Heated Rivalry Season 2 Adds Daniel Diemer and Shaheen Jafargholi as New Leading Pair
Daniel Diemer and Shaheen Jafargholi have joined the cast of Heated Rivalry Season 2, taking on the roles of Ryan Price and Fabian Salah, according to Deadline. The second season of the hockey drama launches in spring 2027 on Crave in Canada and HBO in the United States.
Ryan and Fabian's love story is the heart of Tough Guy, the third novel in Rachel Reid's Game Changers book series, which the television adaptation draws from. Ryan Price was name-checked briefly in season one, during a conversation between the show's central couple Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, when Ilya spent a season playing in Boston. Now he steps into the foreground.
Diemer is best known for playing Paul in Netflix's The Half of It, per The Hollywood Reporter. Jafargholi's credits include the series War, as well as starring roles in The Agency and Lost Boys and Fairies.
The Season 2 ensemble is large. Hudson Williams, Connor Storrie, Justice Smith, and Charlie Gillespie hold leading roles, with Emily Hampshire, Edvin Ryding, Robert Naylor, and Sabrina Jalees also in the cast, per Deadline. Charlie Gillespie plays Troy Barrett and Robert Naylor plays Wyatt Hayes — both Toronto teammates of Ryan's in the Tough Guy storyline. Troy and Wyatt eventually move to Ottawa and play alongside Ilya Rozanov.
The show's structure follows Reid's novels in order. Season one adapted the second book in the Game Changers series, also called Heated Rivalry, focusing on Shane and Ilya's situationship — an undefined relationship that sits somewhere between casual and committed. The first novel, centring on Scott Hunter (François Arnaud) and Kip Grady (Robbie G.K.), served as secondary material for season one.
Season two pulls from two books at once. The Long Game, the sixth novel in the series, continues Shane and Ilya's story with the pair in a committed relationship while hiding their feelings in public. Role Model, which takes place concurrently with The Long Game, follows Troy Barrett's romance with Harris Drover, played by Justice Smith.
Behind the camera, co-creators Jacob Tierney and Brendan Brady produce through their company Accent Aigu Entertainment, in association with Bell Media. Tierney serves as writer, director, and executive producer, with Brady and Jayme Alter Wilson also executive producing. Lori Fischburg and Liane Cunje are producers, book author Rachel Reid is a consulting producer, and Mike Goldbach is co-writer. Bell Media's Crave ordered the season with participation from the Canada Media Fund, and Bell's Sphere Abacus handles international distribution.
For fans of the books, the casting of Diemer and Jafargholi means one of the series' most anticipated romances is finally taking shape on screen — with a spring 2027 delivery.
