5 Romantic Ice Skating/Hockey TV Shows & Movies To Watch Before ‘Off Campus’

Is there anyone who hasn’t seen Heated Rivalry yet? There’s a reason why it’s become such a phenomenon in such a short period of time. Well, really, there are a million reasons why this show about two rival hockey players falling in love has appealed to such a massive audience. It’s joyful and filled with depth and a genuinely endearing romance, namely between Ilya Rosanov (Connor Storrie) and Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams). It’s truly incredible. It’s so good that it can make you root for a whole love story in just one episode and pay off that romance before the season’s end, creating one of my favorite moments on TV from last year. 

It’s also the book-to-TV adaptation that has brought hockey romance back to TV. For that reason, it’s a great show to watch in the lead-up to Off Campus. Heated Rivalry doesn’t try to hide its romance under hockey or vice versa. It embraces both as equally important to the characters and their romance. On the page, Heated Rivalry and Off Campus are very different stories. Still, ideally, the Off Campus series will do the same in balancing romance and hockey. A great sports-romance adaptation has to be strong in both elements. Likewise, with both shows coming back for second seasons, it’s exciting to imagine a world in which they’re airing at the same time. In my opinion, the more hockey romances on TV, the merrier! 

I grew up watching and loving Ice Princess so much that I took a physics class later in life, thinking it would be just like the math that Casey (Michelle Trachtenberg) does in the movie. I should’ve known that the physics of figure skating is only interesting in a movie this good. Casey finds a passion for figure skating under the tutelage of Tina Harwood (Kim Cattral), whose daughter, Gen (Hayden Panettiere), also competes in. Honestly, in all my rewatches, I’ve learned that that’s where the movie’s real chemistry exists—between Casey and Gen.

Ice Princess has a romance subplot between Casey and Gen’s brother, Teddy (Trevor Blumas), but it’s just that—a subplot. He has a really sweet grand gesture where he zambonis the lake by Casey’s house so that she can practice, but the real tension is between Casey and Gen. Mostly, though, Ice Princess is a story of self-discovery and self-love, and that coincides with Off Campus’s college backdrop, where the characters are literally and figuratively learning. If you’re looking for another ice skating Disney Channel Original Movie to watch after Ice Princess, funnily enough, the network released another one that same year: Go Figure (2005).

Spinning Out is definitely one of the heaviest projects on this list. It’s raw and real, and its lead, Kat Baker (Kaya Scodelario), lives with bipolar disorder, as does her mother, who is a former professional figure skater. Kat also lives with PTSD after a devastating injury from a fall on the ice in a competition before the show. So, when Spinning Out delves into the romance between Kat and her pairs partner, Justin Davis (Evan Roderick), it’s not a quick and easy journey to a Happily Ever After for them. Their relationship is built and tested by trust at every turn.

I find that the most compelling angle comes through those trust-building exercises as Scodelario and Roderick’s chemistry grows with every episode. There’s also a second-chance element to their story, as Justin helps Kat trust herself on the ice and love the sport again. Sadly, their relationship is a real slow-burn romance with no closure. Netflix canceled this series after one season, and I don’t think I’ll ever be over it. I wanted to see what was next for them—the show ends before it can even reveal how their long program goes at Sectionals. Since Off Campus has already been renewed for a second season, here’s hoping there’s more closure there.

The Cutting Edge combines figure skating and hockey through romance—with the backdrop of the 1992 Olympics. So, not only does that make it the perfect addition to the list, but it also gripped the audience so much that it became the first in a four-film franchise. However, it was the only one of the movies to have a theatrical release. The others aired on ABC Family, which in itself feels incredibly nostalgic now because of all of its (and Freeform’s) original programming that has come and gone since the last movie, The Cutting Edge: Fire and Ice (2010), premiered. 

This first movie is such a success story because of the chemistry between its leads—Moira Kelly as the figure skater, Kate, and D.B. Sweeney as Doug, a hockey player, who has been forced to retire after an injury. The characters’ competitive nature in their respective sport makes the enemies-to-lovers trope fun to watch unfold. At its core, The Cutting Edge is a sports-romance comedy that is both funny and romantic, as well as memorable. It’s one that Off Campus fans may want to check out, if they haven’t before, or for a rewatch, before the show comes out.

Finding Her Edge is the newest show on this list, and that’s the exact reason it shouldn’t fly under your radar. If you’re like me and still feel burned that Spinning Out only got one season, go into Netflix’s latest ice skating drama series with the knowledge that it will return for a second season. It’s one of the very few YA shows still on right now, and it commits to the love triangle trope like most great teen dramas, like One Tree Hill (2003) did at one point or another.

As much as you’ll be Team Brayden Elliot (Cale Ambrozic) or Team Freddie (Olly Atkins) for Adriana Russo (Madelyn Keys), there’s also a really great story of sisterhood at the heart. Elise competes in ice dancing (with Brayden, while her former partner is Freddie) to keep their mom’s legacy alive after her death. This show is also for fans of book-to-TV adaptations, like Off Campus, because Finding Her Edge is based on Jennifer Iacopelli’s book of the same name.