If you have been living under a rock or not following me or everyone else on social media, or haven’t had one conversation with me after Thanksgiving, the biggest thing (and I’m not exaggerating) is the TV Series (based on the book series of Game Changers) called Heated Rivalry.
It’s….all I care about right now (when I’m disassociating, that is.)
I’ve talked about it already in my On My Mind Newsletter last week, but honestly, I’m talking about and thinking about this show everyday….so what’s another newsletter gonna hurt.1
And also, if you are my actual friend irl, you already know I’m very deep2 into Hockey Romance. Like, I have so many hockey romance books in this house, it’s unreal.3
This genre is 1 part genius and another part very lucrative. All an author has to do is build one fake ass hockey team [or in the case of the Game Changers series, a whole ass league] with a bunch of players…and then each of them on the team gets their on book.
See?! Genius.
I’ve already told you some of my favorites…so I won’t repeat those here. 4
Which leads me to one of the best jobs I had last year where all my loves were combined.
Last year, I Produced spots for PNC Bank, Arnold Worldwide, Mssng Peces and with the Dallas Stars.
And baby…we had a time.
First, let’s put some rumors to rest
…these were not AI. We spent the day with some of my favorite players, in ridiculous wigs, and made art.
Yeah…Art.
We shot a ton of photos5 and also these goofy spots. (God, I love my job.)6
And more importantly, they had fun too.
Since we were working with players, a Rep from the Players Union was with us on the shoot and even spent time with us off the set. And I just so happened to be lucky enough to sit next to him at dinner one night.
And you already know what I asked him…
“So…how do the players feel about this huge boom in hockey romance novels?”
“I heard someone talking about this…Is that really a thing?”
“Oh….sweet baby Canadian…..you have no idea….”
This is of course before Heated Rivalry came out on TV screens….so they did have a warning from me! Haha and he is welcome.
We shot these spots for one reason only…
We were gonna mullet the town.
For two days, months later, we handed out thousands of mullets to Stars fans (and some none Stars fans that I bullied into taking a few).
It was an outrageous job and 10/10 would do again.
I’m mad the Stars will be leaving Dallas proper in a few years, but my love for them will always burn.7
Okay, rapid answers to questions I know someone will have
Yes, Robo was snubbed…and Team America should be constantly publicly shamed for that. If we do not medal….I will never shut up about not having the TOP AMERICAN scorer on the USA men’s hockey team. Like…….
They were all nice. Even the organization.
None of them took a mullet home, but I tried.
Mighty Ducks is how I got into Hockey. Not my Canadian ex-boyfriend.
As far as sports prima donna’s on set go8, the order is
Who to watch during the Olympics on the Hockey side? Easy.
My favorite Hockey Players? In this order11
Mike Modano
Jamie Benn
Charlie Conway
Jason Robertson
Tyler Seguin12
Shane Hollander
Ilya Rozanov
Aiden Crawford
Tristan Stiles
Elias Westbrook
Russ Tyler
One more thing
The dope ass creatives behind this whole damn thing — from wigs to scripts to the mullet installation we built and put up for just two days, were just named two of the 92 creatives to watch in 2026.
And quite right. This whole team was such a joy to work with and I hope to work with them forever.
Go Stars!
Go Team USA!
And write season 2 of Heated Rivalry faster, Jacob!
Anyone have a beer league team I can join? Just thinking out loud…
If this is a cult, leave me be. I’m happy.
All puns are intended on this page. For the record.
Also have talked about this ad nauseam.
Stills by Will Graham
Shot by the legendary: New York Nico
In the 2nd grade, we did a choir concert and sang Candle in the Water from Pete’s Dragon w/ Miss New Mexico 1988 — and yeah, that song still lives rent free in my head. We even learned sign language for this song. And now you know my party trick.
I’m basing this on riders, on set asks, and rules we’ve been asked to follow when they are on set.
Except Lamar Jackson. He’s so dope. And also JJ Watt. God, do I miss doing JJ Watt jobs.
Dying to do a WNBA spot too. Need to crack jokes with Big Daddy Paige one time on set!
Some of these are fictitious. Deal with it.
Honestly, on lore alone. lol
You're so punny!
Go, Stars!