Canadian phenom Heated Rivalry has a new hot hockey romance lined up for season 2.
Adapted from the Game Changer books by Nova Scotia romance novelist Rachel Reid (pen name for Rachelle Goguen), season 2 will weave in an “opposites attract” storyline from the fifth book Role Model. We will meet dour and damaged star forward Troy Barrett (Charlie Gillespie) when he is traded to the Ottawa Centaurs in the fictional MLH (Major League Hockey) where he becomes involved with the teams’s ebullient and proudly gay social media manager Harris Drover (Justice Smith).
But the main storyline in the Crave and HBO series remains that of Canadian hockey player Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Russian player Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie), whose rivalry on the ice, and torrid love affair off of it, changes both of their lives.
[Shane and Ilya] are the heartbeat of this series, of my show – Jacob Tierney.
What happened in season one?
We learned that Montreal Metro 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 he 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.
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, Robbie G.K., Francois Arnaud, Christina Chang, David Walsh, 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.