Unpublished Newswire
February 13, 2026 - 06:45 | Nick Murray | The Globe and Mail
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February 13, 2026 - 06:30 | Various Contributors | Walrus
324 million HBO streaming minutes, by the time the season one finale aired in December
Heated Rivalry isn’t only making waves in Canada. More than 10.6 million people have streamed the show on HBO Max, its American distributor.
39 million streams of Wolf Parade’s “I’ll Believe in Anything” on Spotify
“I’ll Believe in Anything” soundtracks one of the show’s most pivotal romantic moments. Wolf Parade released this song in 2005, on their album Apologies to the Queen Mary. No other song on that album has cracked 8 million streams, and most have garnered between 1 and 3 million.
3.2 million...
February 13, 2026 - 06:29 | Amarah Hasham-Steele | Walrus
Rachel Reid is enjoying levels of success most Canadian writers only dream of—all because she was brave enough to ask, “What if Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin were in love? And have been having passionate sex throughout the entirety of their careers?”
While countless outlets have expressed shock at the show’s success—Variety called it “The Year’s Biggest TV Surprise,” while a New York Times headline touted that its popularity has “Surprised Even TV Executives”—few things make more sense to me than the marriage of hockey and gay sex that is driving the success of the show.
One of...
February 13, 2026 - 06:28 | Nicky Taylor | Walrus
There is a moment in Heated Rivalry that stands as a defining monument of the show’s emerging legacy. Toward the tail end of the fifth episode, the most rewatched episode of an already highly rewatched show, closeted hockey player Scott Hunter calls his secret lover Kip Grady down to the surface of the ice to join him in the televised celebration of the New York Admirals’ triumph. Hunter tells him that he loves him so fucking much before kissing Grady with eager passion. Behind the yearning and the hesitance and the passion of them blares “I’ll Believe in Anything” by Canadian indie rock...
February 13, 2026 - 06:27 | Niko Stratis | Walrus
I was doing laundry one night in late November and looking for something to do to pass the time. Too restless for film and too tired for a novel, I settled on an episode of Heated Rivalry. Two hours later, I abandoned the laundry and all common sense.
It didn’t take long for me to turn into a literal one-person promo machine, bordering on evangelist, telling everyone to just watch the damn show. I was fixated, cancelling plans and feigning illnesses, stocking up on Kleenex and ketchup-flavoured chips (don’t judge me), and wishing Friday nights could roll in faster. I wanted a distraction...
February 13, 2026 - 06:26 | Filipa Pajevic | Walrus
