‘Heated Rivalry’ Casts Zane Boodram & More: Your Guide to All Season 2 Characters
Heated Rivalry has filled its Ottawa Centaurs roster and added a few more new faces to boot!
On September 16, Season 2 of the Crave hockey romance revealed who’s playing beloved veteran player Zane Boodram. The actor playing villain Dallas Kent — renamed Cody Kent in the series, diverging from Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series — was also revealed. Four more actors and characters were included in the casting announcement.
Season 2 will follow author Rachel Reid’s The Long Game, a continuation of Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov’s (Connor Storrie) romance. Still playing professional hockey, Shane and Ilya are keeping their relationship a secret. The latter faces the challenge of captaining the dysfunctional, sweet Centaurs while managing his worsening mental health.
Key characters from Reid’s books, including Tough Guy‘s Ryan Price and Fabian Salah and Role Model’s Troy Barrett and Harris Drover, have also been cast since Season 2 production started. With so many new people in the mix and Season 1 actors returning, Swooon has created a full guide to every actor and character in Season 2.
Heated Rivalry, Season 2, TBA 2027, Crave & HBO Max
New: Brendan Morgan as Zane Boodram
F*** Marry Kill star Brendan Morgan will play Zane Boodram, the Centaurs’ lovable veteran player. Prior to Heated Rivalry, Morgan appeared in a handful of Hallmark projects, including the Hearts Around the Table franchise. He was also in Bachelor in Paradise Canada. Growing up near Toronto, Morgan used to be an athlete, playing football before he transitioned into modeling. He told the Hallmarkies podcast that he got his first audition for a film as a result.
New: David Tomlinson as Cody Kent
Canadian actor David Tomlinson is taking on the role of Cody Kent, whose name has been changed from Reid’s series. The antagonistic character is Dallas Kent in the books. He’s the bully star of the Toronto Guardians hockey team, where he plays with Ryan and Troy. Dallas is accused of sexual assault, but faces no repercussions from the league.
Tomlinson is familiar with villain roles, having played the main antagonist in the 2025 reboot of the 1984’s Silent Night, Deadly Night. The actor also known for his role as Eddie in Fellow Travelers.
New: Gerry Dee as Coach Cooper
Gerry Dee, a Toronto-raised actor known for starring in the sitcom Mr. D, is playing the bigoted head coach of the Toronto Guardians. Coach Cooper sides with Dallas Kent after his sexual assault allegations surface.
A stand-up comedian, Dee is also the host of Family Feud Canada. He also has hockey experience, playing in college and becoming a high school PE teacher before launching his comedy career.
New: Michelle Mylett as Lisa Hayes
Letterkenny crossover! Michelle Mylett, who plays Katy on Tierney’s other Crave series, will play Lisa Hayes, the wife of Centaurs goalie Wyatt. She’s a doctor, and Wyatt frequently visits her hospital with the other players for charity. Mylett, who hails from Canada, was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for her leading Letterkenny role.
New: Lauren Chan as Gen
Model Lauren Chan, who was the first out lesbian to appear on a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover in 2025, will play Gen, the Centaurs’ photographer and friend of Harris. After starting her career as a fashion journalist, Chan made it to the finale of The Traitors Canada, with appearances on Canada’s Drag Race and Project Runway. She recently had a cameo in The Devil Wears Prada 2.
New: Nick Stahl as Curtis Barrett
Curtis Barrett, Troy’s bigoted father, will be portrayed by Texas-born actor Nick Stahl. Stahl started his career as a child actor, known for his early role in 1993’s The Man Without a Face. He’s earned a number of credits since, including Let the Right One In and Terminator 3. He recently appeared in Hulu’s Tiny Beautiful Things.
New: Kevin Zegers as Coach Wiebe
Kevin Zegers, best known for appearing in the Air Bud franchise during his childhood, will bring Coach Wiebe to life. The 41-year-old Canadian actor will appear in Season 2 as the new coach of the Ottawa Centaurs, a former NHL forward himself but untested as a coach. He’s a supportive, insightful figure to his players, including Ilya. Fun fact: Zegers, a friend of Heated Rivalry creator Jacob Tierney, helped teach Storrie how to play hockey for Season 1.
