Alli Adams
Editor’s Note: All opinion content reflects the views of the individual author only and does not represent a stance taken by The Collegian or its editorial board.
In the world of professional men’s sports, we’ve made a lot of important strides toward LGBTQIA+ inclusion and visibility, making it easier for queer people to not only be involved in sports but also be comfortable attending sporting events.
The outlier of this, though, remains in an alarmingly wide gap: hockey. Of all teams in the NHL — both in Canada and the United States — there is only one openly gay player, who came out recently.
This introduces a Catch-22 for the league, which doesn’t have a huge incentive to spotlight LGBTQIA+ athletes to a fanbase that largely doesn’t care or want to see it.
When Luke Prokop came out in 2021, he became the first out player under an active contract in NHL history. He was a Nashville Predators prospect at the time and now plays for the Bakersfield Condors, making him the first openly out player in the AHL as well.
Prokop has still never played in a major league game, meaning there still has not been an out player on the ice during the regular season.
Brock McGillis was the first openly gay pro NHL player when he came out in 2016. This came after his retirement but was still deeply impactful, highlighting the unfortunate reality that he felt like he needed to hide who he was.
Prior to Prokop coming out, the NHL was one of the last major sports leagues to have an openly gay player. Even in some of the sports where the fanbase leans more conservative, there have been out players, so why did it happen so late for the NHL?
Now, knowing Prokop came out four years ago along with the NHL’s infamous banning of Pride tape and Pride jerseys in 2023, it’s clear how representation does not equal inclusion or acceptance.
That would be fine because these big sports corporations suck, but this move was actually the result of a player-led move to boycott Pride jerseys with players across numerous teams, citing “religious exemptions,” exposing much deeper cultural issues within the league.
Ivan Provorov was exempt from the Pride Night jersey’s after citing his Russian Orthodox faith. Because this worked, entire NHL teams like the New York Rangers, Minnesota Wild and Chicago Blackhawks stopped wearing the jerseys as well.
The truth is, these teams don’t have a lot to lose from dropping LGBTQIA+ visibility and a lot to gain from going against it.
Hockey is one of the most conservative leaning sports, even in Canada, so it’s not surprising that it would actually be an economic loss for some of these fanbases to promote a topic that really shouldn’t be controversial.
Multiple studies concluded that hockey is made up of a mostly white fanbase and has the least amount of LGBTQIA+ representation. Hockey is an expensive sport, with fewer opportunities to participate and less accessibility to even practice, so it makes sense the demographic skews conservative.
Unfortunately, it’s really hard to find whole teams in the NHL that are supportive of the LGBTQIA+ community. While there are notable players in the league like Nathan MacKinnon and Travis Dermott, who defied the NHL pride tape ban, there really is little data out there besides teams who changed their logos to the pride flag in June.
The Colorado Avalanche are very supportive toward the LGBTQIA+ community and should serve as an example to other teams.
Numerous high-profile players from the Avalanche have not only publicly supported the LGBTQIA+ community, but also demonstrate it with their actions.
Captain Gabriel Landeskog was an ambassador for You Can Play, while players like MacKinnon and Tyson Jost were involved in supporting programs to make hockey more inclusive.
The franchise itself, though, has remained steadfast in its support, changing their logos every year, and is going above and beyond with events and fundraising. They’ve also upheld the controversial NHL tradition of Pride Night annually.
This is the type of visibility and public acceptance that can actually make a difference.
The simple recognition of the enormous burden that gay hockey players face just to play the sport they love can make a world of difference toward their mental health and long-term retention in the sport. Forcing talent away or backing someone into a closet both negatively impact the player’s ability to perform as well as the league’s.
Furthermore, the impact on young fans and future players is even greater. This is for straight and gay fans alike, because young children who are raised in this type of anti-LBGTQIA+ or secretive environment are generally more likely to discriminate against queer people, reinforcing the problem.
We cannot only focus on the LGBTQIA+ community if we want to be able to keep moving toward change.
The burden is always, and has always been, on marginalized communities to fight for this change, and it’s utterly exhausting doing it all the time in every area of life.
I just want to be able to turn on the TV, get in my Avs jersey and be able to watch a good game like everyone else. Instead, the thoughts at the forefront of my mind are, “Why are you supporting a sport that doesn’t support you?,” “I wonder if this player is homophobic?” or “What would I do if the Avalanche stopped supporting the LGBTQIA+ community?”
Ultimately, though, I’m not naive, and I know the league won’t budge until it’s either profitable for them or queer players have fought them tooth and nail alongside straight players for change, which is a long shot for now.
What I do know is, just as the last glass ceiling will break someday, the last closet that is the NHL will shatter someday, too.
Reach Caden Proulx at sports@collegian.com or on social media @cadenpru.