Six years ago, Heated Rivalry was published by author Rachel Reid, the second novel in the popular hockey-rivals-turned-lovers series Game Changers. Now, Heated Rivalry is a Canadian TV series airing on HBO Max here in the US, and though it’s only been out for a few days, the internet is about to put itself in the penalty box with how openly horny viewers are getting about it.
Heated Rivalry, which stars Hudson Williams as Asian-Canadian hockey player Shane Hollander and Connor Storrie as his Russian-born rival, Ilya Rozanov, is what some may consider a yaoi series. The Japanese term is used for a hyperspecific media genre focused on male characters in sexual relationships, also known as Boy Love, and the series certainly seems to be leaning into that concept. There’s a lot of loaded looks, barely there caresses, heavy breathing, and, eventually, very hot sex.
Heated Rivalry premiered on November 28, and I have texted every single one of my friends about it over the course of the last few days (when describing the premise of “gay hockey men on rival teams” to my friend, she wrote back, “Did someone steal your diary?”). The show follows two players in the fictitious Major League Hockey league as they rise from ambitious rookies to superstars on the ice, all while navigating a searing hot attraction to each other. It’s currently sitting at an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, and it seems to be all anyone (read: women, gay men) can talk about.
I will admit that I am a huge hockey fan, so my algorithm may be slightly skewed, but both my TikTok and Twitter For You pages have been filled with people reacting to Heated Rivalry. Fans are posting their reactions to certain sexually explicit scenes (including one that takes place in the locker room) and others that are demure but filled with more tension than when two dudes have to sit in adjacent penalty boxes after beating the piss out of each other.
the only appropriate reaction to ilya in this moment pic.twitter.com/EbH0UgQujx
— Rosie 💖 (@fangirl000777) December 1, 2025
All you horny bitches keep tweeting about is Heated Rivalry or is my algorithm just very homosexual… the thirst is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before dear lord
— Lushious Massacr (@LushiousMassacr) November 30, 2025
there’s gonna be a lot of “no mom, I just love hockey” happening across the US family HBO Max plans
— spencer (top 0.1% of spencers) (@hoddsuspenders) November 30, 2025
you’d have to put me in an involuntary psychiatric hold if i was hollander https://t.co/a3xrMvcodA
— cooper (@marnieapologist) November 29, 2025
— CINEMA 505 (@CINEMA505) November 28, 2025
That the lead actors are leaning into the show’s horniess is helping to increase the Heated Rivalry hype. Williams and Storrie told Out Magazine the other day that they had sexual chemistry from the opening puck drop (aka auditions), and creator and showrunner Jacob Tierney said that Williams told him that the other actor he read with, “was good, but Connor felt like he was going to pin me down and f*ck me.”
Best back shots in the first episode of #HeatedRivalry pic.twitter.com/gGaIAWnEzQ
— HBO Max (@hbomax) November 30, 2025
Even HBO Max is doubling down on the horniness. The official account posted a collage of pictures of Ilya and Hudson’s backs with the caption, “best back shots in the first episode of #HeatedRivalry.” “HBO…you’re CRAZZYYY for this,” read a reply.
Sexy men being sexy together is great fodder for the internet, but there’s another layer that makes Heated Rivalry so special. Ilya and Hudson have to keep their romance a secret not just because they play for rival teams, but because of the frustratingly regressive ideologies that plague professional hockey. The NHL, as of writing, has zero openly gay players, and has waffled back-and-forth between supporting its LGBTQ+ fans and ignoring them—or, if you’re the Staal brothers, refusing to participate in a Pride Night because of their “Christian beliefs.”
ok so unfortunately heated rivalry is incredible. was hoping i would not fall down the gay smut pipeline but my eyes are not deceiving me. the characters are multi-dimensional, the plot is intense, and the smut? yeah, i need more.
— spencer thomas (@byspencerthomas) November 29, 2025
Heated Rivalry takes an incredibly straight sport and injects some queerness into it, and from what everyone is saying, it does so deftly and sexily. I have it queued up to start watching tonight for…research purposes.
