tension is through the roof as they frolic across the ice; it’s delectable and insatiable. Their witty little comments to each other have you giggling and kicking your feet. When they’re in the comfort and privacy of each other’s hotel room, their illustrious passion for one another leaves butterflies in your stomach. This is definitely not the show to watch with your parents.
Over the course of many years, these two hookup buddies slowly come to realize they feel something deeper for each other, but are both so terrified of being outed and terrified of letting someone in, that there are many tumultuous times between them. While Ilya feels comfortable in his sexuality, he feels the weight of Russia’s anti-LGBTQ sentiments. Shane follows a different path, realizing that he might be gay, although he did try to straight-ify himself. These two finally start to let each other in, and it’s the most beautifully produced piece of television — especially queer television — I’ve seen in a long time. They both face the weight of the world as the most well-known players in a very heteronormative league, but find comfort in their secret, closeted romance. The way they slowly and passionately fall in love requires tissues on the side table at all times.
Most queer television shows these days feel forced, cringeworthy, and follow the same stereotypical patterns, but Heated Rivalry does something refreshing that I’m not sure I can put my finger on. The way writer and director James Tierney portrays these closeted hockey superstars finding solace and peace within each other shows intimacy not as a weakness, but as a relatable and desirable feeling we all crave, regardless of sexuality. This show makes clear that queer romance and desire don’t undermine strength or competitive ambition; they most certainly can coexist.
A significant portion of the show’s audience is women – not just queer women, but many straight women. Many people may be wondering why, and I believe it’s because the show portrays masculinity without the presence of misogyny. It’s refreshing to see, as it feels like much of the romance we see on television these days between straight couples is simply boring and follows the same stereotypical gender dynamics we’ve been taught to follow.