Heated Rivalry star says closeted-gay NHLers have reached out to him for support

Canadian streaming service Crave has a mega hit on their hands with romance series 'Heated Rivalry'.

The series stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie as two rival pro hockey players who are hiding a passionate, secret romance.

Here's a trailer:

The show is based off a hit romance novel and has gained a ton of attention for introducing new fans to the sport of hockey. It has received critical acclaim, with praise for the directing, writing, and the lead actors' performances and chemistry. It also achieved strong audience viewership, becoming Crave's most-watched original series to date and HBO Max's top debut for an acquired, non-animated title since the platform's launch in 2019.

Yesterday, in an interview with SiriusXM, Williams claimed that several closeted-gay professional athletes have reached out to him to express their gratitude for his work on the show.

"Yeah, it’s definitely the people who reach out, somewhat anonymously, who are like, 'I’m still a professional player still and I’m still in the closet'," Williams said to SiriusXM host Andy Cohen.

"Hockey players, football players, basketball players, Williams continued. "They’re reaching out to Rachel [Reid], our author, who will then kind of relay these lovely anonymous emails. Sometimes they’re just reaching out privately, through like Instagram, and those ones are the ones that really just kind of hit you and go, “Oh, so this is a fun show and it’s celebratory, but also sometimes it’s just hitting people right in the nerves.”

Frankly, this shouldn't be news but with no openly gay NHLer in history this story is making the rounds. It's now 2026 and there are gay people living their lives openly in all industries and in all corners of the map. Certainly there must be gay NHLers, right? I mean... it's just a matter of basic math and statistics.

How long until we have an openly gay NHLer?