Heated Rivalry: On the Ice – answers and explanations
Here are the answers to all 14 questions in the Heated Rivalry: On the Ice quiz, each with a short explanation. How closely did you follow the series' episodes and storyline? Haven't played yet? Take the quiz first and compare your score.
Play the quiz · 14 questions1. In the series, Shane Hollander is the franchise star of a team in which city?
Answer: Montreal
Shane Hollander is drafted second overall by Montreal (the Metros in the series, the Voyageurs in the novels), while Ilya Rozanov goes first overall to Boston, so the two teams meet often.
2. What nationality is Ilya Rozanov, one of the series' two leads?
Answer: Russian
Ilya Rozanov, played by Connor Storrie, is a Moscow-born Russian who captains Team Russia at junior level, while his counterpart Shane Hollander is Canadian, from Ottawa.
3. Heated Rivalry is based on a novel by which Canadian author?
Answer: Rachel Reid
The series adapts Heated Rivalry, the second book in Canadian author Rachel Reid's Game Changers series of hockey romance novels.
4. What do Shane and Ilya keep hidden from the hockey world for years?
Answer: Their romantic relationship with each other
Shane and Ilya hide their romance for roughly eight years of the first season, meeting in secret apartments and hotel rooms, until Shane's father walks in on them kissing in the finale, The Cottage.
5. In Heated Rivalry, Ilya Rozanov is the star of the NHL team in which city?
Answer: Boston
Ilya Rozanov is the Russian star of the Boston team (the Boston Raiders in the show's fictional Major League Hockey), taken first overall in the 2009 draft, while rival Shane Hollander went second to Montreal.
6. How many episodes make up the first season of Heated Rivalry?
Answer: Six
Season one of Heated Rivalry runs six episodes, premiering with a two-episode drop on November 28, 2025 on Crave and HBO Max and ending with the finale 'The Cottage' on December 26, 2025.
7. Where do Shane and Ilya usually arrange their secret meetings during the season?
Answer: Hotel rooms while their teams are on the road
For years Shane and Ilya hook up secretly in hotel rooms whenever their teams or league events put them in the same city, starting after they film a commercial together in the summer of 2010.
8. What milestone does veteran player Scott Hunter reach in Heated Rivalry?
Answer: He publicly comes out as gay
Veteran Scott Hunter comes out publicly by kissing his partner Kip on the ice after winning the league championship in episode five, then speaks about it in his MVP acceptance speech in the finale.
9. What nationality is Shane Hollander, one of the series' two leads?
Answer: Canadian
Shane Hollander is a Canadian hockey star, while his rival Ilya Rozanov is Russian; their on-ice feud hides a secret romance.
10. In Heated Rivalry, where were Shane and Ilya picked in the NHL draft?
Answer: Ilya first overall, Shane second overall
At the 2009 Major League Hockey draft in Los Angeles, Ilya Rozanov was picked first overall by the Boston Raiders while Shane Hollander went second to the Montreal Metros, a one-spot gap that fuels Shane's resentment and their marketed rivalry.
11. Which language does Shane quietly teach himself so he can speak to Ilya in it?
Answer: Russian
Russian is Ilya Rozanov's native language, and it carries the show's biggest emotional beat: in episode 5 he confesses his love in Russian over the phone after his father's death, knowing Shane cannot yet understand him.
12. Which actor plays Shane Hollander in Heated Rivalry?
Answer: Hudson Williams
Canadian actor Hudson Williams plays Shane Hollander, opposite Connor Storrie as his rival Ilya Rozanov.
13. What public image does Ilya cultivate to keep suspicion away from his private life?
Answer: A hard-partying playboy always seen with women
Ilya Rozanov deliberately maintains a hard-partying playboy persona, frequently photographed with women such as Svetlana, because as a Russian athlete coming out could mean never safely returning home under Russia's anti-LGBTQ laws.
14. On which Canadian streaming service did Heated Rivalry premiere in 2025?
Answer: Crave
Heated Rivalry premiered in Canada on Crave on 28 November 2025 and streams on HBO Max in many other countries.