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Heated Rivalry has cast more key roles from its upcoming second season, adding Kevin Zegers, Paul Gross and Milla Jovovich.
Zegers will play Coach Weibe, the head coach of Ottawa’s professional team, where main character Ilya Rozanov, played by Connor Storrie, will play during season two. Jovovich joins as Dr. Galina Molchalin, a therapist that Ilya sees during the events of Rachel Reid‘s novel The Long Game, which is the main source material for the second season. Gross will play the professional hockey league’s commissioner Roger Crowell.
Season one of the award-winning show was adapted from the second novel in the Game Changers series, Heated Rivalry, which focuses on the ever-complicated situationship between Shane Holland, played by Hudson Williams, and Ilya, who are generational talents in the world of professional hockey and sworn on-ice rivals. The first novel of Reid’s book series, Game Changers, centered on François Arnaud’s character Scott Hunter and Robbie G.K.’s character Kip Grady and served as secondary material for the first season.
Season two of Heated Rivalry will be adapted from Reid’s sixth novel in the series, The Long Game, which continues Shane and Ilya’s story. The novel finds the hockey players now in a committed relationship with one another and learning how to build a life together while hiding their true feelings for one another in public.
Series creator Jacob Tierney has said that Role Model, which takes place concurrently with The Long Game, will also be source material for the season. Role Model follows the romance of Ilya’s teammate Troy Barrett, played by Gillespie with the Ottawa team’s social media manager Harris Drover, played by Smith. Based on recent casting, it appears that the season will also incorporate the third novel in the series Tough Guy, which follows the romance of Toronto enforcer Ryan Price, played by Diemer, and aspiring musician Fabian Salah, played by Jafargholi.
Williams and Storrie return to front the series. Smith, Gillespie, Diemer and Shaheen Jafargholi join them in leading roles for the second season. Several additions to the season two cast have been made over the past two months including Justice Smith, Charlie Gillespie, Daniel Diemer, Shaheen Jafargholi, Emily Hampshire, Edvin Ryding, Robert Naylor, Sabrina Jalees and Priyanka. Season one players Sophie Nélisse, Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova, Arnaud, Christina Chang, Dylan Walsh, G.K., Callan Potter, Benjamin Roy, Kamilla Kowal are also slated to return in supporting roles.
Tierney created, wrote and directed season one of Heated Rivalry. The show, which premiered in November 2025, made near-instant stars of Williams and Storrie, who were both working as waiters when they booked the roles. Williams won a Canadian Screen Award for his portrayal of Shane.
Crave renewed Heated Rivalry for a second season early into the show’s first season run. HBO Max has confirmed it will continue to air the series. The show is currently filming its second season and is aiming for a spring 2027 release.
Tierney serves as writer, director and executive producer on the series. Brendan Brady and Jayme Alter Wilson serve as executive producers; Lori Fischburg and Liane Cunje are producers. Reid serves as a consulting producer. Mike Goldbach joins season two as co-writer alongside Tierney.
Zegers is represented by Gersh, Entertainment 360, Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller, Gellman, Meigs and Fox and The Initiative Group; Gross is represented by Molly Madden and Michael Rotenberg of 3 Arts Entertainment and Bobblehead Entertainment.
The series was commissioned by Bell Media’s Crave, with the participation of the Canada Media Fund and is produced by Tierney and Brady’s Accent Aigu Entertainment.
English (US) ·