Here’s a quick rundown of the various characters and books the show pulls from.

A guide to the Heated Rivalry TV universe: Meet the characters and the books they come from

Here’s a quick rundown of the various characters and books the show pulls from.

By Nick Romano

Nick Romano

Nick Romano is a senior editor at ** with 15 years of journalism experience covering entertainment. His work previously appeared in Vanity Fair, Vulture, IGN, and more.

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August 21, 2026 12:15 p.m. ET

Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov and Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander on ‘Heated Rivalry’. Credit:

Sabrina Lantos/HBO Max

- Here’s your guide to the *Heated Rivalry* TV universe.

- Learn about the characters and which books they come from.

- Showrunner Jacob Tierney teased how the team will adapt various storylines and characters.

*Heated Rivalry* is turning into a who’s who of the *Game Changers* universe, the wildly popular romance book series from author Rachel Reid.

While season 1 largely adapted the main events of the 2019 work of the same name, it also gave some episodic real estate to Reid’s *Game Changer*, the book that started it all. With season 2 now in production ahead of a spring 2027 premiere on HBO Max (in the U.S. and various other international territories) and Crave (in Canada), it’s clear other parts of the romance saga will play a part.

Anyone needing to catch up to speed, here’s a brief guide to the *Heated Rivalry* TV universe, the characters, and which corners of Reid’s books they hail from.

Game Changer

‘Game Changer’ book cover.

Carina Press LTD.

The first book (2018), which gives the entire series its name, centers around the love story between Scott Hunter and Christopher “Kip” Grady.

Scott, captain of the New York Admirals hockey team, is in a professional slump when he meets Kip, a handsome barista at a smoothie shop. Their morning encounters become part of Scott’s new pregame ritual, which he credits to his team’s newfound winning streak.

The pair fall deeply in love with each other, but the closeted nature of their relationship puts stress on their dynamic — until the Admirals win the Stanley Cup weeks later and Scott celebrates by kissing Kip on the ice, coming out publicly.

How Heated Rivalry adapts Game Changer

François Arnaud and Robbie G.K. as Scott Hunter and Kip Grady on ‘Heated Rivalry’ season 1.

Season 1 of *Heated Rivalry* introduced actors François Arnaud and Robbie G.K. as Scott and Kip, hitting the big beats of their story from *Game Changer* over the course of one-and-a-half episodes.

Episode 3 (“Hunter”) focused entirely on the couple, while the ending of episode 5, “I’ll Believe in Anything,” adapted the ice-rink kiss and the start of episode 6, “The Cottage,” gave us Scott’s acceptance speech for his MVP award.

Arnaud teased during an interview with *WWD* that “there’s definitely more of Scott and Kip” in season 2.

Nadine Bhabha as Elena Rygg on ‘Heated Rivalry’ season 1.

Other figures that we’ve already met on season 1 from the *Game Changer* sector of the universe include members of the Admirals hockey team, such as Carter Vaughn (Kolton Stewart), Scott’s close friend.

From Kip’s world, there’s George Grady (Matt Gordon), his supportive father; Elena Rygg (Nadine Bhabha), his bestie; Maria Villanueva (Bianca Nugara), his coworker at the smoothie shop; Shawn (Brandon Ash-Mohammed), his friend from college and a regular at the group’s preferred bar, the Kingfisher; and Kyle Swift (Matthew Finlan), a bartender at the Kingfisher.

But more on Kyle later...

Heated Rivalry

‘Heated Rivalry’ book cover.

Carina Press LTD.

Reid’s 2019 entry begins the story of Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, told across a span of years.

In the timeline of the books, these two wunderkind hockey stars meet as junior players at the end of 2008 and become caught in a very public professional rivalry on the ice, fueled by their attachment to rival teams. Ilya joins the Boston Bears, while Shane joins the Montreal Voyageurs. In 2010, while reuniting for an ad shoot, they hook up for the first time, sparking a longterm sexual relationship that slowly blossoms into something meaningful across the years.

