‘The Journal’ acknowledges that a staff member is affiliated with the Queen’s Pub’s Assistant Manager, but wasn’t involved in reporting or writing this story to maintain ethical journalistic standards.
Kingston’s take on Canada’s Shane Hollander and Russia’s Ilya Rozanov went toe to toe at the Queen’s Pub.
On Feb. 11, Eden Natovich, ArtSci ’28, Toby Yu, ConEd ’28, Archer Brioux, ConEd ’28, D’artagnan Passailaigue, CompSci ’28, and Xianzhi Jason Li, PhD ECE, donned their hockey gear and practiced their Russian accents for the Queen’s Pub’s Heated Rivalrylookalike contest from 8 to 10 p.m. What came next was a sold-out night of crowd work, accompanied by laughter and cheers over $5.49 “Team Shane” and “Team Ilya” cocktails and cheap appetizers.
Queen’s Pub’s Assistant Manager Avery Papoulidis, HealthSci ’26, wanted to host the event to reach a broader student audience that the restaurant doesn’t typically attract.
“As a pub, we’re always playing sports and last week, we had Star Wars trivia. A few weeks before, we hosted sports trivia. Expanding beyond that male-centred culture that a pub naturally is one of my goals for the event,” Papoulidis said in an interview with The Journal.
Instead of playing sports, the TVs around the pub ran steamy Heated Rivalry edits the whole night. Many of which were probably already favourited by most of the crowd’s TikTok accounts.
For those of you who’ve been living under a rock, Heated Rivalry is a Canadian show that premiered on CRAVE Nov. 28. It follows two ambitious hockey players, Ilya and Shane, who constantly compete on the ice as young talents. As though that’s not complicated enough, they’re both closeted and falling in love.
READ MORE: ‘Heated Rivalry’ update: I’m still at the cottage
Initially, the event wasn’t formally ticketed, but after the traction the initial Queen’s Pub Instagram post received, Papoulidis decided for safety and logistics reasons, to ticket the event. This was a good idea; at 8 p.m., before the event began, the John Deutsch University Centre (JDUC) was full of people lined up to grab dinner and a show.
The lookalike contest began with introductions while the hit Heated Rivalry soundtrack blared in the background.
“I’m playing Shane Hollander, because I love tuna melts and bottoming!” Natovich exclaimed, armed with a field hockey stick and a ginger ale can.
All the candidates did a lap of the room and performed iconic monologues from the show, such as the classic “Will you come to my cottage this summer?” scene. Papoulidis was an amusing host, full of quips and funny questions for the lookalikes about their “rizz” and “red flags.”
Some highlights included Yu’s performance of All The Things She Said by Passailaigue, admitting he’d never seen the show before, and finally, Li demonstrating the frog hockey stretch in the middle of the pub.
It was likely this steamy stretch that led to Li’s win. For Li, the night wasn’t only about fun, but it was also a celebration of a show that’s very important for representation.
“This is such a life-changing show […] I could never imagine myself having this kind of show. But it’s so popular and so many people enjoy it. I could never imagine having that twelve years ago as a gay boy,” Li told The Journal in his post-win interview.
Natovich came in second place, joking to The Journal that she had “busted her ass for years for this.” She’s still patiently waiting on the women’s football Heated Rivalry series—not yet in the works, but she thinks it’d be a great idea.
Both Li and Natovich mentioned that it was a lot of fun and all the candidates were great.
Clearly, students were searching for an event to connect over love for the show, and the Queen’s Pub answered. Papoulidis credits the success of the event to having student management, which adds a deeper understanding of what students are looking for.
“Although we’re a bit secluded and we’re still working on getting our name out there, I think having student management is a big advantage that we have compared to other bars downtown because we know what students want,” Papoulidis said.
Safe to say, the night had heat, and it had rivalry—an overall success in everyone’s books.
Tags
Heated Rivalry, Lookalike contest, Queen's Pub
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