In just a matter of days, Heated Rivalry has amassed a following of new fans all foaming at the mouth for more of “the hot gay hockey show.” The first two episodes of the Canadian series dropped on HBO Max over Thanksgiving, lit social media on fire, and introduced the world to two new internet boyfriends — Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie. (If you need a reminder of the hottest moments so far, don’t worry, we already ranked them.)
But readers of Rachel Reid’s book, on which the show is based, know the first few episodes are merely a taste of what’s to come for enemies-to-lovers Shane Hollander (Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Storrie). One storyline, in fact, had Storrie excited from the beginning.