Within the events of this book are the events of *Game Changer*. The Hollywood-style kiss between Scott and Kip at the Stanley Cup win becomes a pivotal moment of visibility for Shane and Ilya as they navigate their relationship.

The main storyline caps in 2017, though an epilogue takes us to 2018 when the young men announce the Irina Foundation, a charity organization named after Ilya’s late mother that serves as one way for them to remain close to each other in the public eye.

How Heated Rivalry adapts…well, Heated Rivalry

Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov, Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander on ‘Heated Rivalry’ season 1.

Sabrina Lantos/HBO

Of course, the TV drama takes its name from this book in particular and largely prioritizes the story of Shane and Ilya, played by Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie. Most of the characters brought to life in live-action so far hail from this installment.

That includes Shane’s parents, Yuna (Christina Chang) and David (Dylan Walsh); Rose Landry (Sophie Nélisse), Shane’s celebrity beard-turned-bestie; Ilya’s now-late father (Yaroslav Poverlo) and coke-fiend brother (Slavic Rogozine); and Svetlana (Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova), Ilya’s friend with benefits prior to Shane.

And, yes, more hockey players. On the show, the names of Shane and Ilya’s teams are slightly different. Instead of the Montreal Voyageurs, it’s the Montreal Metros. Instead of the Boston Bears, it’s the Boston Raiders.

Hayden Pike (Callan Potter) is on Team Metros as Shane’s closest friend on the squad. There’s also defenseman Jean-Jacques “J. J.” Dagenais (Benjamin Roy). Cliff Marleau (Franco Lo Presti), meanwhile, reps the Raiders as a lineman alongside Ilya.

‘Tough Guy’ book cover.

Carina Press LTD.

*Tough Guy*, published in 2020, follows a different couple in the *Game Changers* universe. This one is primarily set between 2019 and 2020, around the courtship of Ryan Price and Fabian Salah.

Ryan, with a reputation as an all-star enforcer, is traded to the Toronto Guardians team. Moving to the city, he reunites with Fabian, a former high school friend with whom they almost shared a kiss as teenagers. Now Fabian is an aspiring musician and is more than willing to serve as Ryan’s guide to the Toronto gay scene — among other things.

How Heated Rivalry pulls from Tough Guy

Priyanka and Emily Hampshire join ‘Heated Rivalry’ season 2.

Harry Elletson; Dennys Ilic

Given how Ryan and Fabian recur in the *Game Changers* books, they are expected to show up in live-action form on *Heated Rivalry* season 2 in some capacity. However, their casting has not been announced at this time, while other characters from their orbit have.

Emily Hampshire of *Schitt’s Creek* and Marvel’s upcoming *VisionQuest* joins season 2 as Vanessa, who was introduced among the pages of *Tough Guy*. She’s a proud feminist lesbian who works at a Toronto sex shop and runs a sex toy review blog on the side. She’s a close friend of both Ryan and Fabian.

Priyanka, winner of *Canada’s Drag Race* season 1, will also play a character from the *Tough Guy* sphere, Tarek. He works as an assistant for an immigration services organization, but is also roommates with Vanessa and another character named Marcus.

In an Instagram post celebrating the casting, Priyanka promised to bring “all kinds of drama, gaggery, [and] bafoonery to the new season.”

Common Goal

‘Common Goal’ book cover.

Released in 2020 but starting its story in 2019, Reid turned her attention to a peripheral character, Kyle Swift, the bartender at the Kingfisher in New York City, a prominent hotspot for many of these characters.

Kyle crushes hard on Kip, who’s a regular patron of the bar. They even shared a kiss at one point, though it doesn’t end well because Kip is secretly dating Scott.

Kyle, however, gets his own love story with *Common Goal*. He meets and becomes enamored with Eric Bennett, a much older veteran goaltender on Scott’s team, the New York Admirals. The two become friends-with-benefits after Eric’s recent divorce from a woman, but they don’t stay friends for very long.

