'Heated Rivalry' Has Found an Audience on HBO Max, but Is It Based on a True Story?

Hockey is often considered to be one of the most overtly masculine sports, but that's exactly what makes Heated Rivalry so compelling. The Canadian series follows two rookie hockey players who form the titular heated rivalry, and then find themselves falling for one another.

Although the show doesn't have any major American stars, it's nonetheless caught fire in the U.S. thanks in part to its time on HBO Max. Now that the first season has debuted, though, some people are wondering whether the show is based on a true story. Here's what we know.

Heated Rivalry is based on a series of novels by Rachel Reid, but the show is not based on a true story. Canadian Major League Hockey is very real, of course, but the premise of the series is entirely fictional. Notably, Reid's Game Changers series tells a bunch of different gay romance stories that are all set in the world of Canadian hockey, but focus on different central characters.

There is some continuity between the books, though, with characters appearing in different stories even if they are not at the center of them. In that way, it's a bit like Bridgerton, but for the world of Canadian ice hockey.

So, while the show is adapted from source material, that source material is fictional. It's possible that there have been gay romances in professional hockey (and probably likely), but the exact circumstances are fictional.

According to the show's official synopsis, the show “chronicles the story of rival hockey players Shane and Ilya. Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) are two of the biggest stars in Major League Hockey, bound by ambition, rivalry, and a magnetic pull neither of them fully understands. What begins as a secret fling between two fresh-faced rookies evolves into a years-long journey of love, denial, and self-discovery."

"Over the next eight years, the pair chase glory on the ice while struggling to navigate their feelings off it. Torn between the sport they live for and the love they can’t ignore, Shane and Ilya must decide if there is room in their fiercely competitive world for something as fragile and as powerful as real love," the synopsis continues.

We don't yet know whether Heated Rivalry will get a second season. If it does, we also don't know if it would take the approach of the Game Changers novels, or continue to follow the pair of players that were the focus of the show's first season. It's not currently listed as a limited series, but that doesn't mean it will get renewed.

For now, then, fans should savor what they can from this show, which has proven to be a uniquely compelling delight. It might not be based on a true story, but that doesn't mean it's not well worth your time.