NHL Launches Hot Hockey Romance Audio Shorts, Writers Push Back

The National Hockey League began publishing romance-novel-style audio shorts starring its own players this week under a campaign called "Hot for Hockey," and at least two prominent hockey-romance authors turned down the league's invitation to write them, according to WIRED.

What Did the NHL Release This Week?

The league rolled out 60- to 90-second audio stories on audiobook platforms, written and narrated with help from working romance authors and aimed at hockey's growing crossover audience with BookTok, the romance-focused corner of TikTok, per WIRED's report, citing the Sports Business Journal.

By the numbers:

• 60–90 seconds: runtime of each audio short
• 3 players featured in the first batch: Trevor Zegras (Philadelphia Flyers), Sebastian Aho (Carolina Hurricanes), Jack Eichel (Las Vegas Golden Knights)

The Zegras story, titled "The Summer I Turned Gritty," runs in full: "Trevor Zegras came to Philly looking for a fresh start. But after battling with Pittsburgh in the playoffs last year, he found out how gritty things could get. One heated summer later, Philly's pretty boy is looking a whole lot grittier." No romantic partner is named for any player in the excerpts WIRED published.

Who Wrote the Scripts and Why?

Hockey-romance author C.R. Jane, known for "Pucking Wrong," wrote the first stories, WIRED reported. NHL spokesperson Jon Weinstein told WIRED the campaign is a "playful nod to something that's clearly going on in the cultural zeitgeist," adding, "We were very proud to partner with real hockey authors, illustrators and voice actors in the space, and we're grateful the players were willing to have a little fun with it too."

Why Did Some Authors Refuse to Participate?

Best-selling hockey-romance novelist Emily Rath told Threads she turned the NHL down, writing, "I cannot begin to describe the depths of my rage that this is actually happening." Rath said the league's pitch deck mocked the genre and included what she alleged were AI-generated cover renders, per WIRED. Chelsea Curto, author of the D.C. Stars series, also declined and flagged the same AI imagery concern on Threads. Other critics quoted by WIRED argued the campaign turns players into harassment targets and sidesteps fan concerns about homophobia and toxic masculinity in hockey.

How Did Hockey Romance Become a Marketing Target?

The New York Public Library first flagged hockey-centered romance fiction as a trend in 2019, WIRED noted. The genre broke into the mainstream with the streaming adaptation of "Heated Rivalry," followed by "Off Campus" — success the NHL is now trying to tap directly rather than through fan-made fiction.

What's Next to Watch

• Whether additional hockey-romance authors publicly decline future NHL contracts
• Whether the league responds to the AI-art allegations raised by Rath and Curto
• Whether BookTok creators actually drive game-watch numbers, the campaign's stated goal

Glossary

• BookTok: TikTok's romance-literature subculture, known for driving book sales through short video reviews.
• Hot for Hockey: the NHL's 2026 marketing campaign pairing player likenesses with short romance-style audio fiction.

The narrated-fiction format puts the NHL in company with a broader shift toward voice-driven short content; similar narration workflows are built on voice-AI platforms such as ElevenLabs, though WIRED's report did not specify which technology the league used for its audio production.

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