On the same Brighton ice rink where the Boston Bruins practice, fans of hockey romance novels met on Friday night, skating to the fast paced beats of the “Heated Rivalry” soundtrack. On the mezzanine, attendees browsed different clothing, jewelry, and stationary vendors in hockey jerseys, some representing real National Hockey League teams and others representing fictional teams from the hit romance novels and TV show that brought them together.
Around 100 attendees flooded Warrior Ice Arena for Hockey Romance Night, an event hosted by the arena and Lovestruck Books & Cafe, Cambridge’s shop for all things romance.
The event is the first of 10 events celebrating its 10 year anniversary.
“We’re kicking it off with something very new [and] very different,” said Lauren Matuszczak, the marketing and social media manager at Warrior Ice arena.
The events team at Warrior Ice Arena is a big fan of hockey romance both on-screen and in novels, so when one employee suggested a hockey romance-themed event, they ran with it. The arena decided to partner with the Lovestruck because topics like this are their “bread and butter,” said Matuszczak.
The night included a panel moderated by sports romance novelist Julia Connors with prominent hockey romance authors Sarina Bowen, Kate Cochrane and Jenny Linsky.
For many, the event showed how big hockey romance had become and how big the sport had become.
“I love that it’s the marriage of two worlds coming together,” said Erica Meunier, the founder and artist behind Blank Canvas Co, who sold stationary and prints at the event.
Hockey romance was launched to the forefront of pop culture with the 2025 TV show “Heated Rivalry,” which was adapted from the “Game Changers” series by Rachel Reid. The show, produced by Crave and also released by HBO, follows two rival hockey players, Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, as they compete against each other on the ice while developing an intimate relationship off the rink.
Though the show may have opened the public’s eyes to the world of hockey romance, the genre itself has been around for a while, said Riley Mulroy, the events manager at Lovestruck and the store’s resident hockey romance fan.
The genre’s roots are in fanfiction sites like Archive of Our Own and FanFiction.net. The internet hosted hockey romance stories long before they were turned into independently or traditionally published novels.
Despite its popularity online, much of the outside world remained oblivious to the interest romance readers had in hockey specifically.
“Having these mainstream shows come out on HBO feels like it never would have happened five years ago,” said Mulroy.
The genre features both queer and straight romance. But for Mulroy, who mainly reads the queer romances, the genre really showcases the classic saying, “we’re here, we’re queer.”
“Having queer representation is important,” said Mulroy. For queer people outside of hockey, “you are being represented by something you don’t see in real life.”
Lovestruck has seen the impact of “Heated Rivalry” in the sales of its hockey romance books. When their copies of the book eventually sold out, the bookstore had to give people more options like the “HIM” series by Serena Bowen and Elle Kennedy, and the “Pucking Around” series by Emily Rath. The sale of those books also skyrocketed as people rushed to scratch their new “itch” according to Mulroy.
At the ice rink, Hockey Romance Night gave people interested in hockey romances, as well as hockey itself, a place to gather and get to know each other. The genre itself has a predominantly female and queer audience, many of whom found more representation and comradery through the novels.
Kelsey Sweet, owner of the upcycled sports apparel company Renew Clothing and Co., tabled at the event. She grew up as a hockey fan and currently has season tickets to Bruins games. Sweet got into hockey romance with both the “Heated Rivalry” show and book series.
Through the popularity of the novels, she’s seen a lot of women getting into the sport and this event helped her connect with those women.
“Its fun to meet and talk to other people about their interest in hockey,” Sweet said.
Nichole Bekerian, another vendor selling permanent jewelry, used to play hockey as a kid when there weren’t many girls playing the sport. Now, she’s seen a boom in girls playing hockey locally.
“Whatever it takes to get more fans, I’m a fan of,” Bekerian said.
This story is part of a partnership between Cambridge Day and the Boston University Department of Journalism.
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