In the wake of HBO Max’s unexpected success with Heated Rivalry, other streaming platforms appear eager to find a hockey romance hit of their own.
Prime Video’s Off Campus series may have filmed its first season before Heated Rivalry premiered, but the show still arrived at a moment when hockey romances were entering the cultural spotlight.
Now, Netflix has joined the trend.
The streamer announced this week that it is adapting Hannah Grace’s Icebreaker, the first book in her three-part Maple Hill series.
The novel centres on a romance between an ice skater and an NHL hopeful, and is known for its steamy scenes, college sports setting and popular romance tropes.
Grace’s book was released in 2022 and went on to spend 70 consecutive weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. It has sold close to 5 million copies and became a viral favourite on BookTok.
For queer audiences, none of these heterosexual hockey romances are likely to hit quite like Heated Rivalry. But, as Off Campus showed, hunky actors and steamy scenes can still make the genre worth watching.
What is Icebreaker about?
Netflix’s upcoming Icebreaker television series will follow the enemies-to-lovers college sports romance between Anastasia Allen, a figure skater chasing Olympic gold, and Nate Hawkins, a college hockey captain hoping to make it to the NHL.
When a facilities problem forces their teams to share the same rink, discipline, ambition and attraction collide.
“She’s the transfer gunning for Olympic gold. He’s the campus star chasing the NHL. But when an accident forces their teams to share one rink, Anastasia Allen and Nate Hawkins collide — and discipline gives way to obsession, because the only thing more dangerous than wanting to win is wanting each other,” the official synopsis reads.
The novel features plenty of spice, alongside romance favourites including grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity and hurt/comfort.
Icebreaker is the first book in the Maple Hill series, though it is not yet clear whether Netflix plans to adapt the other novels if the show returns for future seasons.
What do we know about the show?
Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper will produce the series for Netflix through her media company Unwell Network.
Netflix has not yet announced a premiere date or cast list.
The series is being developed and written by Jade Bartlett, best known for writing and directing the Jenna Ortega and Martin Freeman thriller Miller’s Girl.
“It’s been such a joy to play in Hannah Grace’s world of Icebreaker, a story filled with ambitious, talented, and undeniably sexy characters. But the real special sauce is that, above all, they are good, deeply compassionate people… and we cannot get enough of them,” Bartlett said in a statement.
“Hannah has created the kind of world you want to live in, and Amanda and I are having an absolute romp with our incredible teams at Unwell and Netflix, bringing this cherished story to the screen.”
Amanda Lasher, known for Gossip Girl, The Bold Type and Riverdale, will serve as showrunner, write scripts and executive produce alongside Bartlett.
“I have been a fan of steamy YA since the seventh grade, reading Judy Blume stealthily hidden behind a textbook,” Lasher said. “I love this genre, and it’s been a joy working with Jade, the team at Unwell, and Netflix to bring Hannah Grace’s beloved Icebreaker novel to the screen.”
How are fans responding?
When Heated Rivalry first exploded in popularity, many fans predicted that Hollywood might take the wrong lesson from its success.
Rather than investing in more queer love stories, they feared studios would focus on hockey romance as the winning formula — as though hockey, rather than queer chemistry, longing and representation, was the reason viewers were tuning in every week.
After news broke that Netflix was adapting Icebreaker, a heterosexual hockey romance, Heated Rivalry fans quickly took to social media to argue that Hollywood had learned “the incorrect lesson”.
Many called for more queer romances on screen, rather than a wave of straight hockey love stories designed to capture the same audience.
Still, with Netflix now putting its weight behind Icebreaker, the hockey romance boom shows no sign of slowing down.
Whether it can win over viewers still holding out for another Heated Rivalry remains to be seen.
