TL;DR
- Hockey player Jesse Kortuem came out as gay after being inspired by the hit queer hockey romance Heated Rivalry.
- He says the viral response was “overwhelming in the best way possible.”
- Kortuem wanted closeted hockey players to know they’re not alone.
- He’s played in multiple leagues (not the NHL) and feared the impact on team dynamics before speaking out.
- The article notes there still haven’t been any openly gay NHL players, even as the league acknowledges the show’s popularity.
A gay hockey player came out after Heated Rivalry — and the message hit harder than anyone expected
If you needed proof that queer stories don’t just entertain — they change lives — here it is. Hockey player Jesse Kortuem says the reaction to his viral coming-out post has been “overwhelming,” but not in a scary way. In the best way. The kind that makes you realize you weren’t shouting into the void — you were opening a door.
Kortuem recently came out as gay after being inspired by Heated Rivalry, the wildly popular Crave/HBO Max queer hockey romance that’s become a full-on cultural event. And while the series follows fictional closeted players — Canadian star Shane Hollander and Russian rival-turned-lover Ilya Rozanov — Kortuem says the emotions it stirred were painfully real for anyone who’s lived the sport from the inside.
“Did I ever expect this level of attention? Not at all,” he says, explaining that he finally felt it was time to share his truth and his story. But the reason he posted when he did wasn’t about chasing attention — it was about reaching the people he knows are still out there hiding.
Kortuem says he posted because there are “a lot of Shanes, Scotts, Ilyas out there currently in the hockey world that are feeling alone.” The show cracked something open for him: the recognition that the closet isn’t just a personal struggle — it’s a system built into certain sports cultures, reinforced by silence, fear, and “don’t ask, don’t tell” vibes that never really went away.
And hockey? Hockey has been one of the loudest rooms for that silence.
The closet in hockey is still real — and that’s the problem
Kortuem didn’t play in the NHL, but he’s competed in multiple leagues, and he’s blunt about what kept him quiet for so long: fear of the impact on team dynamics, fear of being treated differently, fear that being honest would become the headline instead of his play.
Those fears are not imagined. Even now, the article notes there have been no openly gay players in the NHL, a stunning statistic for a league with global reach in 2026. It’s not because queer people don’t exist in hockey — it’s because the culture has made it clear that being out comes with risk.
That’s why Kortuem’s point lands: Heated Rivalry might be fiction, but the loneliness it portrays isn’t.
And then — the internet happened.
His coming-out message spread fast, and the response poured in. Not just from fans of the show, but from people who recognized themselves in his words: athletes, former athletes, closeted players, and queer folks who have spent years being told that hockey and softness don’t mix.
“It’s been overwhelming,” Kortuem says, “but honestly, in the best way possible.” He wanted people to know: you will find your tribe. You will get through it. You are not the only one living a double life just to stay safe in a locker room.
Why this matters for LGBTQ+ people watching
For LGBTQ+ communities, this isn’t just a feel-good sports story — it’s a reminder of what representation can do when it’s actually allowed to be tender, romantic, and unapologetic. Heated Rivalry didn’t just give viewers something to ship. It gave someone in the real world the courage to stop hiding.
And Kortuem’s visibility matters because every out athlete becomes a lighthouse. Even if they’re not a household name, they still show the next person that it’s possible to be queer and belong in the sport — without shrinking.
If hockey wants to keep growing, it can’t keep relying on silence as its “tradition.” The future of the sport includes queer players — and stories like Kortuem’s prove they’re already here.
Just waiting for it to be safe enough to say so out loud.