I, like many others, binged Heated Rivalry as soon as it came out. It had several of my favorite things: being gay, forbidden romance, and hockey. I’ve been going to hockey games since I was little and recently signed up for a rec league. I’ve never had a romantic forbidden love, but a girl can dream. And most relatable to me is Shane’s journey to figuring out his sexuality.
If Heated Rivalry and the popularity around it is your first exposure to the hockey world, then it’s a misconstrued representation. US Sports are historically very straight. The NFL has only had 16 openly gay or bisexual players in its 108-year long history. The NHL has had zero active players come out as openly gay.
Brock McGillis was the first professional hockey player to come out publicly in 2016 after he retired from hockey. He played for the Ontario Hockey League and the United Hockey League, but never the NHL. Luke Prokop came out publicly in 2021 and was under contract with the NHL, but he has also did not play an NHL game.
Post Heated Rivalry craze, Jesse Korteum came out as gay. He was also a professional hockey player but didn’t play for the NHL. He walked away from hockey because he felt that his sexuality and athletic careers were at odds with each other.
While the NHL doesn’t have any policies forbidding players to be open about their sexuality, there’s a stigma in the hockey world that players can’t be gay. Some suspected that Heated Rivalry is going to open the door for queer players to be comfortable, but McGillis is skeptical. In an interview with People, McGillis stated that he thought the show would have an adverse effect on players coming out, and that he doubts hockey players would watch and discuss the show with an open mind.
Whether or not Heated Rivalry has a positive impact on NHL players coming out as queer remains to be seen. With the momentum of the show, professional and amateur hockey leagues should be taking note of how to support their players.
Instead, USA Hockey approved a new rule banning transgender athletes from participating in leagues that are separated by gender. This new rule goes into effect in April 2026. Transgender athletes will no longer be able to play in non-co-ed leagues and will instead have to play with the gendered league that aligns with the sex assigned at birth. However, players who were assigned female at birth but have taken testosterone are no longer eligible to play on any gendered team.
This new rule, called the Participant Eligibility Policy, was passed in November 2025 but USA Hockey didn’t announce it. The new policy overturns their previous policy passed in 2019 that allowed transgender athletes to play in all leagues. Their 2019 policy opens with a “guiding principles” section stating “USA Hockey supports diversity and inclusion in all aspects of hockey. The purpose of this policy is to provide transgender hockey athletes an avenue to participate in recreational and competitive ice hockey in an inclusive sporting environment where people of all backgrounds can contribute and play ice hockey, and to do so in a fair and safe manner.”
My hope for queer hockey players lasted only moments in the aftermath of Heated Rivalry. Like McGillis, I don’t have faith in hockey players’ ability to consume the meaning of the show with an open mind and understand what it feels like to hide a version of yourself.
In my opinion, anyone who thinks that Heated Rivalry is paving the way for this sport to become more accepting has their head in the sand. The show is fictional, and while fiction serves an important role in giving people hope, it must be reconciled with reality. And the reality is USA Hockey just launched an attack on trans athletes. Yes, gender and sexuality are different, but they’re a part of the same community. When one is attacked, the other no longer has a safe place in that environment.
I’m disappointed in USA Hockey. Anyone who thinks that Heated Rivalry is going to become reality needs to fully tap into queer policies and legislation and advocate in solidarity with queer athletes. Sports are supposed to be fun, and being exclusionary isn’t fun.