These 5 moments from the Heated Rivalry finale perfectly capture Shane and Ilya's growth in the HBO Max series

HBO Max's Heated Rivalry, the Canadian hockey romance series that took the Internet by storm, delivered one of the best enemies-to-lovers stories on the small screen in its short six-episode freshman season.

The show is based on Rachel Reid's Game Changers series and follows the complicated relationship between two arch-rival hockey players, Shane (Hudson Williams) and Ilya (Connor Storrie).

In Heated Rivalry Season 1, Shane and Ilya begin a steamy hookup in their rookie year, which transforms into a complicated yet meaningful relationship with time.

The final entry in the series was set in 2017 at Shane's cottage, where the lovers finally let their guard down and confessed their true feelings to each other. The finale beautifully captured Shane and Ilya's journey as they went from rival hockey players to lovers contemplating their shared future.

5 game-changing moments for Shane and Ilya from the Heated Rivalry finale

The foot tap at Shane's house

When Shane comes out to his parents in the Heated Rivalry finale, Ilya quietly taps his foot under the table, a moment that was a direct callback to the Pilot episode. Shortly after their first hookup, when Ilya was being bombarded with questions from the reporters in English, Shane came to his rescue and answered on his behalf and earned a foot tap from his rival.

Shane and Ilya recreated this moment in the finale, marking a significant shift in their dynamic over the years. This foot tap carried meaning and cemented the couple's hopeful future.

The 'boyfriend' moment

The 'boyfriend' moment from the Heated Rivalry finale is another sequence that perfectly captured the couple's growth. This was another parallel from Episode 2, when Ilya had just returned from Russia and asked Shane to stay away from him when he approached him in the ring. The cocky Russian player broke Shane's heart after he said, 'we are nothing,' a line that had a full-circle moment when he called them 'boyfriends.'

When Shane panics after coming out to his parents, Ilya comforts him by calling him his boyfriend, a moment that instantly eases Shane's anxiety.

When Shane and Ilya made out in broad daylight

Another silent device that captured Shane and Ilya's growth over the years is the lighting in the Heated Rivalry finale. The lovers usually met and hooked up in dark hotel rooms but their love finally blossomed in warm sunlight at Shane's cottage. After spending the season behind doors, Shane proceeds to close the windows before making out with Ilya in Episode 6.

But the Russian player prompts him to open the windows, a silent evidence of the couple's journey and acceptance over the years.

Shane and Ilya's confession

After years of casual hookups, Shane and Ilya finally confessed their love for each other in the Heated Rivalry finale. When Shane lays out his plan for a joint charity and practically plans their future till retirement, Ilya is overcome with emotion and says 'I Love You' to Shane, first in Russian and then in English.

Since this is the first moment where the couple expressed their pent-up yearning and love for each other, it remains a special moment in their relationship timeline.

When Ilya opened up about his mother's death

Throughout its five episodes, Heated Rivalry hinted at Ilya's troubled family life. Not only was his father suffering from Alzheimer's but he was deeply traumatized by his mother's su*c*de when he was just 12 years old. Even when Shane probed Ilya for information about his mother, the Russian player did not open up until the cottage montage.

Ilya finally lets his guard down and reveals the details about his mother's death and even says that she would have loved Shane as he does. This moment proves the couple's emotional intimacy.

You can stream Heated Rivalry on HBO Max.