Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Kayleigh Donaldson | Miscellaneous | October 1, 2026
Over the past few years, the popularity of hockey has grown for a number of reasons, one of which is its prominence in sports-themed romance novels. 2026 saw the unexpected mega-success of two TV series centred on hockey players: Heated Rivalry and Off-Campus, both adapted from successful novels. The popularity of the former led to a major spike in first-time visitors to NHL games. It presented the National Hockey League with an intriguing conundrum: how do they build upon this growth and retain it with a fanbase they have traditionally not thought much of? Their solution? Uh… Hot for Hockey RPF stories.
CMO Sean Eggert announced the marketing effort, which will offer a series of short stories on audiobook platforms throughout the season that present real-life NHL storylines in the style of romance novels. They have contracted popular authors in the hockey romance genre to write and narrate them. They are micro-dramas, about 60 to 90 seconds long, and will feature players like Jack Eichel, Connor McDavid, and Sebastian Aho. There won’t be any romance, but the style and tone will be romantic in nature. Said Eggert, “This is an audience that picks up this tonality in a really meaningful way and is going to have a younger cohort lean in and start to share and hopefully take action.”
So, this sucks, right? Did the NHL learn NOTHING from the Kraken drama? For those who missed that: a few years ago, a bunch of BookTokers latched onto the Seattle Kraken as the representation of their romance ideals. One prominent influencer was especially sexual in her comments towards player Alex Wennberg, yelling “Crack my back” and such at him during a game. Wennberg’s wife called out the sexual harassment and the influencer and her buddies called the wife a Karen. It was a gross mess that we were all supposed to learn our lessons from, but apparently, the NHL decided to use it as an instructional manual. You don’t think writing fanfic about players and encouraging people to get intimately attached to them will end poorly?
It seems to be a poor deal for the authors too. Emily Rath, a bestselling hockey romance author whose work is often cited as a key part of the genre’s boost in popularity, says she was contacted and asked to participate but “I have never turned down an offer so fast.” She says the pitch to writers was full of “open mocking of our genre” and “AI cover[s].” Rath added, “They [the NHL] want romance authors to help rehabilitate their image. But this isn’t collaboration!! They don’t care about us.” Another author, Chelsea Curto, said she turned down the chance to participate because ” strongly believe mixing fictional worlds + real-life ones is a recipe for disaster, and one I want no part of. I’m also vehemently anti-AI. It has no spot in the art world.”
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The only author who seems to have put their name to the campaign right now is C.R. Jane, who defended her decision on Facebook by saying that the prose, artwork, and audio narration were not done with AI. She also says that the pieces were approved by the players themselves.
It’s nice to be pandered to now and then but as a romance reader who loves the sport, I find this whole thing so condescending. Oh look ladies, with your silly love stories and girly approach to our big macho sport, do you want some crumbs? Because you’re clearly not interested in hockey for the love of the game or any “legitimate” reasons, right? And it’s such a misunderstanding of why people enjoy Heated Rivalry and Off-Campus. Those are shows about relationships, community, and emotional intensity. Hockey comes second.
Being a woman who loves hockey is to frequently be reminded that you love something that doesn’t love you back. Even by the low standards of sports, hockey is a cesspool of misogyny. Accused rapists are signed to big-money contracts, Pride nights are being cancelled left and right, and Olympians are partying with Trump. I know a lot of women and queer people who have gone to NHL games and felt maligned or derided by the bro-ey crowds. What is needed is a cultural change and it’s one the NHL is clearly not interested in. They could foster a more welcoming environment to those new fans but they’d rather reinforce a rotten status quo while still asking for our money. Oh, you want the Pride nights back and all those accused rapists off the team? You want an anti-abuse policy? The best we can do is some silly fanfic, but don’t worry, we’ll still mock you for it. We’ll still perpetuate the notion that you’re too shallow to really appreciate the sport, thus allowing all the gross dudes we coddle to dismiss your fandom.
One of the best things about Heated Rivalry and Rachel Reid’s books is that she makes abundantly clear that the NHL are the villains. They’re the ones who foster a toxic environment of macho stupidity, homophobia, and overwork that leaves players broken and alone. It’s not the organisation who makes Ilya and Shane happy. It’s themselves. The NHL was handed a golden opportunity to build something major and they just sh*t the bed repeatedly. Why would any half-decent romance fan want to help them make the mess worse?