New: Paul Gross as Commissioner Roger Crowell
Every story needs its villain, and in the Heated Rivalry world, one of them is the corrupt MLH Commissioner Roger Crowell. The character will be played by Paul Gross, a 67-year-old Canadian actor best known for the TV series Due South. We won’t dive into too many spoilers about his character’s role in The Long Game, but let’s just say he represents all the systemic problems in professional hockey.
New: Milla Jovovich as Dr. Galina Molchalina
Dr. Galina Molchalina, a Russian psychologist based in Ottawa, helps Ilya work through his trauma and diagnoses his depression. Milla Jovovich will portray the character in Season 2. The 50-year-old Serbian-Russian actress is a former model and is best known for the Resident Evil franchise.
Returning: François Arnaud as Scott Hunter
After months of speculation, François Arnaud has confirmed that he’ll once again appear as New York Admirals hockey captain Scott Hunter. He gets his happy ending by kissing his boyfriend on live TV in Season 1 — it’s the ending of the book Game Changer, which plays out in Season 1’s Episode 3. The 41-year-old Canadian actor, who’s also known for The Borgias, Midnight, Texas, and more, told WWD, “I can tell you that there’s more of Scott, but I can’t tell you in what capacity… But there’s definitely more of Scott and Kip.”
Scott a does have a minor role in The Long Game, acting as a supportive friend to Shane and Ilya after a pivotal moment. He also appears in more of Reid’s books when he becomes the co-owner of the Kingfisher bar, which Kip frequents with his friends in Season 1 of Heated Rivalry. Even Ilya makes a few appearances there eventually, including in Role Model.
Returning: Robbie G.K. as Kip Grady
Arnaud confirmed Robbie G.K.‘s return as Scott’s smoothie barista boyfriend, Kip Grady, just ahead of Season 2 filming. The role is the 30-year-old Canadian actor’s biggest to date, though he also appears in Overcompensating Season 1. His Heated Rivalry character makes cameos across several Game Changers books — the grad school student bartends at the Kingfisher alongside his best friend, Kyle (Matthew Finlan), who becomes the lead in Reid’s Common Goal. Kip appears very briefly at the Kingfisher when Ilya and Troy visit in Role Model. Ilya only mentions the outing in passing to Shane, hence it not fully playing out in The Long Game. Considering the overlapped timelines, it’s certainly possible the scene will make its way into the show.
Returning: Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova as Svetlana Vetrova
Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova, the 23-year-old Canadian actress who plays Ilya’s Russian friend and on-again-off-again hookup, is returning for Season 2. Svetlana does appear briefly in The Long Game, meeting up with Ilya after years of no contact. Since moving to Ottawa, Ilya has become withdrawn from everyone. The book version of Svetlana, however, isn’t Ilya’s friend from childhood like she is in the show. It’s possible she’ll have a greater presence in Season 2 due to their more extensive history. Time will tell.
Returning: Sophie Nélisse as Rose Landry
Yellowjackets star Sophie Nélisse, who plays Shane’s actress girlfriend Rose Landry in Season 1, will reprise her role in Season 2. Rose continues to support Shane as his friendly confidant in the sequel book. She’s one of the few people who knows the truth about his relationship with Ilya. She’s currently filming Netflix’s This Summer Will Be Different adaptation.
Returning: Christina Chang as Yuna Hollander
Christina Chang, who’s best known for The Good Doctor, portrays Shane’s perfectionist manager and loving mother in Season 1. Though it comes as no surprise to The Long Game readers, the 55-year-old actress confirmed Yuna’s involvement in Season 2 during an interview with Glamour. After Shane and Ilya reveal their relationship (albeit accidentally) to Shane’s parents at the end of Heated Rivalry, Yuna remains supportive of her son and grows closer to Ilya, who now lives nearby playing for the Ottawa Centaurs.
Returning: Dylan Walsh as David Hollander
Similar to Chang, fans had no question that Dylan Walsh, who plays Shane’s sweet, quiet dad, would return for Season 2. The 62-year-old actor, whose biggest project prior to Heated Rivalry was FX’s Nip/Tuck, confirmed he would soon be on the Season 2 set in a Cameo fan video. His character serves a similar role to Yuna in The Long Game, acting as a support system for Shane and Ilya, the latter whom he also develops a close bond with.
