By Xan Bero
HBO Max and Canadian streaming service Crave released the gay hockey sensation known as Heated Rivalry, directed by Jacob Tierney, based on the book of the same name by author Rachel Reid. The book, as well as the show, follows two NHL (or for legal reasons MLH) stars who are on rival hockey teams that fall for each other. Shane Hollander plays for the Montreal Metros (Montreal Canadiens) and Ilya Rozanov plays for the Boston Raiders (Boston Bruins). With the popularity of the show came publicity for Boston.
As it happens, when anything becomes popular, social media has blown up most notably on TikTok. People have been posting videos of them outside of TD Garden, the home arena of the Bruins, saying they are there thinking about Ilya Rozanov or if the Bruins are there playing the Canadiens, they will post about Shane and Ilya playing each other. Some fans are even buying tickets to Bruins games, saying Heated Rivalry has turned them onto hockey.
“Heated” Events in Boston
One of the most publicized events has been Club 90s and their “Heated Rivalraves”. Club 90s is a travelling nightclub that has hosted a tour all around the world. These events consist of edits from the show to popular songs, sending audiences crazy. Events have been held in Montreal and Boston, of course. Boston has had two “Heated Rivalraves” already at the Citizen House of Blues and is scheduled to have a third event at the same location on Saturday, February 28th. These events have been viral on social media all over the world; everyone is posting their favorite edits and their outfits for the show. Club 90s even posted a video from their January 31st Boston event of “a new edit” and the crowd having fun.
Club 90s is not the only Heated Rivalry-themed nightlife in Boston. Club Cafe is a fairly popular queer club in downtown Boston and often has themed events. The club hosted Heated Rivalry watch party nights on January 20th, 27th, and February 3rd, as well as their own version of the “Heated Rivalraves”. Club Cafe hosted their Heated Rivalry night before Club 90s hosted theirs, and the videos online show the lines of people waiting to get inside wrapped around nearby buildings.
Along with the different themed club nights, there have been Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov “look-alike contests” in major cities, mostly within the United States. Boston had its own look-alike contest in the Boston Garden on January 19th; however, the turnout for that event was very few people actually there to enter the concert, and instead were there to witness it. Therefore, there were not really enough entries for the contest, but that didn’t stop people from making TikTok videos.
LGBTQ+ and Hockey
Even before the release of the show (or books), the Boston Bruins have shown their continued support for the LGBTQ+ community. They have been hosting an annual Pride Night since the 2017-18 season called “Hockey is for Everyone” night, the most recent one was held on January 22nd, 2026. On top of this, individual players have shown their support. In 2017, Brad Marchand (who has recently been traded to the Florida Panthers but began his career with the Bruins) shared his support in an interview with ESPN after he responded to an offensive tweet. A user on Twitter had used a homophobic slur to insult Marchand, and he replied, “This derogatory statement is offensive to so many people around the world, [you’re] the kind of kid parents are ashamed of.” He then told ESPN he was a person who had gay friends and did not think it was right for people to be against LGBTQ+. ESPN proceeded to ask how accepting hockey players would be when a professional hockey player comes out and he responded “Guys would accept that, no question. We’re a team in the [dressing] room and a family. It doesn’t matter what different beliefs guys have, or where they come from, or whatever the case may be” (ESPN).
Since the release of Heated Rivalry, more players have spoken up on LGBTQ+ and hockey. Bruins player Charlie McAvoy addressed the series’ influence on hockey and inclusivity in an interview with Fox News. “I haven’t seen it, but from what I’ve heard of that show, it’s been growing the game a lot and in support of that community, so that stuff’s all awesome. It’s awesome for hockey. It’s awesome for just for everybody. So, I’m happy that tonight, we won on this night. And hopefully a lot of people feel the support of the Bruins.” (Fox News)
On top of the support from the individual players, the Bruins as a whole have shown their support through social media as well as during their games. More than once, they have played songs from the Heated Rivalry soundtrack during games. All The Things She Said by t.A.T.u. and I’ll Believe in Anything by Wolf Parade are the most notable. This acknowledgement from the team has been exciting fans all over social media. The official NHL Bruins Instagram page also posted an image promoting one of their games and called it a “Boston Bruins Blizzard Watch.” The image also included an additional alert that said “Heated Rivalry Advisory”.
Overall, Bostonians are loving Heated Rivalry, and the Boston Bruins are clearly loving it as well. It is great to see LGBTQ+ representation getting so much publicity and even getting acknowledged and supported by these famous hockey players. I hope there will be more pieces of media representing queer and marginalized identities that get as much public interest as Rachel Reid and Jacob Tierney’s Heated Rivalry.
