{"id":581583,"date":"2026-05-23T03:30:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T03:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/581583\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T03:30:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T03:30:15","slug":"nhl-concerned-about-heated-rivalry-season-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/581583\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL concerned about Heated Rivalry season 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Two\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The NHL is preparing for Heated Rivalry season 2. (Joe Hrycych\/Getty\/HBO)<\/p>\n

Is the National Hockey League<\/a> (NHL) ready for Heated Rivalry season 2<\/a>? One of the ice hockey<\/a> bosses has said there is work to do for NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.<\/p>\n

While the first season focused on the illicit romance between ice hockey rivals Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie<\/a>) and Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams<\/a>), the highly anticipated next season will see external pressures put their relationship under strain.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s one person in particular who comes across as the villain: Major League Hockey Commissioner Roger Crowell.<\/p>\n

Based on Rachel Reid<\/a>\u2019s The Long Game, the show\u2019s second season sees Ilya and Shane face the wrath of Crowell\u2019s strict orders. Subsequently, those in the NHL are concerned that the fictional hatred could reflect on real-life NHL commissioner Gary Bettman<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Speaking to PR Week<\/a>, Kim Davis, the NHL\u2019s executive vice president, said more should be done to welcome new fans.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Davis also noted Bettman has \u201cshared with the co-producers that what they say about him [in the show] is not at all the way he would react\u201d.<\/p>\n

Davis added: \u201cWe have work to do in preparation for that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Previously, Bettman has said he binge-watched Heated Rivalry in one sitting. The 73-year-old also added he thought it was \u201ca wonderful story.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018We have work to do.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"NHLMajor League Hockey Commissioner Roger Crowell could reflect badly on NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. (Bruce Bennett\/Getty)<\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cThe content \u2014 particularly for young people \u2014 may be a little spicy, so you have to balance that out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought the storyline was very compelling. And a lot of fun, because I could see where they were picking at things we [as a league] had done in the past, whether or not it was being in Sochi or the All-Star Game in Tampa. It was very well done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under Bettman\u2019s control, the NHL has a mixed reputation among LGBTQ+ hockey fans.<\/p>\n

Bettman, commissioner since 1993, has overseen the league\u2019s LGBTQ inclusion efforts, including the You Can Play project.<\/p>\n

However, Pride nights<\/a> and Pride tape were banned in 2023. These were overturned but the sentiment has lingered in the minds of ice hockey fans.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Additionally, the popularity of Heated Rivalry has introduced a host of new fans to the 2025-26 NHL season. In turn, this has spurred on greater LGBTQ+ awareness at matches.<\/p>\n

When the Pride-related banning did occur, Bettman states it wasn\u2019t about Pride jerseys or Pride night. He shared: \u201cIt was about the fact of bringing things into the game that might not be embraced by the players wearing the jerseys.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a misrepresentation of what we did to suggest that it was about Pride jerseys; it was about the whole issue of what you put on the ice and how, when players don\u2019t embrace the cause, whatever it is, then you create distraction, and it doesn\u2019t fulfil the purpose in terms of embracing Pride nights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Share your thoughts!\u00a0Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NHL is preparing for Heated Rivalry season 2. (Joe Hrycych\/Getty\/HBO) Is the National Hockey League (NHL) ready…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":581584,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[377],"tags":[295,34883,5,6,64908],"class_list":["post-581583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hockey","tag-gary-bettman","tag-heated-rivalry","tag-hockey","tag-ice-hockey","tag-nhl-national-hockey-league"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116621779387309258","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581583","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=581583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/581584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=581583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=581583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=581583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}