Meet the Alum Who Helped Bring ‘Heated Rivalry’ to TV Screens

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By Beth Saulnier

In late January 2026, Justin Stockman, MBA ’09, found himself shaking hands with the prime minister of Canada, Mark Carney. The occasion? Not a trade deal or a diplomatic tête-à-tête—but a chance for Carney to praise one of the hottest shows on TV, which Stockman helped bring to life.

Stockman is an executive producer of “Heated Rivalry,” the Canadian-made series that has taken the streaming world by storm since it debuted in late 2025.

Seen on HBO Max in the U.S. (and on the Crave streaming service in Canada), it follows the relationship—professional, sexual, and eventually romantic—between two world-class male hockey players: Shane, a shy and even-tempered Canadian, and the bombastic-but-sensitive Ilya, who's Russian.

“The prime minister decided to come meet the cast, which was great, since this is such a big Canadian series,” Stockman says of the encounter at a media conference in Ottawa. “We believe it’s probably the biggest Canadian series ever.”

A career entertainment executive, Stockman is vice president for content development and programming at Bell Media, Crave’s corporate parent.

“Heated Rivalry” isn’t its first hit outside Canada; other well-performing shows viewable in the U.S. include the Hulu comedy “Letterkenny” and its spinoff “Shoresy,” as well as the drama “Sullivan’s Crossing” and the family sitcom “Children Ruin Everything,” both on the CW.

But “Heated Rivalry”—which is based on Rachel Reid’s bestselling, erotically graphic series of queer hockey romances—has become a phenomenon, attracting global headlines and Olympic shout-outs.

We believe it’s probably the biggest Canadian series ever.

It even got a rave from NHL commissioner and ILR alum Gary Bettman ’74, who reported binging all six episodes and called the storyline “very compelling and a lot of fun.”

And when the Ottawa Senators released hockey jerseys emblazoned with the last names of the two lead characters, they sold out almost instantly.

“We knew it was a good show, and we were pretty confident it was going to do well—but ‘do well’ can mean a lot of different things,” Stockman observes.

“We thought maybe it would get some press, and we were excited when it sold to HBO because it would help elevate it in the U.S. But we weren’t sure how many people would watch it, or where it would land. It has obviously outdone all our expectations.”

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An Ontario native, Stockman studied fine arts at Toronto’s York University and was still an undergrad when he got his foot in the door of the media business with a job as a tour guide at a major TV station.

He steadily worked his way up; meanwhile, the station became part of the broadcast network CTV, which was later acquired by Bell.

Stockman earned his MBA through a joint program between Cornell and Canada’s Queen's University, an accelerated course geared toward working professionals.

For the past five years, he has overseen Bell’s English-language entertainment content (there’s also a separate French division)—helping to shepherd Canadian-made programs from concept to reality.

NHL commissioner and ILR alum Gary Bettman ’74 reported binging all six episodes and called the storyline “very compelling and a lot of fun.”

“I do not get to have that much fun,” Stockman says with a laugh. “Most of my day is meetings, PowerPoint decks, and Excel spreadsheets. I’m looking at the numbers and making sure that things make sense from a business standpoint.”

Stockman remains connected to the creative side, though, particularly for a new show—visiting the set, reviewing scripts, and approving casting.

“Heated Rivalry,” he notes, used some novel production methods—including a “volume wall,” in which backgrounds are provided in real time by a giant, curved LED screen.

For instance, in the scene where Shane is sitting in an ice cream shop during the Sochi Olympics, and some fellow players pass by and join him: “That was using the full virtual wall,” Stockman says. “They were in Toronto, in front of a screen.”

The show has already been renewed for a second season; Stockman says it will hew closely to Reid’s book The Long Game, which continues Shane and Ilya’s romance.

“There was a bit of a trope that a hockey show might sell just in the Nordic region and maybe in the U.S.—but our first sale for ‘Heated Rivalry’ was to Australia and New Zealand,” Stockman recalls. “If the characters are authentic and real, you’ll find your entry point and relate to it.”

There was a bit of a trope that a hockey show might sell just in the Nordic region and maybe in the U.S.—but our first sale for ‘Heated Rivalry’ was to Australia and New Zealand.

The show—Bell’s biggest global success to date—arrives at a time when Canadian-made programming is reaching a broader audience, Stockman notes.

While the nation’s TV industry might once have been better known in the U.S. as a venue for American-set series seeking lower production costs, shows like “Heated Rivalry” feature quintessentially Canadian stories, characters, and settings.

“Hollywood—which really was the engine of entertainment—has definitely scaled back the number of shows it’s producing; there has been so much change with mergers, potential mergers, and restructuring that there’s a bit of decision slowdown on green-lighting new programs,” Stockman says. “We think this is our moment to harness all that great Canadian talent, and export it in a bigger way around the world.”

Top: Stockman (center) with the stars of "Heated Rivalry," Hudson Williams (left) and Connor Storrie. Stockman is wearing the jersey of the show's fictional Boston Raiders. (Bell Media)

Published February 18, 2026

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