'Heated Rivalry' Is Bringing Me Back To Hockey | Defector

"The "Game Changers" books, I knew, were set in a world more like ours-one where no NHL player, active or retired, has ever come out publicly as any flavor of queer. In 2021, Luke Prokop became the first out player under contract with an NHL team, and later the first out player to be active in the minor-league AHL. His NHL contract has since lapsed, and in August he was signed to a one-year contract with the Bakersfield Condors."

"I was hesitant to spend that much time-six books' worth!-wallowing around with sad boys in the closet. Still, I placed a library hold on the first book in the series, Game Changer (the events of which were covered in episodes three and five of the TV adaptation of Heated Rivalry). I read it quickly and didn't wait around in any Libby lineups for the next one-instead, I bought the entire series immediately, and settled in to binge it all."

The narrator initially hesitated to read Rachel Reid's Game Changers series due to concern about spending time with closeted, sorrowful characters. One earlier standalone, Time to Shine, is set in an imagined world without meaningful homophobia where prominent male hockey players are openly queer. By contrast, the Game Changers novels are set in a world resembling reality where no NHL player has publicly come out. Luke Prokop's 2021 milestone as the first out player under an NHL contract and later AHL activity is noted, along with his subsequent contract changes. The narrator overcame hesitation, purchased and reread the series, and found healing in the characters, humor, and steaminess.

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