When Luke Prokop revealed his sexual orientation to his mother Nicole, she welcomed her son’s honesty but expressed one particular worry.
“She was worried about my hockey career and how it might impact it,” Prokop remembered.
Trailblazers like Jason Collins in the NBA and Carl Nassib in the NFL publicly came out during their active careers. Prokop, now 23, made history in 2021 as the first NHL-drafted and signed player to come out publicly, although he hasn’t yet competed at hockey’s highest level. Similar to the NHL, Major League Baseball has not had an active player come out during their career.
The success of “Heated Rivalry,” a show depicting two gay hockey players, has generated discussion about how the NHL would embrace an openly gay athlete. Industry leaders acknowledge obstacles exist but believe professional hockey is prepared for such a breakthrough.
“I think people are ready for this,” stated Brian Burke, a veteran league and team executive whose son Brendan came out in 2009, making Burke a prominent LGBTQ+ rights advocate. “A player like that would be welcomed. Now, he’d face some hard right-wing criticism and social media abuse, but I think we’re ready for it.”
Collins made history in 2013 as the first active athlete in North America’s four major professional men’s sports to come out publicly. Nassib followed in 2021 — one month ahead of Prokop — becoming the NFL’s first. Several openly gay athletes compete in elite women’s leagues, including the WNBA and PWHL.
Burke, who served as executive director of the PWHL Players’ Association from 2023-25, expressed surprise that no player in the world’s premier men’s hockey league has come out yet.
Multiple factors contribute to this situation, ranging from worries about family and teammate reactions to hockey’s team-focused culture that discourages individual attention.
“Hockey players don’t want attention and they’re going to deem it as there’s a concern that a team would see it as a distraction because of all the attention it would get,” explained former goaltender Brock McGillis, who came out after retiring. “If you’re not a star and you’re a bubble (player), are you really going to risk that to potentially change the trajectory of your career? Maybe you get cut. Maybe you get sent down. Are you going to take that chance?”
McGillis views men’s hockey as among the most challenging sports for coming out “because of the language, behaviors and attitudes that are pervasive in the culture.” Anti-gay language remains part of the problem.
“When I played, homophobic language was acceptable,” Burke said, whose playing days in college and minor leagues occurred in the 1970s. “It was encouraged. There’s only a handful of words you could use to say something hateful, and those were it. Referring to homosexual acts, it was commonplace, and I’m ashamed to say I was one of those guys.”
Kurt Weaver, who leads the You Can Play organization advocating for LGBQT+ sports inclusion, noted that while anti-gay language continues in local facilities and games across age groups, the NHL has collaborated with his organization and others to dramatically decrease such slurs.
“There’s a massive reduction of homophobic language at the NHL level — in those locker rooms, in those organizations, in the front offices, coaches to players, players to coaches — in that environment,” Weaver explained. “If you would be sitting in a locker room in 2011 when we got started and then today, it is a vastly different environment as it goes toward homophobic, racist and other hateful language.”
Scott Laughton, a strong Pride supporter and inclusion advocate, has witnessed changes during his decade-plus NHL career with Philadelphia, Toronto and currently Los Angeles.
“It’s changed a lot,” Laughton observed. “A lot of it is language, the way you speak, and I think those (things) affect people a lot. I think it’s going in the right direction.”
Prokop’s journey demonstrates this progress. When the Canadian came out at 19, he described the reaction as “nothing but positive,” both with Calgary in the Western Hockey League and across six teams since.
“Everywhere I’ve gone, everyone’s been open, honest, really positive,” said Prokop, who currently plays for Bakersfield, California in the American Hockey League. “Every team I’ve gone to, all the guys have been fantastic about it, and I have no reason to think that it would be any different if a player would come out in the NHL, say, tomorrow.”
Initial anxiety about perception troubled Prokop, and McGillis revealed they communicated daily for months before the 6-foot-5, 220-pound defenseman made his decision. Selected by Nashville in 2020’s third round, the Predators’ management and coaching staff were among those informed. Their conversation eased many of Prokop’s concerns.
“They said it was the right thing to do, that they wanted to help in any way they could,” Prokop recalled. “They thought I was really brave for doing this, and they had my back every step of the way.”
Burke, 70, anticipates negative reactions from his generation and social media critics, similar to what Brendan faced before his death in a car accident in early 2010. However, he also expects overwhelming support. He wishes this milestone had occurred during his time as an NHL general manager.
“It didn’t happen,” Burke acknowledged. “But I think we are closer and closer to it.”
The NHL’s century-plus history means change typically occurs gradually. Controversy surrounding Pride nights and rainbow-colored warmup tape emerged as recently as 2023.
Commissioner Gary Bettman referenced the league’s established partnership with You Can Play and teams’ participation in Pride tournaments across North America as proof that an openly gay player would receive positive reception.
“We’ve always said, and I believe it would be the case, that if a player comes out, he would be welcomed,” Bettman stated. “We have fully embraced being a welcoming sport on and off the ice, no matter who you are.”
Prokop believes “hockey gets a bad rap” — sometimes justifiably — but his personal experience revealed the sport’s best qualities. McGillis thinks fans would be accepting and players generally tolerant, based on his speaking experiences.
“They’re engaging with me … and it would be easy for them not to,” McGillis noted. “I’m the gay hockey dude, you know what I mean? But they are. I go into youth locker rooms across North America and in some of the most red areas of America, and it’s very progressive in terms of the way they engage with me.”
McGillis, who wishes he had come out earlier to people in his life, finds hope in hockey’s team-first mentality that could eventually help a player feel comfortable enough to come out.
“It might end up being one of the more supportive environments if a player did come out of any of the major team professional sports,” McGillis suggested. “I don’t think ‘Heated Rivalry’ is the reason for that. I think that’s always been the case.”
