Women on TikTok have given ice hockey arenas new names: boy aquariums.
Since the introduction of both hockey-themed romance books, such as Icebreaker, and television shows like Heated Rivalry, women have started turning to the sport for both entertainment and the chance to potentially find their next boyfriend. In doing so, they have flooded social media with videos documenting their experiences, comparing male players at ice hockey arenas to fish in an aquarium, birthing the term “boy aquarium.”
And while boy aquariums may have nothing to do with fish, that certainly hasn’t stopped schools of women from flooding the ice.
“Went to the boy aquarium last night,” TikToker Ava Stewart wrote on top of a video of her attending a hockey game. “Where’d all the fish go?”
She then pointed at the plexiglass to reveal the hockey players in the middle of an intense match.
Another TikToker under the username @therealskellz shared a video of herself at a hockey game as she wrote over the clip, “Went to the boy aquarium to find my husband.”
A professional hockey team has even joined in on the fun, with the Stavanger Oilers making a TikTok about the boy aquarium trend featuring a candy bar tied to a hockey stick with a caption that reads, “Who wants to go fishing at the boy aquarium? We do!”
“Made it to the boy aquarium!” another TikToker captioned her video as a hockey player was checked into the glass. “I upset one of the fish!” she joked.
There are even clips of women “going to feed” the “animals” at the boy aquarium as rink employees are seen holding a bucket of hockey pucks and making sure each player gets one to practice with.
The trend has only risen in popularity since the release of Heated Rivalry late last year. The show follows two closeted gay and bisexual professional hockey players as they grapple with how their secret romance will affect their careers.
One of the show’s leads, Hudson Williams, who portrayed hockey player Shane Hollander, revealed that he received heartfelt messages from multiple closeted professional athletes after the hockey romance series went viral.
“The people who reach out, somewhat anonymously, who are like, ‘I’m a professional player still, and I’m still in the closet,’” Williams said on Andy Cohen’s SiriusXM show Radio Andy.
The actor said the show was “hitting people right in the nerve” as athletes from across different sports, including football players and basketball players, had reached out to him.
Heated Rivalry’s season one finale aired last month, bringing an end to the six weeks that skyrocketed the show to record-breaking fame. The series, based on Rachel Reid’s book series Game Changers, has already been renewed for a second season on Crave/HBO Max.
