Netflix has cast the leads of Icebreaker, its series adaptation of Hannah Grace's hockey romance, with Daisy Jelley as figure skater Anastasia "Stassie" Allen and Connor Simos as hockey captain Nate Hawkins. Jade Halley Bartlett created the series and Amanda Lasher is showrunner. Maple Hills, in other words, is officially going to screen.

Who is playing Stassie and Nate?

Daisy Jelley will play Anastasia "Stassie" Allen in Netflix's Icebreaker, the competitive figure skater chasing her Olympic dreams. Connor Simos will play Nate Hawkins, the campus hockey star determined to make it to the NHL.

Those are the two names the whole internet has been speculating about since the adaptation was announced, and the pairing is the entire gamble of any enemies-to-lovers adaptation. Casting is chemistry, and here it is doing the heavy lifting on a book whose readers know every beat by heart.

What is Icebreaker about?

Icebreaker is Hannah Grace's hockey romance, set at Maple Hills, in which an accident forces the figure-skating and hockey teams to share a single rink. Anastasia Allen and Nate Hawkins start as rivals over ice time and end up somewhere neither of them planned.

It is a premise built for television: two sports, one surface, and a pair of people with incompatible ambitions and identical schedules. Figure skating against hockey is already a story about who gets to take up space.

Who is making the Netflix series?

Jade Halley Bartlett created Icebreaker for Netflix and serves as writer and executive producer. Amanda Lasher is the showrunner, writer and executive producer.

The executive producer list includes Alex Cooper, Matt Kaplan, Mina Lefevre and Hannah Grace herself, with the series produced through Unwell Productions. An author in the EP chair is not nothing — it is the clearest signal available that the adaptation intends to keep faith with the book.

Where should a reader start?

Icebreaker is the first book in Hannah Grace's Maple Hills series, so it is the natural starting point before the series arrives. The novel introduces Anastasia and Nate and the rink they are forced to share.

If you prefer to arrive at an adaptation already knowing who you are rooting for — and the regulars at The Bookclub Boutique usually do — there is time. Netflix has not announced a premiere date.

Icebreaker: the details

Title	Icebreaker
Author	Hannah Grace
Series	Maple Hills

Frequently asked questions

Has Netflix announced a release date for Icebreaker?

No. Netflix has not announced a premiere date for Icebreaker. What has been confirmed so far is the casting of Daisy Jelley and Connor Simos as the leads, along with the creative team: creator Jade Halley Bartlett, showrunner Amanda Lasher, and executive producers including Hannah Grace, Alex Cooper, Matt Kaplan and Mina Lefevre.

Is Hannah Grace involved in the adaptation?

Yes. Hannah Grace, who wrote the novel Icebreaker, is credited as an executive producer on the Netflix series. She shares that credit with Alex Cooper, Matt Kaplan and Mina Lefevre, and the series is produced through Unwell Productions.