Netflix’s New ‘Heated Rivalry’ Replacement Taught One Star a Whole New Skill at Age 50 [Exclusive]

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Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander and Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov face off on the ice on Heated Rivalry.

Published May 15, 2026, 8:01 PM EDT

A cinematic obsessive with the filmic palate of a starving raccoon, Rob London will watch pretty much anything once. With a mind like a steel trap, he's an endless fount of movie and TV trivia, borne from a misspent youth of watching monster movies on TV, perusing the sun-faded goods at the local video rental shop, and staining his fingers with ink from the Video Movie Guide. Areas of interest include science fiction, film noir, horror flicks, '70s disaster pictures, Bond movies, '90s action, giant robots, dinosaurs, super heroes, and the exuberantly schlocky output of Cannon Films. He also enjoys both Star Trek and Star Wars when they're good, and maybe even more when they're bad. As a Canadian, he also has a vested interest in Canadian movies and TV shows, especially the cheesier ones dubbed "Canuxploitation."

An expert on Marvel Comics, he has also written for the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, and is a member of the Marvel Research Team. He can frequently be found pontificating on comic-book continuity or bemoaning the misfortunes of the Toronto Maple Leafs on his Twitter account.

The White Lotus star Michelle Monaghan is going from check-out times to body-checks in her new Netflix series. She plays a hockey coach in the currently untitled show, and she made sure to prepare before she stepped on the ice. Collider's Michael Zimmermann recently talked to Monaghan about the new series while promoting her partnership with Natrol.

Monaghan notes that playing a hockey coach was "doing a 180" compared to her upcoming stint on Apple's Your Friends and Neighbors. She always makes sure to do "a lot of research in everything that I apply my life to," and this project was no different, as she learned the ins and outs of hockey. The Netflix series also gave her an opportunity to mentor the young cast of the show, both on and off camera. She told Collider:

"I learned the game of hockey. I learned all about coaching, I learned to ice skate for the first time at fifty, which is amazing. And I had a really wonderful experience, getting to kind of be a coach and also taking on that leadership role, which was kind of very fun for me. I was working with a lot of younger actors and that felt very fulfilling for me and kind of full circle, having come now 25 years into my career. I had great mentors for myself as I was kind of growing in this industry, and to be able to kind of pay that forward now was a lovely experience."

What Is Michelle Monaghan's Netflix Hockey Series About?

The series is set in the South Dakota town of South Dorothy, where hockey is life — until a tragedy strikes, killing several members of the team and their legendary coach, Sully Sullivan. Now, it's up to Sully's widow, Harper Sullivan (Monaghan), to resurrect the South Dorothy Grizzlies and bring life back to the town. In addition to Monaghan, it also stars Isaac Arellanes, Josh Macqueen, Costa D'angelo, Ethan Holder, Shai Chaise, Carter Shimp, and Caleb Baumann. The series was created by Nick Naveda (Words on Bathroom Walls) and executive-produced by Bridget Bedard (Love Life), who also serves as showrunner. It is a production of Shawn Levy's 21 Laps Productions.

Monaghan is next slated to star in the comedy Little Brother, which will center around John Cena and Eric André as a mismatched pair of brothers; it will premiere on Netflix next month. She will also appear in the thriller The Whisper Man, alongside Robert De Niro, Adam Scott, and Michael Keaton; it will be released by Netflix in late August.

Netflix's untitled hockey series is in production; no release date has yet been announced. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.

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