Erin Ambrose isn\u2019t much of a reader. <\/p>\n
At least, she wasn\u2019t until she discovered \u201cHeated Rivalry.\u201d <\/p>\n
Like millions of people around the globe, the Montreal Victoire defender was enraptured watching Crave\u2019s drama about gay hockey players.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if I\u2019ve binged a show \u2014 or wanted to binge a show \u2014 quicker,\u201d she said. \u201cI was extremely disappointed it didn\u2019t all come out at the same time because I just wanted to get it all done in one night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite a busy schedule with her PWHL team and Canada\u2019s women\u2019s squad, Ambrose dug into the \u201cGame Changer\u201d series of books by Canadian author Rachel Reid that the show is based on, devouring them, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to lie \u2014 I think after episode four, I downloaded the first book and read that within 24 hours. So I ruined the end of the show for myself,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd then I also read the second book before episode six came out. I couldn\u2019t get enough of it.\u201d <\/p>\n
Ambrose isn\u2019t alone. Many in the hockey world have fallen in love with the Canadian-made production and are hopeful it could open the sport to new communities. <\/p>\n
Even NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has taken notice, saying he watched all six episodes of \u201cHeated Rivalry\u201d in one night. <\/p>\n
Vancouver Goldeneyes forward Sarah Nurse enjoyed the show, too. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think it was able to show that tenderness, that love,\u201d she said. \u201cThere was a tiny bit of hockey. There wasn\u2019t a ton of hockey. But I think it was just amazing to see, you know, joyful stories being shared.\u201d <\/p>\n
Her teammate, Katie Chan, is also a fan. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think it just gives a different insight into professional athletes and the difficulties of coming out,\u201d said the Goldeneyes forward. \u201dI think it really showed a vulnerable side that you only see behind the scenes. And so for it to be brought to light, I think that was really powerful.\u201d <\/p>\n
Many sports \u2014 including women\u2019s hockey \u2014 have embraced athletes who\u2019ve come out as LGBTQ+ in recent years, but an openly gay player has yet to play in the NHL. <\/p>\n
Seeing a gay male hockey player come out in \u201cHeated Rivalry\u201d was \u201cpretty surreal,\u201d Ambrose said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt means everything. I always talk about how fortunate I am to be a female athlete in women\u2019s hockey, a sport that\u2019s so accepting of the LGBTQ+ community,\u201d she said. \u201cAll of the women in (the PWHL) are either phenomenal allies or part of the community. And it\u2019s pretty special to be able to see that and say that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The show felt too real at times for Brock McGillis.<\/p>\n
Before he became one of the first male professional hockey players to publicly come out as gay, McGillis was a closeted athlete playing in the Ontario Hockey League and in Europe.<\/p>\n
He remembers all too well what it felt like to sneak a guy into his hotel room. He remembers hiding numbers in his phone under women\u2019s names. He remembers what it feels like to see a secret partner at a public event, panic, and abruptly leave.<\/p>\n
Now a public speaker and LGBTQ+ advocate, McGillis found watching \u201cHeated Rivalry\u201d so tough at times, he slammed his laptop shut.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a little triggering,\u201d he said. \u201dBut in an \u2018I\u2019m happy this exists\u2019 way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Most people don\u2019t recognize how difficult it is for closeted athletes to live double lives, where everything from their performance to their mental health is affected daily, he added. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to grasp that,\u201d McGillis said. \u201cAnd maybe if we did, we\u2019d foster better environments in the locker room so more people would come out, or at the very least, we\u2019d create a space where people wouldn\u2019t run from sport, from men\u2019s team sports, and would feel safe to be fans of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the popularity of \u201cHeated Rivalry\u201d comes opportunity. <\/p>\n
On social media, Nurse is seeing people who\u2019ve never paid attention to hockey that suddenly interested in the sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cI scroll on TikTok, and there are people being like, \u2018I\u2019ve watched \u201cHeated Rivalry,\u201d so I want to see what this hockey thing\u2019s about,” she said. \u201cAnd I think it\u2019s funny that people are watching Heated Rivalry and they\u2019re pointing to the PWHL, being like \u2018Hey, there\u2019s this incredible league that creates an inclusive space.\u2019 So I think that it\u2019s pretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
The show has piqued the interest of big, untapped markets, including women and LGBTQ+ people, McGillis said, and that\u2019s where it can have \u201ca massive impact.\u201d <\/p>\n
Whether those new fans will eventually translate into a safer space for openly gay players, though, remains to be seen. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think there\u2019s a big distinction between fan culture and locker room culture, and they\u2019re almost two different worlds altogether,\u201d McGillis said. \u201cAnd I think the show is more suited to help foster spaces for fan culture where the more numbers we have, the better people are going to feel. They\u2019re going to feel seen and safe and everything else to exist in it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even those involved in creating \u201cHeated Rivalry\u201d are hopeful it can make a real-world impact.<\/p>\n
The way the show been embraced should be recognized, said Canadian actor Francois Arnaud, who plays hockey player Scott Hunter in the series. <\/p>\n
\u201cI hope that they see, that the NHL sees, how positively this show was received and that it shows them that there is that the world is more open than maybe they have thought so previously. And that they can themselves make it a welcoming environment for everyone to be themselves and encourage that,\u201d he said. \u201dSo that\u2019s all I\u2019m hoping for.\u201d<\/p>\n
Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly has \u201cHeated Rivalry\u201d on his \u201cto watch\u201d list after getting rave reviews from his wife, Olympic champion figure skater Tessa Virtue. <\/p>\n
\u201cI know it\u2019s been really popular, and I think that\u2019s great to see,\u201d Rielly said. \u201cIt\u2019s obviously a great response to a new Canadian show. And I think that\u2019s really cool. So, good for them, but it\u2019s definitely on the list.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some NHL players, including Vancouver Canucks winger Jake DeBrusk, are hopeful \u201cHeated Rivalry\u201d can spark conversations. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think any awareness is always good. And I think that\u2019s something where maybe, for the game of hockey, maybe it makes everyone feel more comfortable and makes it less awkward or wrong or whatever to talk about,\u201d said the forward, who hasn\u2019t watched the show.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just simple things, like putting (rainbow Pride) tape on your stick. It doesn\u2019t mean much to me, but I know it might mean something to someone else. And I think it\u2019s one of those shows that just opens up another avenue for different fans of the game.\u201d <\/p>\n
With a second season of \u201cHeated Rivalry\u201d confirmed and another \u201cGame Changer\u201d book in the works, the conversations are likely to continue. <\/p>\n
\u2014 With files from Joshua Clipperton and Alex Nino Gheciu in Toronto.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 21, 2026.<\/p>\n
Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Erin Ambrose isn\u2019t much of a reader. At least, she wasn\u2019t until she discovered \u201cHeated Rivalry.\u201d Like millions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":411911,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2794,1928,5,4,311,43,48],"class_list":["post-419761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-arts","tag-entertainment","tag-hockey","tag-nhl","tag-social","tag-sports","tag-television"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115933163378787693","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419761","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=419761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419761\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=419761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=419761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}