{"id":373279,"date":"2025-12-24T18:37:58","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T18:37:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/373279\/"},"modified":"2025-12-24T18:37:58","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T18:37:58","slug":"what-the-nhl-thinks-of-heated-rivalry-bringing-in-new-fans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/373279\/","title":{"rendered":"What the NHL thinks of ‘Heated Rivalry’ bringing in new fans"},"content":{"rendered":"

The HBO Max series “Heated Rivalry”<\/a> has become the talk of social media since its debut, featuring a love story between two professional male hockey players.<\/p>\n

With the finale set for release on Dec. 26, the show has sparked new interest in the sport from viewers who may not traditionally follow hockey. Major League Hockey is the fictional stand-in for the National Hockey League<\/a>, currently in the midst of the 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Will the show’s popularity translate to more hockey fans in real life?<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many ways to get hooked on hockey and, in the NHL\u2019s 108-year history, this might be the most unique driver for creating new fans,\u201d an NHL spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The program is based on a 2019 romance book<\/a> by Rachel Reid.<\/p>\n

1 \/ 22<\/p>\n

NHL fans and mascots cheer on their teams in 2025-26 season<\/p>\n

Young Detroit Red Wings fans make as much noise as they can during the third period at Little Caesars Arena.<\/p>\n

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1 \/ 22<\/p>\n

NHL fans and mascots cheer on their teams in 2025-26 season<\/p>\n

Young Detroit Red Wings fans make as much noise as they can during the third period at Little Caesars Arena.<\/p>\n

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2 \/ 22<\/p>\n

NHL fans and mascots cheer on their teams in 2025-26 season<\/p>\n

Carolina Hurricanes and former Winnipeg Jets left wing Nikolaj Ehlers (27) tosses a puck to a fan in his return to Canada Life Centre.<\/p>\n

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3 \/ 22<\/p>\n

NHL fans and mascots cheer on their teams in 2025-26 season<\/p>\n

A young fan watches the action during the third period of the game between the Utah Mammoth and San Jose Sharks at SAP Center at San Jose.<\/p>\n

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4 \/ 22<\/p>\n

NHL fans and mascots cheer on their teams in 2025-26 season<\/p>\n

Hockey fans hold up signs before a Global Series ice hockey game between the Nashville Predators and the Pittsburgh Penguins at Avicii Arena.<\/p>\n

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5 \/ 22<\/p>\n

NHL fans and mascots cheer on their teams in 2025-26 season<\/p>\n

Hockey fans hold up signs before a Global Series ice hockey game between the Nashville Predators and the Pittsburgh Penguins at Avicii Arena.<\/p>\n

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6 \/ 22<\/p>\n

NHL fans and mascots cheer on their teams in 2025-26 season<\/p>\n

Minnesota Wild mascot Nordy poses for photos with fans during the first period of the game against the Winnipeg Jets at Grand Casino Arena.<\/p>\n

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7 \/ 22<\/p>\n

NHL fans and mascots cheer on their teams in 2025-26 season<\/p>\n

Seattle Kraken mascot Buoy celebrates with goalie Joey Daccord (35) after a victory against the Chicago Blackhawks at Climate Pledge Arena.<\/p>\n

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8 \/ 22<\/p>\n

NHL fans and mascots cheer on their teams in 2025-26 season<\/p>\n

Colorado Avalanche fans cheer in the first period against the Buffalo Sabres at Ball Arena.<\/p>\n

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9 \/ 22<\/p>\n

NHL fans and mascots cheer on their teams in 2025-26 season<\/p>\n

A Colorado Avalanche fans holds up a sign for Colorado Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood in the third period against the Anaheim Ducks at Ball Arena.<\/p>\n

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10 \/ 22<\/p>\n

NHL fans and mascots cheer on their teams in 2025-26 season<\/p>\n

A young fan sees her reflection in the arena glass during a game between the New York Rangers and the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena.<\/p>\n

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11 \/ 22<\/p>\n

NHL fans and mascots cheer on their teams in 2025-26 season<\/p>\n

Minnesota Wild mascot Nordy poses for photos with fans during the first period of the game against the Winnipeg Jets at Grand Casino Arena.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

12 \/ 22<\/p>\n

NHL fans and mascots cheer on their teams in 2025-26 season<\/p>\n

A San Jose Sharks fan dresses in costume for Halloween during a game against the New Jersey Devils at SAP Center.<\/p>\n

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13 \/ 22<\/p>\n

NHL fans and mascots cheer on their teams in 2025-26 season<\/p>\n

Tusky, the new Utah Mammoth mascot, is introduced to the fans before the game against the Calgary Flames at Delta Center.<\/p>\n

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14 \/ 22<\/p>\n

NHL fans and mascots cheer on their teams in 2025-26 season<\/p>\n

A San Jose Sharks fan reacts after her team scores during the second period against the Carolina Hurricanes.<\/p>\n

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15 \/ 22<\/p>\n

NHL fans and mascots cheer on their teams in 2025-26 season<\/p>\n

A Boston Bruins fan cheers for the team during the second period against the Philadelphia Flyers at TD Garden.<\/p>\n

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16 \/ 22<\/p>\n

NHL fans and mascots cheer on their teams in 2025-26 season<\/p>\n

Philadelphia Flyers mascot Gritty performs before a game against the Florida Panthers<\/p>\n

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17 \/ 22<\/p>\n

NHL fans and mascots cheer on their teams in 2025-26 season<\/p>\n

Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski (8) greets fans on the blue carpet before opening night against the New York Islanders.<\/p>\n

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18 \/ 22<\/p>\n

NHL fans and mascots cheer on their teams in 2025-26 season<\/p>\n

Fans reach for a puck flipped over the glass by Vancouver Canucks forward Linus Karlsson (94) during warmup before a game against the St. Louis Blues.<\/p>\n

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19 \/ 22<\/p>\n

NHL fans and mascots cheer on their teams in 2025-26 season<\/p>\n

Calgary Flames mascot Harvey the Hound before a game against the Winnipeg Jets.<\/p>\n

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20 \/ 22<\/p>\n

NHL fans and mascots cheer on their teams in 2025-26 season<\/p>\n

Dallas Stars center Wyatt Johnston signs autographs for the fans as he walks the green carpet before the game between the Dallas Stars and the Minnesota Wild.<\/p>\n

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21 \/ 22<\/p>\n

NHL fans and mascots cheer on their teams in 2025-26 season<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay Lightning mascot Thunderbug celebrates after beating the Florida Panthers at Benchmark International Arena.<\/p>\n

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22 \/ 22<\/p>\n

NHL fans and mascots cheer on their teams in 2025-26 season<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (29) skates past fans holding signs during warmups before the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Fleury suited up for the Penguins one last time during the preseason game.<\/p>\n

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news \u2014 fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Heated Rivalry finale: NHL reacts to HBO show success<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The HBO Max series “Heated Rivalry” has become the talk of social media since its debut, featuring a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":373280,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5,3718,1730,48413,285,4,7667],"class_list":{"0":"post-373279","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-hockey-fans","10":"tag-hockey-players","11":"tag-major-league-hockey","12":"tag-national-hockey-league","13":"tag-nhl","14":"tag-social-media"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115776003299340799","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}