How Heated Rivalry pulls from Common Goal

Matthew Finlan as Kyle Swift on ‘Heated Rivalry’ season 1.

So far, *Heated Rivalry* doesn’t take as much inspiration from *Common Goal* as some of the other books in Reid’s repertoire, but Kyle remains a presence. And in the timeline of the story that season 2 now adapts, he and Eric are characters that appear in some capacity, crossing paths with Ilya.

At the very least, actor Matthew Finlan previously explained how there’s a lot of history baked into his brief season 1 performance.

“One of our first shots was when Kip comes into the bar and I’m just like, ‘Hey, Kip!’” he told EW. “Jacob [Tierney, showrunner] was like, ‘Great, great, great, great, great. Awesome. So, yeah, just to let you know, there’s a whole fourth book where your character has a relentless love, will-they-won’t-they with Kip, but he’s heartbroken, forlorn, and it never really comes to fruition. So if you can put all of that into two syllables, that would be awesome.’”

The Long Game

‘The Long Game’ book cover.

Carina Press LTD.

*The Long Game* (2022) was published after a different book in the *Game Changers* universe, *Role Model* (2021), but the events of the story begin prior to that entry. The story picks back up with Shane and Ilya at Hollander’s cottage in the summer of 2020. (The COVID-19 pandemic doesn’t exist in this world.)

It’s only been a few years since the events of *Heated Rivalry* (the book). Their public lives now entail hosting a hockey camp in Montreal and running the Irina Foundation. Shane still plays for the Montreal Voyageurs, though Ilya has since left his high-profile position with the Boston Bears to play for the Ottawa Centaurs, a much smaller and less lauded team, in order to be closer to his boyfriend.

Behind the scenes, the two are still very much in love, though Shane worries about what would happen if the public were to find out about their relationship. Ilya also struggles privately with depression, especially as he adjusts to his new reality on a less-celebrated hockey team.

How Heated Rivalry adapts The Long Game

Robert Naylor and Edvin Ryding will play Wyatt Hayes and Luca Haas on ‘Heated Rivalry’ season 2.

Annie Diotte; Martin Kiessling

*The Long Game* will feature as one of the two primary books adapted with *Heated Rivalry* season 2.

As Tierney described, “The challenge, from an adaptation standpoint, is you’re in much more serious territory. There’s still lots of flirting, and there’s lots of sex, but it’s this kind of danger. This kind of ‘hotel room, adolescent sex’ stuff is largely gone.”

Digging a bit deeper, Tierney posed the question, “What do you do after the rush of danger is gone and yet now you have to live in a relationship where you still aren’t communicating properly, much as you would like to? You can say you love each other, but as adults know, there’s so much more than that to make a relationship successful. And that is what they’re learning.”

With *The Long Game* material also comes the arrival of certain characters. That includes Troy Barrett and Harris Drover, the hot new bombshells in the villa played by Charlie Gillespie and Justice Smith. Like Ilya, Troy is a new trade to the Centaurs, while Harris is the team’s lovable social media manager. (More information on them below.)

There’s also Wyatt Hayes and Luca Haas, two supporting figures in *The Long Game* who are prominent members of the Centaurs team. Robert Naylor (*Mile End Kicks*) plays Wyatt, a proficient goaltender described in the book as a fan of comics and an ally to queer people. He and Troy have history, as they both played for the Guardians in Toronto.

Edvin Ryding (*The Young Royals*) plays Luca, a rising rookie player from Sweden. He’s now the youngest player on the Centaurs and has a man-crush on their new captain, Ilya.

Sabrina Jalees (*I Used to Be Funny*) will also play Farah Jalali, another character introduced in *The Long Game*. She’s Shane and Ilya’s agent and helps them navigate the professional sports scene when certain things...go down.

Role Model

‘Role Model’ book cover.

