“McGill? What the fuck is McGill? Is McGill a town?” These are great questions famously posed by hockey player Ilya Rozanov. Naturally, McGill had to join the conversation and clarify in their Instagram bio that it’s actually “Alma Mater of Shane Hollander’s dad. Not a Town. A really good school.” *The bio has since been updated*
Heated Rivalry, also known as “the gay hockey show,” has taken the world by storm. Montreal, and more specifically McGill, are caught right in the middle of this cultural phenomenon – the likes of which I haven’t seen since the One Direction days. The series was created, written, and directed by Canada’s very own Jacob Tierney for Crave with a budget of only 12 million dollars, funded in part by Canadian tax revenue, and filmed in Canada in little over 30 days. In other words, this may be the greatest Canadian export since maple syrup. In case you’ve been living under a rock, the story follows two rival star hockey players secretly falling in love over a 10-year period. The original novel by Rachel Reid is part of a series titled Game Changers, which will serve as source material for at least two more seasons since the show has been picked up by HBO Max.
As a McGill student, it’s hard to miss the impact the hockey romance has had on campus. Heated Rivalry has been inescapable, from official mcgill accounts such as @mcgillcampusstore, @mcgilladmissions, @mcgillathletics, and @mcgillmenshockey jumping on the bandwagon, to events like BD Heated Rivalry and Heated Bluesary. I also have it on good authority that it has been mentioned in classrooms and course slides thanks to our esteemed professors doing the Lord’s work. Being on exchange, I’m sad I don’t get to witness this in real time, but at least people have brought up the show when I say I’m from McGill, showing its international impact.
Montreal’s queer community has been riding this wave for a couple of months now. In November, a premiere was hosted at Concordia University as part of the Image+Nation LGBTQ+ Film Festival with the director and main cast in attendance, followed by a viewing party and book signing at bookstore cafe Joie des Livres. Champs Sports Bar also hosted a watch party marathon in December attended by Tierney and some of the cast. In February, a Heated Rivalry rave is set to happen at Le Belmont, an event met with such demand that they added a second date.
I’m refraining from venturing far into the complicated question of what makes this show so great, as we are talking about wattpad-adjacent, smutty TV, and not highbrow art. The thing is, it’s not meant to be. It’s a show that depicts fascinatingly tumultuous, but ultimately safe and loving relationships between really hot men. Dr. Alex Ketchum, Associate Professor at the Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies of McGill University, tells Global News, “I think people want to see stories that counter [hostile discourse], to show the humanity of our queer community.” To see a gay romance be so well received, while stirring up conversations about homophobia in hockey culture, is the dose of hope we so desperately needed – especially amidst a worldwide rise in conservative values. One thing Heated Rivalry surely does is bring people together, and sometimes that’s all art has to do.
PS. If someone has access to that edit – you know which one – the Bull and Bear News team would be eternally grateful for the contribution.
