In the wake of HBO Max’s unexpected success with Heated Rivalry, other streaming services started clamoring for a hockey romance adaptation of their very own.
Prime Video’s Off Campus series may have filmed the first season prior to Heated Rivalry’s premiere, but the show capitalized on hockey romances entering the cultural zeitgeist, and now Netflix has scooped up its own version.
Netflix announced this week that it is set to adapt Hannah Grace’s Icebreaker, which is the first book in her three-book Maple Hill series, and not only features a love story between an ice skater and an NHL hopeful, but is full of spicy sex scenes.
Grace’s popular book was released in 2022 before spending 70 consecutive weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, selling close to 5 million copies, and going viral on BookTok.
For queer audiences, none of these heterosexual hockey romances will come close to touching Heated Rivalry, but if Off Campus taught us anything, it’s that the hunky actors and steamy scenes made it worth tuning in.
What is 'Icebreaker' about?
Icebreaker.
Atria Books
Netflix’s upcoming Icebreaker television series will follow the enemies-to-lovers college sport romance between a figure skater working toward a spot at the top of the Olympic podium and a college hockey captain hoping to go pro, who are forced to share the ice when there is a problem with the facilities.
"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 and some popular romance tropes like grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity, and hurt/comfort.
Icebreaker is the first book in the Maple Hill series, but it’s unclear if more of the novels will get adapted if the show is picked up for a follow-up season.
What do we know about the show?
Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper will be producing the series for Netflix with her media company Unwell Network.
The streaming behemoth has yet to release a premiere date or cast list, but it’s 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, best known for Gossip Girl, The Bold Type, and Riverdale, will be acting as showrunner, writing scripts, and executive producing 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 people responding to the news?
When Heated Rivalry first blew up, a lot of fans predicted that Hollywood would take home the wrong message about the success of the sleeper hit and instead of seeking out more queer love stories, the industry would hyper-focus on hockey romances (as though hockey was the reason we were all glued to our TVs every week).
As soon as news dropped that Netflix was adapting Icebreaker, a heterosexual hockey romance, Heated Rivalry fans came out in droves to complain that Hollywood had learned “the incorrect lesson” and begged for more queer representation on TV.
See the reactions below.