Returning: Callan Potter as Hayden Pike
Callan Potter, who plays Shane’s best friend and Metros teammate in Season 1, will have an even greater role in Season 2. In an interview with Popternative, Potter said he was “looking forward to spending more time as Hayden.” On August 10, the 28-year-old shared an Instagram Story of himself wearing skates, all but confirming he’d started filming for Season 2.
Hayden is heavily involved in The Long Game. In Heated Rivalry’s epilogue, which isn’t in Season 1, Hayden figures out that Shane’s in a relationship with Ilya. Though Hayden is reluctant and prickly toward Ilya at first — which is depicted in greatest detail in Reid’s bonus short story, “My Dinner with Hayden” — he comes around. Both Shane and Ilya spend time with Hayden, his wife Jackie, and their kids in The Long Game. Hayden is also one of the few teammates in Shane’s corner after he comes out as gay.
Returning: Kamilla Kowal as Jackie Pike
Kamilla Kowal, who is known for Tierney’s Letterkenny, briefly appears as Hayden’s wife in Season 1. She will return to her role in Season 2. In The Long Game, Jackie becomes a friend to Shane like her husband is. Compared to Hayden, Jackie is more supportive when it comes to Shane’s choice of partner, at least at first. She, too, is featured in the “My Dinner with Hayden” short story, which sees Shane and Ilya have an awkward dinner party with the Pikes.
Returning: Benjamin Roy as Jean-Jacques "J.J." Dagenais
Benjamin Roy, who portrays Shane’s boisterous teammate and friend J.J. in Season 1, is bringing his character back in Season 2. J.J. is also one of the few Metros that remain friendly to Shane after he comes out. Though, unlike Hayden, Shane keeps J.J. in the dark about his involvement with Ilya. Roy confirmed he was gearing up to film Season 2 in an August 10 Instagram Story.
Returning: Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov
To the surprise of absolutely no one, breakout star Connor Storrie will reprise his role as Ilya Rozanov in Season 2. The Texas-born 26-year-old actor became beloved by fans around the world for his performance as the complex Russian hockey player. In Season 2, Storrie — who has a number of feature films coming up, including thriller Turpentine, A24 drama Please, and comedy Peaked — is expected to have even more to do than Season 1. Ilya takes a greater focus over Shane in the sequel as he grapples with depression, captaining a struggling team, and hiding his relationship. Read the plot rundown for a greater idea of what to expect from Storrie’s performance in Season 2.
Returning: Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander
You already know that Hudson Williams, who also broke out onto the acting scene with Heated Rivalry, will bring Shane Hollander back to the screen. Before he landed roles in big films like Apparatus and Tyrant — those have yet to come out, as well as TV projects like Netflix’s The Altruists and Crave’s Yaga — Williams stole hearts as the anxious but fiercely competitive hockey player. In Season 2, the 25-year-old, Vancouver-based actor is expected to depict Shane’s experience after coming out to his Montreal teammates. They know he’s gay, but not that he’s in a relationship with Ilya. Meanwhile, Ilya keeps Shane in the dark about his true feelings, causing friction in their relationship.
New: Charlie Gillespie as Troy Barrett
Charlie Gillespie’s Troy Barrett isn’t having an easy go of it when we meet him, either. The closeted Troy’s story plays out in Reid’s Role Model, which has an overlapping timeline with The Long Game. When he played for the Toronto Guardians, Troy was one of the league bullies alongside his then-best friend, Dallas. But when Dallas is accused of sexual assault by multiple women and Troy calls him out publicly, Troy is traded to the Centaurs. When he meets Ilya and the team, he’s withdrawn and depressed, also due to the fact that his secret boyfriend recently broke up with him.
Now, the actor bringing him to life is 27-year-old Gillespie, who’s also a singer and hails from Canada like his character. He’s primarily worked in the teen drama space, with roles on Degrassi: Next Class, the reboot of Charmed, and Netflix’s Julie and the Phantoms. He’s also worked on feature films like Sidelined 2: Intercepted and One Night Only.
