What if the fiercest battle on the ice hid a love story no one was allowed to see? That’s the premise behind Heated Rivalry, a Canadian drama series arriving on HBO Max in France on February 6, 2026. Blending professional hockey, secret romance, and the relentless pressure of modern sports stardom, the show aims squarely at viewers who love character-driven dramas as much as they love high-stakes competition.
Created, written, and directed by Jacob Tierney, Heated Rivalry adapts Rachel Reid’s acclaimed novel for television. The result is a series that looks like a classic sports rivalry from the outside—but plays like an intimate, slow-burn love story once the cameras move off the rink.
Why Heated Rivalry Is the Hockey Series to Watch in 2026
Streaming on HBO Max (including HBO Max France) from February 6, 2026, Heated Rivalry positions itself at the crossroads of several trends: prestige sports drama, queer romance, and long-arc character storytelling. Instead of focusing only on trophies and highlight reels, the show asks what it costs an athlete to keep the most important part of his life hidden.
The series is produced by Accent Aigu Entertainment for Crave in Canada, with HBO Max handling its international rollout. With a six-episode first season, each running around 50 minutes, Heated Rivalry is built for weekly appointment viewing rather than quick bingeing—an approach that gives its slow-building relationship and ongoing rivalry room to breathe.
A Rivalry the Media Loves—and a Relationship No One Can See
At the center of the story are Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, two elite hockey players groomed for superstardom in the major professional league. One plays for a Canadian team, the other for a U.S.-based franchise, turning every matchup into a cross-border showdown that sports media happily inflames.
On camera, they’re sworn enemies: aggressive, competitive, constantly measured against one another in stats and headlines. Off camera, the dynamic is far more complicated. Behind closed doors, their antagonism gives way to a secret, emotionally charged relationship that exists in total contradiction to their public image.
This tension—between the narrative the press sells and the reality the players live—is the engine of the show. Every gesture on the ice can be replayed in slow motion on TV, but their relationship has to survive in the margins: hotel rooms, travel days, stolen moments no one is supposed to notice.
By keeping this embedded trailer exactly where it belongs in the narrative flow, viewers can immediately get a feel for the tone of the series—the mix of hard-hitting hockey action and vulnerable, emotionally grounded drama.
Life Under the Spotlight: When Privacy Becomes a Luxury
Heated Rivalry doesn’t just tell a love story; it also examines what fame does to someone’s sense of self. In the world of pro sports, every post-game quote, every practice, and every social media post can be dissected, debated, and weaponized. For Shane and Ilya, that surveillance is multiplied by their status as rivals and stars.
The show zeroes in on the emotional weight of living two separate lives: the one sculpted for sponsors, fans, and the league, and the one that can only exist in secrecy. Masculinity norms in hockey—toughness, control, and the expectation to “shake it off”—clash violently with their need for emotional safety and authenticity.
This isn’t a glossy, sanitized version of professional sports. Instead, Tierney and his team explore locker-room culture, media narratives, and the unspoken rules that still shape how athletes are allowed to present themselves, especially when it comes to sexuality and vulnerability.
Eight Years, One Relationship: A Long-Form Love Story on Ice
One of the boldest structural choices in Heated Rivalry is its extended timeline. The first season doesn’t just follow a single championship run—it tracks nearly eight years of Shane and Ilya’s careers and personal lives.
Season 1 is organized around key turning points: regular-season clashes, playoffs, injuries, trades, moments of personal crisis, and professional triumphs. As the calendar moves forward, the relationship between the two players shifts too—from raw attraction to deeper connection, from denial to confrontation, and from secrecy to the looming question of whether they can keep living like this.
By jumping across years instead of days or weeks, the series shows how careers can be reshaped by a single bad hit, how one media scandal can stick for seasons, and how a relationship can evolve under constant threat of exposure. The passage of time becomes a character of its own, always pushing them toward a reckoning.
Authentic Hockey, Intimate Drama: Inside the Production
For viewers in the United States used to high-production-value sports series, Heated Rivalry aims to meet that bar. The show alternates between immersive game sequences—complete with on-ice choreography and bench dynamics—and quieter, character-focused scenes away from the arena.
Jacob Tierney’s direction emphasizes realism over mythmaking. Instead of turning hockey into a superhero spectacle, the series leans on detailed staging: locker-room routines, grueling travel schedules, team politics, and the grind of staying in top form year after year.
The cast is led by Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, who play Shane and Ilya, surrounded by an ensemble that includes François Arnaud, Christina Chang, Dylan Walsh, and Sophie Nélisse. The show targets an adult audience—people interested in modern relationship stories, queer narratives, and character-driven dramas set in recognizable, high-pressure environments.
A Different Lens on Pro Sports and Queer Storytelling
For American viewers, Heated Rivalry fits into the broader wave of sports dramas that use the playing field as a backdrop rather than the whole story. Like other prestige shows centered on athletes, it asks what it means to be defined by performance statistics when your private life is the part that actually matters most.
The series also contributes to ongoing conversations about LGBTQ+ representation in men’s professional sports—a space where out athletes remain rare and where the culture has historically resisted change. By making a secret relationship between two star players the heart of the show, Heated Rivalry confronts those contradictions head-on.
Instead of treating queerness as a side plot, the series builds its entire dramatic framework around it, exploring shame, fear of discovery, the longing for normalcy, and the possibility that love might be worth risking everything—contracts, endorsements, legacy—for.
Release Details: Where and How to Watch
Heated Rivalry
Canadian series – Drama, romance, sports
Season 1: 6 episodes, approximately 45–55 minutes each
Streaming on HBO Max starting February 6, 2026 (including HBO Max France)
The show will follow a weekly release schedule on HBO Max, which means viewers can expect a new episode each week rather than a full-season drop. That format is designed to keep conversations alive between episodes—ideal for a series built on escalating tension, cliffhangers, and emotional turning points.
Is Heated Rivalry for You?
If you’re in the United States and wondering whether to add Heated Rivalry to your watchlist, here’s who it’s likely to resonate with:
- Fans of sports dramas that focus more on people than on scoreboards
- Viewers interested in queer romance and LGBTQ+ stories grounded in realism
- Anyone curious about the off-ice realities of professional hockey culture
- Fans of slow-burn relationships that evolve over years rather than episodes
With its mix of gritty locker-room authenticity, intense game sequences, and emotionally complex storytelling, Heated Rivalry positions itself as one of the standout sports dramas to watch on HBO Max in 2026.
FAQ
Is Heated Rivalry based on a book?
Yes. The series is adapted from a novel by Rachel Reid, who is also involved in the TV project as a consulting producer. The show expands on the book’s central relationship while translating its emotional beats into a long-form visual narrative.
How many episodes are in Season 1 of Heated Rivalry and how long are they?
Season 1 consists of six episodes. Each installment runs roughly between 45 and 55 minutes, giving the show enough time to balance on-ice action with off-ice character development.
When and where is Heated Rivalry available to stream?
Heated Rivalry will be available on HBO Max starting February 6, 2026, with availability in France via HBO Max France on the same date. The release will follow a weekly schedule rather than dropping all episodes at once.
Who should watch Heated Rivalry—sports fans or romance fans?
Both. The series is designed for adults who appreciate sports storytelling grounded in realism as well as emotionally rich, character-focused romance. Hockey fans will recognize the details of professional play, while viewers drawn to relationship drama and LGBTQ+ narratives will find a layered, long-arc love story at the core of the show.
