McGill drops Heated Rivalry merch — and fans snap it up
For about 205 years, McGill University has built its brand on academic excellence and international prestige. But, lately, it has also found itself leaning into a viral gay hockey romance that has become a Canadian “soft-power moment.”
The McGill Campus Store last week began selling a limited-edition T-shirt inspired by Heated Rivalry, the hockey romance adaptation that has become Crave’s most successful original debut and has already been renewed for a second season.
The $29.99 black tee features a McGill Hockey logo on the front and “Hollander 24” pressed across the back.
The product description reads: “A Heated Rivalry essential — this 100% cotton tee showcases the McGill Hockey logo up front and Hollander 24 across the back. For those days when all you want is to go back to the cottage.
“Limited edition. While quantities last.”
It also delivers the joke: “He played hockey at McGill — IYKYK.”
In the show, Shane — the proudly Canadian Montreal Metros captain — mentions to his Russian Boston rival Ilya that his dad played hockey for McGill.
“McGill? What the f— is McGill? Is McGill a town?,” Ilya quips back.
“It’s a really, really good school,” Shane replies.
The adaptation of romance novels by Rachel Reid into a fully Canadian-funded production has been embraced as a homegrown hit. And with its passing Canadian references, like McGill, Forbes has described it as a “soft-power moment” for the country.
In recent months, Tim Hortons and Wendy’s posted nods to the show’s cottage-country lore. Ottawa Tourism briefly rebranded itself online as the “birthplace of Shane Hollander.” The Canadian Red Cross joked about fans stranded without cell service en route to the cottage. Even Justin Trudeau joined the fanfare.
McGill University’s main Instagram account weeks earlier updated its bio to give a shout-out to the show. Its bio read: “Alma mater of Shane Hollander’s dad. Not a town. A really good school. #McGill.”
The campus store, which runs its own communications separate from the university, posted: “Loons and Hollander disciples, you asked for merch, and we listened,” posting a snippet of the tee.
The post has drawn more than 8,500 likes and 170,000 views. Fans outside Canada flooded the comments asking about U.S. shipping. CBS Chicago has also run a segment on it.
And the limited-edition shirts have already sold out, the campus store website said.
A restock is coming soon.