Connor Storrie Just Gave Fans An Exciting Update On Heated Rivalry Season 2

If you just binged season 1 of the Crave original "Heated Rivalry" — which is available in the United States thanks to HBO Max — and you're ready for next season, star Connor Storrie has some good news for you. When he appeared on the Today Show to discuss the runaway hit series about two rival hockey players who fall in love, Storrie indicated that season 2 might start filming somewhat soon.

"I think Jacob's still writing it," Storrie said, referring to showrunner Jacob Tierney (who's also responsible for Northern favorites like "Shoresy" and "Letterkenny"). "I think we're going to be filming, I don't know when, exactly," Storrie continued, before anchor Craig Melvin asked if it might be during the summer. "Yeah, I think about then," Storrie mused.

This more or less echoes what Tierney told Entertainment Weekly after the show's massively successful first season wrapped up. "It will not be same time next year, but it'll be pretty soon after that," Tierney clarified. Just for context, "Heated Rivalry" dropped on HBO Max and Crave in late November 2025. Still, Tierney had some reassurances for fans: "It's not gonna be two years. It's not even gonna be 18 months, I don't think."

In that same interview, Tierney, who noted that he's the show's only writer and director, clarified he hadn't started writing season 2 yet, so that tracks with Storrie's comments. "We want to get the season out as soon as we can, as well, while also making sure that we give people a good second season," Tierney added. Though I can imagine it's a bit stressful to have fans absolutely clamoring for another season, there are certainly worse problems to have as far as Tierney is concerned — because "Heated Rivalry" is one of the biggest TV success stories in recent history.

For the uninitiated, "Heated Rivalry" centers around Connor Storrie's taciturn Russian hockey star Ilya Rozanov and his biggest rival, Canadian superstar Shane Hollander (Storrie's fellow newcomer Hudson Williams), and the love affair that blossoms between them beginning in their rookie season. As the series spans years and even decades, we see Shane and Ilya explore their physical connection (and I do mean that quite literally, because "Heated Rivalry" rarely, if ever, shies away from showing Shane and Ilya's most intimate physical moments), but along the way, the two start developing real romantic feelings for each other. By the time the fifth episode, titled "I'll Believe in Anything," rolls around, Ilya is confessing his love to Shane in his native Russian, and in the season 1 finale "The Cottage," both of them admit that they're in love and even reveal their relationship to Shane's parents.

Storrie and Williams are absolutely extraordinary as Ilya and Shane (again, Williams is basically new to the industry, while Storrie cut his teeth on a pivotal role in "Joker: Folie á Deux," only for that sequel to absolutely flop), and I think the reason that so many people feel drawn to "Heated Rivalry" is that it's a bright light in dark times. Yes, there is conflict over whether or not Shane and Ilya feel comfortable discussing their sexualities publicly or even with their friends and loved ones ... but at the end of season 1, they literally drive into the sunset together holding hands, giving audiences a hopeful and beautiful conclusion to the start of their love story. So, now that we're definitely getting season 2, what can we expect?

I previously noted that "Heated Rivalry" season 2 will likely adapt "The Long Game," the queer hockey romance novel by Rachel Reid, aka the Canadian author responsible for the "Game Changers" series that spawned this show. At the very least, season 2 will definitely keep following Shane and Ilya's love story while also potentially keeping up with whatever's going on with the show's secondary couple, New York Admirals captain Scott Hunter (François Arnaud) and his boyfriend Christopher "Kip" Grady (Robbie G.K.). Reid is also, as she recently announced, writing a book titled "Unrivaled," which will be the third "Game Changers" novel to center on Shane and Ilya. Basically, "Heated Rivalry" season 2 will show Shane and Ilya actually starting to work towards the shared future that they began planning in "The Cottage."

Queer joy's in short supply on the small screen, and "Heated Rivalry" season 1 has already given us triumphant moments like Ilya referring to himself as Shane's "boyfriend" for the first time in front of Shane's parents David and Yuna (Dylan Walsh and Christina Chang) and Scott bringing Kip onto the ice after winning a championship game to finally kiss his own boyfriend in front of the entire world without shame or fear. Moreover, Jacob Tierney and Reid seem to be in tandem when it comes to how they should portray this groundbreaking (icebreaking?) love story on television, and now that Reid has a third book about Shane and Ilya in the works, we may end up watching their love story play out for quite some time, which is great news. In the meantime, "Heated Rivalry" season 1 is streaming on HBO Max, and you should go watch it right now.