‘Heated Rivalry’ is introducing hockey to a new, gayer audience — and it was the talk of Flyers’ Pride Night

The biggest crowd pop at Xfinity Mobile Arena during Monday’s Pride Night was for Christian Dvorak’s breakaway goal, the Flyers’ only goal of the game.

But the second biggest was for “All the Things She Said,” a song that, only two months ago, was just another early 2000s club hit — until Heated Rivalry turned it into a phenomenon.

Heated Rivalry, the hit Crave original series that quickly became an international sensation during its six-episode run on HBO Max, is an adaptation of a novel by the same name, written by Rachel Reid. It’s the love story of two fictional hockey superstars, Canadian Shane Hollander and Russian Ilya Rozanov, who were the top two picks in the same draft.

The show has become one of HBO Max’s top series in the two months since its first episode aired, jumping from 30 million streaming minutes in its opening week to 324 million streaming minutes by its sixth. Casey Bloys, HBO Max’s CEO, described the show as a “word-of-mouth sensation” to the New York Times.

“There are so many ways to get hooked on hockey and, in the NHL’s 108-year history, this might be the most unique driver for creating new fans. See you all at the rink,” an NHL spokesperson said in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter.

A small cottage industry of hockey podcasts analyzing the show has emerged, with What Chaos and Empty Netters both earning hundreds of thousands of views on episodes about the show, including interviews with the cast and creators.

“I have people who would never come near a hockey rink texting me like, ‘You’ve watched this, right?’”

But has the show — which wouldn’t exactly win any awards for an accurate on-ice depiction of the game — led to real growth in hockey fandom?

According to StubHub, it has. The ticketing site said last week that it saw a 40% increase in interest in hockey tickets during the show’s run and there’s no shortage of fans online who claim they found the game through Heated Rivalry, which has already been renewed for a second season.

The LGBTQ+ community has had a challenging relationship with the NHL over the last several years, following former Flyer Ivan Provorov’s decision to opt out of wearing a specialty jersey on Flyers’ Pride Night in 2023, which led to a brief ban on optional pride tape and a ban on wearing any specialty jerseys on the ice.

But other former Flyers, like Scott Laughton, were extremely involved in pride initiatives, something Philly natives Trish Grow and Autumn McCloskey, both lifelong Flyers fans, said helped them feel like the Flyers community was inclusive. The explosion of the show helped draw in more of their friends.

“I have people who would never come near a hockey rink texting me like, ‘You’ve watched this, right?’” Grow said. “I’m like, ‘Oh, honey, do you want to come to a game? You can see them do the stretches, but you’ve got to learn the rules.’”

One of their friends took them up on their offer, and after reading the book and watching the show, attended his first-ever hockey game for Pride Night.

“It’s also reassuring that queer people belong in sports ... so people feel more welcome.”

He wasn’t the only one. Dale Lyster, who came to the game wearing a Rozanov jersey and is from Coatesville, said he’d attended a few games over the years, but after hearing friends talk about Heated Rivalry on social media, he decided to tune in and quickly fell in love with the show — and then with hockey.

“I’ve always liked it, but I’ve never really been into it,” Lyster said. “Now, seeing more representation in the hockey world, it opened my eyes more.”

Newlyweds Kary and Kate Van Collins of Fairmount feel similarly. Their last hockey game was Flyers Pride Night a year ago, and Heated Rivalry renewed their interest in the sport. Kary made them custom Hollander and Rozanov sweatshirts to wear to the game.

“I am a queer, neurodivergent, half-Asian person, so I really saw myself in the character of Shane Hollander,” Kary said. “I think it’s just very needed right now, especially in the political climate, to have these positive stories surrounding queer love.”

Added Kate: “It’s also reassuring that queer people belong in sports. I think a lot of people in the community maybe don’t feel welcome in the sports scene, so maybe it’s a door that’s open so people feel more welcome.”

The show’s viral success has even caught its stars off guard. Connor Storrie, who plays Rozanov, said Tuesday on Late Night with Seth Meyers that one of the biggest surprises was the show’s reach, and how it hasn’t just been gay men who have enjoyed it.

“You think of male romance, you think it’s for gay men,” he told Meyers. “But there’s been all walks of life, predominately women, who enjoy it.”

Groups are even popping up to help bring fans together. Shannon Herbst of Mount Laurel has loved hockey and been a Flyers season-ticket holder for years, so she knew Heated Rivalry would be right up her alley.

“There’s actually a group of us through Threads that got together that are from Philly and South Jersey, and there’s so many people on there that really want to get into hockey, specifically the Flyers, and really want to learn more about the game from the show,” Herbst said.

Heated Rivalry has also reached the world of professional athletes. Hudson Williams, who plays Hollander, told Andy Cohen on his radio show that multiple closeted athletes have reached out to him and to Reid since the show’s premiere, to share how the show has impacted them. No NHL player has ever come out as gay.

That might not change any time soon, but fans felt that the success of Heated Rivalry was a first step for improving inclusion in the sport for players and for fans.

“It’s definitely opened the door,” Herbst said. “Obviously, there’s still more work that needs to be done, but I think it really planted that seed and made more people comfortable with having that conversation within the NHL and the sport itself.”