New: Justice Smith as Harris Drover
There’s a good chance you’ve seen Justice Smith, who will appear in Season 2 as Harris, before. After breaking out with Netflix’s 2016 series The Get Down, Smith has appeared in major movies like the Jurassic World series, I Saw the TV Glow, Detective Pikachu, and Now You See Me: Now You Don’t. The 30-year-old Los Angeles-born actor has dozens of credits under his belt.
His character, Role Model‘s co-lead, is the Ottawa Centaurs’ friendly social media manager. Harris, who grew up a hockey fan and on a nearby apple orchard with his family, is loved by everyone in the Centaurs organization. He’s had multiple heart surgeries since birth due to a heart defect and struggles with people thinking he’s weaker than he is. Harris grows close to the closed-off Troy when he joins the team, helping the hockey player become secure in himself.
New: Daniel Diemer as Ryan Price
Daniel Diemer will play Ryan Price in Season 2 of Heated Rivalry. The character was briefly mentioned in Season 1. Without revealing too much, Ryan and Fabian’s have a long history, stemming back to when they were teenagers.
The 30-year-old actor, who is a Canadian native, is best known for playing Tyson in Percy Jackson and the Olympians. He also played Paul in Netflix’s The Half of It.
New: Shaheen Jafargholi as Fabian Salah
Welsh actor Shaheen Jafargholi will step into the role of Fabian Salah, the charming musician who captures Ryan Price’s heart.
The 29-year-old actor and singer has been acting since a young age, with roles in EastEnders and Casualty. He’ll star alongside Sienna Miller and Dominic West in the upcoming HBO series War. He competed on Britain’s Got Talent in 2009 and came in seventh place.
New: Edvin Ryding as Luca Haas
After being fancast as Luca Haas by readers for months, it’s official: Edvin Ryding is playing the Swiss Ottawa Centaurs player. Luca is a talented 20-year-old player who looks up to Ilya, who takes Luca under his wing. Ryding, 23, hails from Sweden. He’s best known for starring in Netflix’s Swedish gay romance series Young Royals.
New: Robert Naylor as Wyatt Hayes
Sweet goalie Wyatt Hayes becomes one of Ilya’s closest friends when he joins the Centaurs, and now we know who’s bringing the beloved character to life: 30-year-old Canadian actor Robert Naylor. Naylor is best known for his voice acting, playing D.W., the younger sister of the titular aardvark in the PBS series Arthur. He’s also had roles in the cop drama 19-2, the mythology film Immortals, and the Emily Osment-led Cyberbully.
Also, Wyatt has a history with fellow Centaur Troy Barrett, playing for Toronto together before they were both traded to Ottawa. Wyatt became friends with Tough Guy‘s Ryan Price, who also played for Toronto. It remains to be seen how much of Troy and Ryan’s backstory we’ll see in Season 2.
New: Emily Hampshire as Vanessa
From Schitt’s Creek to Heated Rivalry! Emily Hampshire will play Vanessa, who’s introduced as one of Fabian’s friends in Reid’s Tough Guy. Vanessa works at a sex shop in Toronto’s gay village, where Ryan and Fabian live. Hampshire, who’s 44 years old and a Canada native, appeared primarily in Canadian film projects early in her career before breaking out in 2015’s Schitt’s Creek as Stevie, a motel clerk who becomes David’s best friend.
New: Priyanka as Tarek
One of Fabian’s other closest friends is Tarek, who will be played in Season 2 by Priyanka, the drag queen name of Mark Suknanan. Priyanka is a Canadian singer and reality TV personality, having won Canada’s Drag Race Season 1 in 2020. Priyanka has also appeared in Drag Brunch Saved My Life and Meet Me Next Christmas.
New: Sabrina Jalees as Farah Jalali
Ilya and Shane’s supportive agent, Farah Jalali, will be brought to life by actress Sabrina Jalees. The 41-year-old comedian is also a writer and producer, and she’s best known for the 2019 series Carol’s Second Act. She also has a part in the 2023 film I Used to Be Funny.
