NHL bosses are already concerned about Heated Rivalry season 2

Is the National Hockey League (NHL) ready for Heated Rivalry season 2? One of the ice hockey bosses has said there is work to do for NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.

While the first season focused on the illicit romance between ice hockey rivals Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) and Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams), the highly anticipated next season will see external pressures put their relationship under strain.

There’s one person in particular who comes across as the villain: Major League Hockey Commissioner Roger Crowell.

Based on Rachel Reid’s The Long Game, the show’s second season sees Ilya and Shane face the wrath of Crowell’s strict orders. Subsequently, those in the NHL are concerned that the fictional hatred could reflect on real-life NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.

Speaking to PR Week, Kim Davis, the NHL’s executive vice president, said more should be done to welcome new fans. 

Davis also noted Bettman has “shared with the co-producers that what they say about him [in the show] is not at all the way he would react”.

Davis added: “We have work to do in preparation for that.” 

Previously, Bettman has said he binge-watched Heated Rivalry in one sitting. The 73-year-old also added he thought it was “a wonderful story.”

‘We have work to do.’

He continued: “The content — particularly for young people — may be a little spicy, so you have to balance that out.

“I thought the storyline was very compelling. And a lot of fun, because I could see where they were picking at things we [as a league] had done in the past, whether or not it was being in Sochi or the All-Star Game in Tampa. It was very well done.”

Under Bettman’s control, the NHL has a mixed reputation among LGBTQ+ hockey fans.

Bettman, commissioner since 1993, has overseen the league’s LGBTQ inclusion efforts, including the You Can Play project.

However, Pride nights and Pride tape were banned in 2023. These were overturned but the sentiment has lingered in the minds of ice hockey fans. 

Additionally, the popularity of Heated Rivalry has introduced a host of new fans to the 2025-26 NHL season. In turn, this has spurred on greater LGBTQ+ awareness at matches.

When the Pride-related banning did occur, Bettman states it wasn’t about Pride jerseys or Pride night. He shared: “It was about the fact of bringing things into the game that might not be embraced by the players wearing the jerseys.

“It’s a misrepresentation of what we did to suggest that it was about Pride jerseys; it was about the whole issue of what you put on the ice and how, when players don’t embrace the cause, whatever it is, then you create distraction, and it doesn’t fulfil the purpose in terms of embracing Pride nights.”

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