Canadian phenom Heated Rivalry has another hot hockey romance lined up for season 2.
The Crave and HBO series casts Percy Jackson’s Daniel Diemer as retired hockey enforcer Ryan Price and Shaheen Jafargholi as his musician boyfriend Fabian Salah.
Adapted from the Game Changer books by Nova Scotia romance novelist Rachel Reid (pen name for Rachelle Goguen), season 2 will weave in Ryan and Fabian’s storyline from the third book Tough Guy. Ryan Price (Daniel Diemer) is a defenceman and enforcer who is transferred to the Toronto Guardians in the fictional MLH (Major League Hockey) where he struggles with pain medication dependency and a romance with musician and childhood flame Fabian Salah.
Later, a retired Ryan tours with his boyfriend, coaches at the Game Changers Hockey Camp and is one of the few people aware of Canadian player Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Russian player Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie)’s secret relationship.
[Shane and Ilya] are the heartbeat of this series, of my show – Jacob Tierney.
What happened in season one?
We learned that Montreal Metros centre Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams)and Boston Raiders centre Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) have hidden their sexual relationship since their rookie days in the MLH..
By the season finale, they had taken some steps out of the closet — inspired by the New York Admirals Captain Scott Hunter (François Arnaud), who came out as openly gay when he kissed his boyfriend Kip Grady (Robbie G.K.) on the ice after winning the MLH championship.
Ilya agreed to join Shane for a few weeks at his cottage to try to plan a future together. But when Shane’s Dad surprised them in an intimate moment and rushed out, Shane panicked. Ilya calmed him down and suggested it was time for Shane to come out to both his parents– which he did with Ilya by his side.
What’s ahead in season 2?
We continue to follow Shane and Ilya’s story as it unfolds in Rachel Reid’s sixth book The Long Game. Shane is still playing for the Montreal Metros but Ilya is now playing for the Ottawa Centaurs. In theory the proximity should make it easier for them to have a committed relationship but they are still hiding from the public.
There’s still lots of flirting and lots of sex — but [that] kind of danger, [that] kind of hotel-room-adolescent-sex stuff is largely gone — showrunner Jacob Tierney told a crowd at BookCon in New York in April.
Tierney joked that season 2 will be more like “Sex Scenes in a Marriage”, but the big fight between Shane and Ilya from The Long Game is one of his favourite parts and definitely will be in the show.
Season 2 also weaves in an “opposites attract” storyline from the fifth book Role Model, whose timeline is the same as The Long Game’s. We will meet dour and damaged star forward Troy Barrett when he is traded to the Ottawa Centaurs where he becomes involved with the teams’s ebullient and proudly gay social media manager Harris Drover.
Related: Heated Rivalry Season 2 Casts Charlie Gillespie & Justice Smith as Troy & Harris
Heated Rivalry cast Chaltie Gillespie as Troy Barrett and Justice Smith as Harris Drover.
Other season 2 additions:
Emily Hampshire as Vanessa; Edvin Riding as Luca Haas, Robert Naylor as Wyatt Hayes, Sabrina Jalees as Farah Jalali and Priyanka as Tarek.
Heated Rivalry – Season 2
Working title: BIRCH
Toronto filming dates: August 17 2026 – December 02 2026
On locations in Montreal and Ottawa?
Writer/Director:: Jacob Tierney.
Cast: Hudson Williams, Connor Storrie, Charlie Gillespie, Justice Smith, Daniel Diemer, Shaheen Jafargholi, Robbie G.K., Francois Arnaud, Christina Chang, David Walsh, Emily Hampshire; Edvin Riding, Robert Naylor, Sabrina Jalees, Priyanka., Sophie Nelisse, Callan Potter, Yaroslav Poverlo, Slavic Rogozine, Benjamin Roy.
Soundstages in Toronto..
Producers: Accent Aigu Entertainment, , Bell Media Studios.
Filming locations:
Connor Storrie, Hudson Williams and their stunt doubles at Guleph’s Sleeman Centre, where all the hockey scenes were filmed in season one.
Shane’s cottage in the season one finale was played by Barlochan Cottage, a glass box with timber and granite on Muskoka Lake, Ontario.
Season 2 is set to premiere in Spring 2027.