Two New Leads Join the Expanding Hockey Drama
The gay hockey drama Heated Rivalry has locked in its next central couple. Daniel Diemer and Shaheen Jafargholi have been cast as Ryan Price and Fabian Salah, respectively, in Season 2 of the Crave and HBO Max series — completing what is shaping up to be a substantial ensemble expansion for the show's upcoming run [1].
The announcement, made August 25, adds two prominent young actors to a cast that already includes Justice Smith, Charlie Gillespie, Emily Hampshire, Edvin Ryding, Robert Naylor, Sabrina Jalees and Priyanka, alongside returning stars Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams [1][2].
Who Are Ryan and Fabian?
In Rachel Reid's Game Changers book series, Ryan Price is a frequently traded Canadian NHL player whose toughness on the ice masks real struggles with anxiety and body image off it [1]. Fabian Salah is a Lebanese Canadian indie musician who is openly gay [1]. Their love story is the driving force of Tough Guy, the third novel in Reid's series [2].
The television adaptation, however, is not a direct page-to-screen transfer of that book. Season 2 is primarily based on The Long Game, the sixth novel in the series, which follows returning leads Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov as they navigate a committed relationship while keeping their feelings hidden from the public [2]. Series creator Jacob Tierney has also confirmed that Role Model — a concurrent novel in Reid's universe — will serve as additional source material, providing the backbone for Troy Barrett's storyline with Ottawa's social media manager Harris Drover, played by Justice Smith [2].
Ryan and Fabian's story threads into this larger tapestry. In the books, Ryan plays on the Toronto team alongside fellow Season 2 additions Troy Barrett, portrayed by Charlie Gillespie, and Wyatt Hayes, portrayed by Robert Naylor — though both Troy and Wyatt eventually move to Ottawa to play alongside Ilya [2]. Notably, Ryan was not entirely absent from Season 1: he received a brief mention during a conversation between Shane and Ilya, the latter having spent a season playing with Ryan in Boston [2].
Emily Hampshire and Priyanka, meanwhile, have been cast as Vanessa and Tarek — Fabian's best friends in Tough Guy — further anchoring the new couple within the show's existing social world [2].
The Actors Behind the Roles
Diemer brings a growing profile to the role of Ryan. He is perhaps best known to younger audiences as Tyson in the second season of Disney+'s Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which aired in 2025, and as Paul in the 2020 Netflix film The Half of It [1][2]. Jafargholi arrives with his own notable recent credits: he appeared in Season 2 of the Paramount+ series The Agency and is set to feature in War, which premieres on HBO and Sky in October [1][2]. His earlier work also includes Lost Boys and Fairies [2].
Showrunners Jacob Tierney and executive producer Brendan Brady spoke to the specific challenge of casting these two roles. "Fabian and Ryan each bring a distinctive energy to the world Rachel Reid has created," they said in a joint statement. "They are bold, complicated, and deeply compelling characters, and finding actors who could really take on all of those different sides was so important to us. Daniel and Shaheen bring such confidence and emotional honesty to the roles." [1][2]
The Show's Expanding Universe
Heated Rivalry launched as an adaptation of the second Game Changers novel — also titled Heated Rivalry — centering on the complicated situationship between Shane and Ilya, two generational hockey talents and sworn on-ice rivals [2]. The first novel in Reid's series, Game Changers, served as secondary source material for that debut season, with its characters Scott Hunter and Kip Grady appearing in supporting capacities [2].
Season 2 marks a significant broadening of scope. Where the first season kept its focus relatively tight on Shane and Ilya's push-and-pull dynamic, the new season is weaving together storylines from multiple books simultaneously — a structural shift that required assembling a considerably larger cast.
The series is written and directed by Tierney, who serves as executive producer alongside Brady and Jayme Alter Wilson [1]. Lori Fischburg and Liane Cunje are producers, with Reid herself serving as consulting producer [1]. Mike Goldbach is a co-writer on Season 2 [1]. The show is produced by Accent Aigu Entertainment in association with Bell Media, with Bell's Sphere Abacus handling international distribution [1][2].
What to Watch
Season 2 of Heated Rivalry is set to premiere in spring 2027 [1]. With the core cast now largely assembled — Diemer and Jafargholi join Williams, Storrie, Gillespie and Smith in leading roles [2] — attention will turn to production timelines and whether any further supporting cast announcements follow. Viewers familiar with Reid's books will also be watching to see how Tierney balances the multiple narrative threads drawn from The Long Game and Role Model, and how much of Tough Guy's emotional arc for Ryan and Fabian survives the translation to a season structured around a different primary novel.
