‘Heated Rivalry’ could spark conversations, queer N.S. hockey players hope

The hit series Heated Rivalry sparks a conversation about representation in hockey.

Maddi Adams picked up hockey a few years ago and now plays in the Queer Hockey Nova Scotia league. After watching the new hit TV series “Heated Rivalry,” this is the first time they have really seen themselves represented on screen.

“The main character is queer and autistic. We are seeing a world that’s not commonly depicted on screen. In recent years there is a lot more queer content, and that’s magical and amazing,” says Adams.

“But a queer autistic man in the world of hockey, it’s a story that we haven’t heard before.”

The Crave show is based on the “Game Changers” book series written by Nova Scotia author Rachel Reid. It’s a story about two rival male hockey stars who become involved in a romance — and it has skyrocketed in popularity.

“Yeah, I have fans all over the world. I have fans who’ve never watched hockey before. I have fans who barely knew what hockey was. Some of them have become hockey fans since, which is cool,” says Reid.

For Adams, watching this series gave them hope for the future of the game, but also brought up a lot of emotions.

“We are playing with all of these ideas wanting to come out, and needing to come out ... and all of the difficulty that brings. I lived in the closet for many years, and I came out later in life, and I know how hard it is,” says Adams.

Adams says everyone’s journey is different, but emphasized that no matter who you are, the coming-out story is normally complex.

“The show makes us imagine a world where gay men in hockey can be out and proud, and even if I am not a gay man myself, the story is universal, in how anyone that has come out in life, you know how challenging it can be but how beautiful it can be on the other hand,” adds Adams

The queer hockey community says these stories are real and are seen in hockey already.

“I think it is a model and allows us to see a world in which it could go well, and that kind of radical imagination is so important. I think we have seen stories in the real life of professional hockey players that have come out and been supported,” says Nora Renick-Rinehart, president of Queer Hockey Nova Scotia.

“I think the women’s professional hockey league — we’ve got a game here in Halifax on Sunday afternoon between the Ottawa Charge and the Boston Fleet — has just so many players who are out and loud and queer and active and we can see how much joy it brings to the community.”

Queer Hockey Nova Scotia has been around since about November 2021. They said their goal isn’t to grow indefinitely, but to rethink the culture around hockey.

“It’s really about re-approaching what hockey can look like almost kind of like a thought experiment or a think tank, and to really just focus on the joy of playing and how we can support each other,” says Renick-Rinehart.

“How we can lower barriers for participation, and how we can increase skills and really strengthen community. The community is really the biggest focus.”

Sackville Minor Hockey coach Chris Fraser says, as coaches, they teach more than the game.

“I remember when we had females on our teams, that was a learning curve for everybody; now it’s common. It wasn’t common at one point and now it is; it took some time to get through it and I don’t think that this is any different. Again, I just think that hockey is a sport, it’s for fun, it’s a teaching tool and it’s just another opportunity for hockey to prove it’s inclusive for everyone,” says Fraser.

That’s what many hope the show is doing while making Canada’s game more inviting.

“I think the PWHL has such an uphill battle to fight around the internalized misogyny of hockey culture, and the NHL is really the last bastion of that boys club, so I think the more we can show people a world that it exists and there’s joy, the better it can be,” says Renick- Rinehart.

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