Highlights
- Heated Rivalry set a new Canadian Screen Awards record with 16 wins from 18 nominations.
- Hudson Williams won Best Lead Performer, Drama Series, and shared his trophy with Connor Storrie.
- The show is Emmy-ineligible but already renewed for Season 2 on Crave and HBO Max.
The Crave drama series Heated Rivalry did not simply win at Sunday night’s (May 31, 2026) Canadian Screen Awards — it obliterated the record books.
The gay hockey romance dominated this year’s Canadian Screen Awards with a record-setting 16 wins, taking home three trophies at the televised ceremony in Toronto: audience choice, best drama series, and best lead performer for star Hudson Williams.
The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television confirmed the 16 wins set a new Screen Awards record, surpassing the previous benchmark set by the film BlackBerry, which won 13 in 2024.
The show finished with a total of 16 Canadian Screen Awards from just 18 nominations — a near-perfect sweep across the entire two-night ceremony.
The series also claimed Best Photography, Picture Editing, Sound, Production Design, Costume Design, Visual Effects, Casting, Original Music, Original Song for “It’s You,” and Best Guest Performance for Nadine Bhabha.
Sunday night’s wins added to the 13 statuettes the series took home at a gala dedicated to scripted television on Saturday, including best direction and best writing for a drama.
Williams made no secret of who he felt deserved to share the spotlight. When he took the stage to accept his Best Lead Performer trophy, he delivered what may be the night’s most memorable speech.
“If I could cut this award down the middle, I would. Because if these gay, yearning little bottom eyes didn’t have a big, sexy Russian to feast upon, my performance wouldn’t be as good,” Williams said. “So to the honorary Canadian, Connor Storrie, I share this award with you.”
Because Storrie is American, he did not qualify for the Canadian Screen Awards. The series, however, finds itself in an unusual awards-season position on both ends of the border.
Heated Rivalry also will not be eligible for the Emmys because it was entirely produced in Canada. Creator Jacob Tierney made clear he has no grievances about the Emmy exclusion.
“It’s like asking if you want to go to a thing you know you’re not going to get invited to: it’s fine. God bless them,” Tierney said on the red carpet.
Tierney was equally candid about the show’s unlikely path to cultural phenomenon status.
“It’s very odd to feel like the elephant in the room when this show is so f—king weird, and the success of it is so not obvious in any way,” he said. “Nobody wanted a f—king hockey show, nobody wanted a gay show, nobody wanted this much sex. … It’s very cool, we’re very grateful.”
Executive producer Brendan Brady, for his part, revealed that the show’s record-breaking sweep was almost prophesied.
“[Creator Jacob Tierney and I] went to our good pals at Bell with a pitch deck on why we could do it, why we thought we could handle it, and at the very end … I said it’ll become an international sensation, it’ll grow subscribers on Crave, and we’ll get 14 nominations,” Brady said. “So we feel like we over-delivered.”
Williams, a B.C. native, used his platform at the podium to celebrate Canadian content writ large.
“I’m honoured to be Canadian, and this is fantastic,” he said. “I want to thank some people, the cast and crew of Heated Rivalry, thank you for being such a warm space. Crave, thank you for putting money into our beautiful, straightforward hockey show. HBO, thank you for getting some more eyes on it.”
The show is an international hit, and its success shot Williams and Storrie to the A-list in short order after its debut last winter. It follows the years-long love story of two closeted professional hockey players navigating both the ice and their feelings for one another.
The evening was not entirely Heated Rivalry‘s to own. In comedy, the CBC/Netflix Arctic sitcom North of North won Best Comedy Series, Best Lead Performer, Best Writing, and Best Supporting Performer for a total of nine wins on 20 nominations.
North of North star Anna Lambe won Best Lead Performance in a Comedy. The Nunavut-shot series led all nominations this year with 20, earning nine wins, including best ensemble performance in a comedy, as well as best direction, writing, and original music.
Heated Rivalry is available to stream on HBO Max and Crave, and has already been renewed for a second season.
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