Now let’s talk a bit more about Troy and Harris. Within the timeline of *The Long Game* are the events of *Role Model*, a separate book which chronicles a romance between these two characters.

Troy is a troubled athlete who once played for the Toronto Guardians, Ryan Price’s now-former stomping grounds. For years, he was buddies with Dallas Kent, the Golden Boy of the Guardians. But things took a turn when Dallas was accused of sexual assault by multiple anonymous women.

While the entire world seemed to rally around the star athlete, a video recording of Troy confronting Dallas as a rapist made the rounds. The blowout coincided with Troy’s recent breakup with Adrian Dela Cruz, a handsome actor he’d been dating in secret. By the time he’s traded to the Centaurs, Troy’s floundering under the weight of his personal baggage, which also includes a toxic father who seems more interested in Dallas than his own son.

However, the move puts him in the path of Ilya and, more importantly, Harris, the team’s social media manager.

Harris is the light to Troy’s brooding darkness. He’s out, proud, and joyous. Everyone on the team gravitates towards Harris, who grew up on an apple orchard in Ottawa. *Role Model* follows the big beats of this couple’s courtship, though it continues in later portions of *The Long Game*.

How Heated Rivalry adapts Role Model

Charlie Gillespie and Justice Smith will play Troy and Harris on ‘Heated Rivalry’ season 2.

Ben Hider/Tubi via Getty; Mat Hayward/Getty

*Role Model* is the other book that will take a front seat in the series adaptation. While Tierney confirmed *Heated Rivalry* will continue to focus on Williams and Storrie, Gillespie and Smith were cast in lead roles, which suggests the Troy and Harris relationship will play a more prominent part of the season than previously expected.

“There is an easy, facile way of looking at *Role Model*,” Tierney said. “It’s very ‘grumpy sunshine.’ It’s very ‘apple orchard.’ It can drift into things that you want, but Troy is a *really* damaged guy. And Troy is quite damaged on the show. I would say we’re digging into that even harder.”

Smith’s casting, in particular, drew a lot of feelings from the fan base when it came to light. Many supported the actor’s inclusion, while others pointed out how Harris is described as more curvy than Smith’s slender figure in life, a factor that contributes to the character’s feeling of physical inadequacy when around Troy.

In a statement shared in a now-expired Instagram Story, Smith wrote, “I have to say I am moved by the support and love I’m getting from fans in my DMs, fans who have welcomed me with open arms and who already feel a responsibility to protect me. I am honored to play a character you all care about deeply and I promise I will take good care of him if you give me the chance. I am beyond excited for this experience.”

‘Unrivaled’ book cover.

A seventh book in the *Game Changers* universe is forthcoming, though **the description contains spoilers** for anyone just following the TV series. It’s another continuation of Shane and Ilya’s relationship, which potentially gives the show more to adapt.

According to an official plot description:

For the first time in their professional hockey careers, Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander have nothing to hide. After more than a decade of keeping their love secret, they’re out, married, and even playing on the same team. The support has been incredible. Most of the time. While fans celebrate them, others in the hockey world are still reeling from the reveal. A growing backlash—led by the popular hockey podcast Top Shelf and the #TakeBackHockey movement—is making its presence felt. Standing together in the light was everything Shane and Ilya ever wanted. Now, they may be facing their biggest challenge yet.

This past August, Reid shared a photo of a draft to *Unrivaled*, teasing what will be potentially her longest book to date.

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At this stage, it’s unclear if the show will get to this portion of the story. But given the runaway success of *Heated Rivalry* thus far, it feels like a safe gamble to suggest it will. Reid continues to converse with Tierney regularly to provide insights into the characters and narrative.

From an official standpoint, the show has only been greenlit through season 2. Though there’s a chance season 3 is already in the works and will be filmed back-to-back with season 2. This comes from a situation with Walsh, who mentioned he got in trouble for stating the crew would shoot 12 episodes, heavily implying that the first already-confirmed six episodes will be used for season 2 and the others will be used for season 3. HBO had no comment.

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