Why HBO Max’s New Hockey Show, ‘Heated Rivalry,’ Is Taking Over Your…

Finally, Canada has given us something elite.

If you’ve been scrolling TikTok, X, or Instagram this past week and felt like your feed suddenly turned into a never-ending montage of intense eye contact, sweaty locker rooms, hands brushing in hallways, and kisses that clearly do not cut away fast enough, it’s probably because Heated Rivalry has officially arrived.

The new Canadian series, which premiered on Crave and is now streaming in the U.S. on HBO Max, is adapted from Rachel Reid’s beloved Game Changers book series and centers on two hyper-competitive rival professional hockey players (Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander and Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov) who, behind closed doors, are secretly hooking up and slowly falling in love. What begins as anonymous hotel meetups and tension-filled run-ins turns into something much messier, so of course it’s everyone’s new favorite show. Though hockey is the backdrop, audiences could not care less about it. Heated Rivalry debuted with two episodes this past Friday, Nov. 28, and word of mouth did the rest. In days, clips from the show began circulating almost immediately, and the reaction has been universal shock at how good and graphic it is.

“I haven't had a real crush on a guy in years," TikTok creator Dylan Carlino said. "I haven't met somebody that I'm like, I can't stop thinking about them. And this show is making me want, like, something toxic, like something that I would have to go to therapy about afterwards. I want a bad boy. I'm so Shane Hollander.”

@sackettc
And I can’t wait to watch the whole season
♬ original sound - Cam Sackett

Another TikToker named Alexandria openly documented what falling under the show’s spell looks like in real time.

“I guess heated rivalry is, in fact, taking over my life, and I'm just sitting here accepting it," she said. “I've watched those two episodes four times. When I watched it on Friday, I woke up Saturday morning, and the first thing on my mind was, I need to rewatch Heated Rivalry. And that's what I did.”

She continued:

"I don't know how to like things a normal amount. I don't. I've accepted that about myself a long time ago. It's who I am. It is what it is. We all got our quirks, and I don't know how to like things a normal amount. So I'm just sitting here like, wow, this is gonna be my life for, like, the next four to six weeks. I'm gonna have fun. But it's also like, damn, RIP to anything else I was doing, because I fear this will be my new fixation for weeks to come. And I'm reading the second book now.”

In the comments, people have admitted that they’ve started making edits and fan art.

“Every tweet, reel, and TikTok I watch is about HR. I need help," someone said.

The hockey scenes in Heated Rivalry pic.twitter.com/CEcicUwrai
— . (@furyofthegodz) November 28, 2025

And the chain reaction hasn’t stopped there. One TikToker couldn’t even finish processing the show without verbally combusting mid-video.

“I literally, I'm sitting here watching heated rivalry on HBO," he said. "We 17 minutes in, and I think the is a show about these two hockey players. The first two episodes are out right now on HBO Max. I'm gonna have to call y'all back.”

The TikToker returned with a better more coherent update on the brilliance of the show and the audiobook.

“I felt very naughty, very risqué listening to it on the highway as the cars were passing by, the prolog alone. My God, talk about descriptive—it changed my life,” he said. “I'm a new person inside and out. Am I gonna have to take up hockey? Maybe I'll take up hockey. Is there a gay hockey league I can join?”

Even the rollout of each episode drop a week adds to the longing to some viewers.

“Crave Canada releasing Heated Rivalry weekly is genius because it does feel like how Ilya and Shane feel waiting for weeks even months to see each other. immersive experience for real," one X user tweeted.

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