NHL commissioner says he watched ‘Heated Rivalry’ in one night

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, 73, said this recently Hockey news that he watched the entire first season of HBO Max’s queer hockey drama “Heated Rivalry” in one sitting and thought it was “a beautiful story.”

“The content – ​​especially for young people – can be a bit spicy, so you have to balance that with the way you embrace it,” he said.

Bettman added: “I thought the storyline was very compelling. And a lot of fun, because I could see where they were pulling off the things we wanted. [as a league] had done in the past, whether it was in Sochi or in the All-Star Game in Tampa. It’s very well done.”

‘Heated Rivalry’ has become extremely popular since it debuted on HBO Max in late November 2025. Based on Rachel Reid’s “Game Changer” book series, the show follows Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie), two rising hockey stars as they engage in a secret, years-long romance off the ice. The show has been renewed for a second season.

In a testament to the show’s universal appeal, stars Williams and Storrie carried the Olympic torch during the Milano Cortina 2026 relay in Feltre, Italy, on Sunday. They also presented at the Golden Globes, escorted to the stage by two UFC fighters. In the days after the Globes, Williams headed to Milan for Men’s Fashion Week, where he took part in the Dsquared2 show and attended Giorgio Armani’s runway presentation.

During a recent appearance on the “Shut Up Evan” podcast, Williams said the sudden fame was difficult to navigate. He said, “I was just talking to one of my agents yesterday, and she said that Connor and I had to learn what a lot of actors get in five years, in about 30 days.”