On December 26, the final episode of the first season is released of the series "Hot Rivalry" (Heated Rivalry). The project of Canadian streaming Crave and HBO Max, which tells about the romance of two NHL stars, has become the main surprise of the TV season. While in Russia the series is discussed semi-legally, in the West it breaks popularity records, forcing viewers to google the biography of Alexander Ovechkin and listen to the old hits of Tatu.
The popularity of the series turned out to be phenomenal. In mid-December "Hot rivalry" Welcome to Derry, an expensive prequel to the horror It, on which HBO relied most, was surpassed in terms of views.
The plot is based on a series of novels by American writer Rachel Reed. The main characters, Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander, are professional hockey players who meet on the ice as teenagers. Their careers develop in parallel: both become the first numbers of the draft, both receive captain's armbands in American clubs. For ten years, they have been connected by a tough media confrontation and a secret passion. The series does not skimp on explicit scenes, but critics note that Hot Rivalry is primarily a high-quality psychological drama about life in the "closet" inside one of the most conservative sports.
Did Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby become prototypes?
Although the creators of the series use fictitious names, the parallels with the real history of the NHL are more than obvious. Edition Washingtonian Straight calls the prototypes of the characters Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby.
Similar discussions can be found in Hollywood Reporter (November 26, 2025), USA Today (December 4, 2025), and on Reddit (December 11, 2025), where fans and critics point out the same parallels, but without the claims of a real-life romance — only rivalry as a source of inspiration.
Context: The real rivalry between Ovi and Sid has been going on for almost 20 years. Writer Rachel Reed did not hide the fact that she was inspired by this "duel of the decade", although she emphasizes that her characters are independent artistic images, and not biographical copies.
Archetypes: Shane Hollander is a disciplined, closed, and emphatically polite Canadian (a direct reference to Crosby's Golden Boy). Ilya Rozanov is a noisy, emotional and self-confident Russian (an image copied from the early Ovechkin).
Several factors contributed to the success of the series:
Ratings: On IMDB, the project has an abnormally high 8.7 points. Even on the Russian Kinopoisk (where the series is officially unavailable due to legislative restrictions), the score is kept at 8.5.
The "forbidden fruit" effect: Interest in queer themes in brutal sports was fueled by the Pentagon's recent criticism of another gay series (Boots), which only increased the audience of such projects.
Soundtrack: The series was added virality by the use of t.A.T.u.'s hit "All the Things She Said". The song re-entered the charts 20 years after its release.
What is the series criticized for?
Despite the enthusiasm, the project faced criticism from two sides. Part of the sports community accuses the creators of excessive romanticization and "unrealism" of hockey life. At the same time, some representatives of the queer community believe (Doberman.media с ними категорически не согласен, – прим. редакции)that the series exploits the theme of "forbidden love" for the sake of ratings, and the images of hockey players remain too stereotypical.
Nevertheless, "Hot Rivalry" is already being called the main pop culture event of December, which was able to do more to popularize hockey among young people than the official promotional campaigns of the NHL.
Meanwhile, the series has already been renewed for a second season.
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