Six differences between the Heated Rivalry book and the hit show
Heated Rivalry. (Sabrina Lantos/HBO)
Adapting a fan-favourite book for the screen is always a daunting process, but when it comes to Heated Rivalry, there are several changes from the book to the show that fans have noticed.
The hit ice hockey romance is based on Rachel Reid‘s steamy novel, which is widely sold out. Like the book, the show follows the rivals-to-lovers story of Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) and Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams). On the ice, they’re fierce rivals, but their connection is just as passionate – in a different way – in private.
Here are just some of the major changes that were made from the book to the screen:
Hockey team names
In the show, Ilya plays for the Boston Raiders while Shane is a player for the Montreal Metros. However, when we first meet the pair in the book, they’re playing for the Boston Bears and the Montreal Voyageurs, respectively.
It seems this change came about because of licensing issues with real NHL team names. Reid’s hockey teams were modelled on the NHL’s Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens.
Similarly, because of this name change, we were robbed of Ilya’s chest tattoo. In the book, the Russian prodigy has a bear tattoo across his pectoral, but with the removal of the bear reference, it wouldn’t have made sense for the tattoo to appear.
Ilya and Sasha meet
In the book, Sasha is mentioned as the son of Ilya’s former coach, but he does not reunite with Ilya in the present day. Instead, Sasha’s novel presence is through Ilya telling Shane about his sexual encounters with the other man.
However, in the show, Sasha appears, played by Kaden Connors. His fleeting appearance embodies Ilya’s past and burgeoning queer sexuality in Russia, before Shane.
We meet Sasha in a bathroom with Ilya’s other friend, Svetlana (played by Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova), when Ilya returns to Russia.
During their scene together, Sasha approaches Ilya and kisses him, attempting to relight their spark. However, Ilya rejects his advances, his attention now on his rival-turned-lover Shane.
The name of Ilya’s brother
Another small change made in the adaptation process is the name of Ilya’s brother. In both the book and the show, Ilya has a deeply strained and tumultuous relationship with his brother.
However, in the book his name is Andrei, but in the show he’s known as Alexei (played by Slavic Rogozine).
In an interview with Crave, the Canadian streamer, show writer-director Jacob Tierney explained how that change came about.
“I screwed that up,” Tierney laughed when asked about Ilya’s brother’s name.
“But, to my credit, Rachel didn’t remember that either. So… that’s on Rachel Reid, that she didn’t clock that Andrei became Alexei.”
Shane dancing with Miles
One of the show’s most iconic moments is a scene between Shane and Ilya in a club, beneath the strobe lights, soundtracked to t.A.T.u.’s “All the Things She Said”.
However, just moments before that scene happens, Shane is on the dance floor with his girlfriend, Rose Landry (Sophie Nélisse).
The scene is very similar in the book, the pair dancing alone, which catches Ilya’s jealous gaze. However, in the show, Shane becomes a sandwich between Rose and Rose’s gay best friend Miles (Devante Senior).
On the dance floor, the trio get intimately close in what is another example of perfect bisexual lighting use.
Furthermore, Miles is a key character in revealing to Ilya that Shane is in the nightclub. When Miles gestures to Ilya at the bar, Ilya ignores his advances and turns his attention to trying to find his on-ice rival.
Ilya’s phone call
Another key scene that differs slightly between the book and the show is the heartbreaking phone call between Shane and Ilya.
After Ilya loses a family member, he flies home to Russia, where, in a brief moment of quiet, he calls Shane to decompress.
In the show, Ilya’s monologue to Shane is a beautifully tender confession of love spoken in Russian. However, in the book, when Shane tells Ilya to speak to him in Russian, Reid only included the final line, which is him saying he’s in love.
It’s later in the book where Ilya summarises his monologue to Shane. So, the show offers a much more substantial take on Ilya voicing his emotions in Russian.
The show’s confession is also more definite. In the book, Ilya says: “I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you, and I don’t know what to do about it.”
Meanwhile, in the show, Ilya declares: “I love her. But not like I love you. That’s the worst f*****g part of all of this, is that all I want is you. It’s always you. I’m so in love with you, and I don’t know what to do about it.”
On the flip side, the book provides a more detailed view of Ilya in the moment following the phone call. A passage in the novel shows Ilya’s internal panic after: “What if Shane Google translated it? Why can’t he be closer to him? Oh my god, his feelings are deeper than he even realised.”
The missing prologue
One of the biggest changes fans noticed from the book to the show is the absence of the final chapter.
The show ends with Ilya and Shane sharing with Shane’s parents that they’re together, then driving back to the cottage with bittersweet smiles. Then, the credits start rolling. However, the final part of the Heated Rivalry book is missing.
In the book, there’s a scene where Shane and Ilya strategise about how to continue nurturing their relationship. The epilogue is set 16 months later, with Ilya now playing for Ottawa and Shane having come out to his teammates, but not the public.
The pair buy homes in Canada, making the distance between them shorter. The key epilogue scene is the couple holding a press conference where they announce the charity they plotted in bed in the show’s final episode.
With the announcement of the Irina Foundation, named after Ilya’s late mother, the story of their rivalry comes to a close. There are some fan theories that this scene will be amongst the early moments of season two.
