‘Heated Rivalry’ author sits down in special conversation with TSN reporter

It was a full house at a Halifax bookstore Saturday as two authors with very different hockey books sat down for a special conversation.

TSN’s Rick Westhead was at Indigo with his book ‘We Breed Lions’ alongside bestselling author Rachel Reid, who is known for the ‘Game Changers’ series, which spawned the wildly popular TV show ‘Heated Rivalry.’

“Seeing the conversations that are happening, especially within the hockey world, has been amazing. I didn’t expect the show to hit that hard within the hockey world,” said Reid, who is from Nova Scotia.

“I’ve seen some really positive things happening and conversations happening online, I’ve seen positive things happening at actual hockey games.”

The in-depth conversation with the two authors was followed by a Q and A to talk about hockey culture, power, accountability, and change.

“Rachel has had such great success writing about hockey’s culture on the fiction side and I’ve been tackling reporting on the story of hockey more from the journalistic side, from the non-fiction side, so it’s great to connect,” said Westhead.

‘Honest conversations’

Westhead’s book looks at hockey’s moment of reckoning in Canada, including how the sport has been rocked by allegations of sexual assault and hazing in recent years.

“It’s based on real-life accounts of many dozens of junior hockey players and people in the game telling me about their stories and about how this practice of hazing and maltreatment is cyclical and systemic and passes down through generations,” said Westhead. “I really hope that the book leads to more honest conversations, not just in hockey.”

The event Saturday provided a platform to discuss these issues, said Westhead.

“We have very different writing styles, but very similar goals. We are both looking to examine hockey culture and any problems that might exist within it,” said Reid.

Westhead added the conversation also looked at ways to help move the sport forward and make it more inclusive for everyone.

“Too often these cases have been glossed over and covered up, and the adults who are supposed to be in the room coaching, who have not been there, who have not been held accountable, and I think at the end of the day, a lot of coaches across Canada in every sport lose track of the real reason they’re there,” said Westhead. “It’s not to create NHL stars, it’s not to create amazing athletes. The first job is keeping kids safe and I think that that can get lost sometimes.”

All royalties from the ‘We Breed Lions’ book sales at the event Saturday will be donated to the Avalon Sexual Assault Centre, which supports survivors and essential community services in Nova Scotia.

‘Inspiring actual change’

For Reid, Saturday was about showcasing Westhead’s book and diving deep into hockey culture from different angles.

“When it comes to inspiring actual change in hockey, that’s something that I didn’t expect, but it seems to be doing that,” she said of her books and the show.

The instant success of ‘Heated Rivalry’ didn’t just explore a hockey love story; it also put an immediate spotlight on Reid.

“I am quite shy naturally, so it is unusual for me to have people approaching me, but I’m starting to get used to it, but it is different, especially here in my hometown,” she said.

Reid said her day-to-day life hasn’t changed that much – something she attributes to living in a province like Nova Scotia, but there have certainly been changes.

“I get to meet people like Rick. That’s very exciting for me. People reach out to me that are fans now of the show and of the books, that are people that I’ve admired for a long time, so that’s been exciting,” she said. “Just generally as an author, my career has completely levelled up. I’m getting invited to all sorts of exciting things, and just lots of opportunities that are brand new and very cool.”

With files from CTV’s Carl Pomeroy

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