The mega-virality of the hit HBO Max and Crave show Heated Rivalry has people all across the hockey world talking.
That includes NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, who said he binged the entire six-episode run in one night.
That’s no small thing, as the show about rival professional men’s hockey players who begin a passionate, secret romance features sex scenes not for the prudish.
The NHL, and hockey in general, has had a complicated relationship with the LGBTQ+ community over the years, but it appeared that the show had broken through across the sport’s media landscape.
That includes former hockey players and brothers Dan and Chris Powers, the hosts of the popular Empty Netters podcast. The podcast has seen a jolt in recent weeks due to its glowing coverage of the streaming hit. And in doing so, they became the face of straight men who could appreciate the show without being weird about it. Glowing write-ups in Vulture and Rolling Stone soon followed.
“Their support and excitement of Heated Rivalry felt like an important acknowledgment from the hockey community that a queer love story was breaking barriers across demographics,” said The New York Times.
Heated Rivalry was a viewership and financial winner for Empty Netters, too. Viewership of their YouTube videos covering the show was 50 times the channel’s average, often reaching around 500,000 views. The podcast also launched several t-shirts and merch featuring the phrase “From the closet to the cottage.” Shirts retail for up to $45.
Thursday, Outsports Cyd Zeigler published a post that told a very different story about Dan Powers and what he thought about Heated Rivalry when no one was looking.
“I think these losers who made this show are cowards,” Dan wrote in a text message viewed by Zeigler. “This is the trash they make because it panders, it’s provocative, and it checks inclusivity boxes.”
In other texts, Powers wrote that while the show should make “blue haired twitter happy,” he wouldn’t give it “the time of day” simply “out of principle.”
Disappointment about the text messages and the implication that Empty Netters’ appreciation of the show was inauthentic and performative spread across social media.
feels both depressing and inevitable, and the thing i find most fascinating about it is the decision and then commitment to performing wild enthusiasm anyhow. you hate this, and yet you understand the very real monetary benefit of championing it
www.outsports.com/2026/1/22/24…— Kathryn VanArendonk (@kvanaren.bsky.social) January 22, 2026 at 9:47 AM
On Friday, Empty Netters posted a 17-minute video on its social media channels addressing the situation and offering a response to the backlash.
“Wanted to take a second to acknowledge the OutSport piece that came out today,” said Dan Powers. “I know that a ton of people are shocked by this, confused by this, and frustrated by this, and I take that very, very seriously. I want to say that this has caught me completely off guard and frankly, is super disappointing. I just wanted to take a beat to understand everything before addressing you all.
“First of all, the timeline implied in this article is completely false and inaccurate. It suggests that we were watching this show sending messages like this while at the same time reviewing it and speaking poorly about it, which is completely inaccurate. These messages were sent over a week before we had ever watched the show and before we had ever posted a review.”
Dan says the text messages were sent to another podcaster who is also discussing Heated Rivalry on their show, explaining that they were intended as a critique of the show as a TV writer.
He also shows the text messages in question and attempts to provide further context behind his comments. Powers claims he was initially turned off by the concept because he went into it expecting a hockey show, not a romance, which he now says was “me being uninformed” because “I hadn’t watched the show yet.”
“I want to hit on the fact that in those messages, I prefaced all of them by saying ‘my lame writer take,’ implying and telling my friend ‘this is my jealous hyperbolic ridiculous take.’ Because anyone who knows me or anyone who watches this podcast knows that I use absurd hyperbolic language to drive home a point.”
Dan later added that he and his brother came to appreciate the show as they watched it, but admitted it was a bit of a tough sell at first.
“If you watch the first episode of our reviews, we don’t even love it yet,” he said. “People are asking us to be authentic. Go back and watch episode one. We are authentic. We literally have an award where we’re giving out moments to the ‘craziest, ridiculous what the hell is happening here’ moment. We weren’t totally sold yet. We were honest with you and authentic. Then we kept watching, and as you all see, and all grew with us and loved with us, we were like, ‘Holy shit, this isn’t a hockey show, It’s also not just a romance smut show. This show is incredible.’ We grew to love it and expressed that honestly and clearly every single new episode review.”
Dan pushed back on Zeigler and Outsports’ claim they reached out to him for comment, saying “That is a lie.” However, he then shared a screenshot of texts from Zeigler reaching out for comment and following up when he didn’t hear anything. Powers added that he only responds to news outlets that reach out “through the proper channels.”
“I think it’s a shame because now the people that we enjoyed this wonderful situation and this wonderful moment with are made to feel like they can’t trust what they saw or what we experienced together,” said Powers. “And the amazing interactions that we’ve had on the road and the people in our messages and our comments who we genuinely have loved so much and spent our holiday season talking with and sharing these great moments, you’ve now potentially made these people feel like they can’t trust the authenticity and the lovely nature of those moments, and that breaks my heart.”
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