Luke Prokop came out as gay to his mother, and while Nicole Prokop embraced her son’s decision she had a very specific concern.
鈥淪he was worried about my hockey career and how it might impact it,鈥� Prokop recalled.
Pioneers such as and came out as gay while they were playing. The 23-year-old Prokop in 2021 the first player drafted and signed by an NHL team to come out, though he has yet to play in the sport’s top league. Like the NHL, no active has come out while playing.
With the popularity of featuring two gay players putting a spotlight on the sport, it raised the question of how an openly gay player would be accepted in the NHL. Key stakeholders point out there are challenges but say hockey is primed for the emergence of another pioneer.
鈥淚 think people are ready for this,鈥� said longtime league and team executive Brian Burke, whose late son Brendan came out in 2009 and made his father one of the leading advocates for LGBTQ+ access. “A player like that would be welcomed. Now, he鈥檇 face some hard right-wing criticism and social media abuse, but I think we鈥檙e ready for it.鈥�
Why hasn’t an NHL player come out?
became the first active player in one of the four North American major professional men’s sports leagues to come out. Nassib in 2021 鈥� a month before Prokop 鈥� . There are a number of openly gay players in top women’s leagues, including the WNBA and PWHL.
Burke, who was executive director of the PWHL Players’ Association from 2023-25, said he is surprised a player in the best men’s hockey league in the world has not yet come out.
There are myriad reasons it hasn’t happened yet, from concerns over the feelings of family members and teammates to the team-centric culture of hockey that discourages standing out for any reason.
鈥淗ockey players don鈥檛 want attention and they鈥檙e going to deem it as there鈥檚 a concern that a team would see it as a distraction because of all the attention it would get,鈥� said retired goaltender Brock McGillis, who came out after his career ended. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e not a star and you鈥檙e 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?鈥�
McGillis considers men鈥檚 hockey one of, if not the most difficult, sports to come out in 鈥渂ecause of the language, behaviors and attitudes that are pervasive in the culture.鈥� Homophobic language is part of it.
鈥淲hen I played, homophobic language was acceptable,” said Burke, whose on-ice career in college and the minors came in the ’70s. 鈥淚t was encouraged. There鈥檚 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鈥檓 ashamed to say I was one of those guys.鈥�
What makes the climate ready for this?
Kurt Weaver, executive director of the You Can Play nonprofit that advocates for LGBQT+ inclusion in sports, said that while homophobic language still persists in local rinks and games at many age levels, the NHL has worked with the organization and others to significantly reduce the presence of anti-gay slurs.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a massive reduction of homophobic language at the NHL level 鈥� in those locker rooms, in those organizations, in the front offices, coaches to players, players to coaches 鈥� in that environment,鈥� Weaver said. 鈥淚f 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.”
A strong supporter of Pride and other inclusionary efforts, Scott Laughton has seen it playing more than a decade in the NHL with Philadelphia, Toronto and now Los Angeles.
鈥淚t鈥檚 changed a lot,鈥� Laughton said. 鈥淎 lot of it is language, the way you speak, and I think those (things) affect people a lot. I think it鈥檚 going in the right direction.鈥�
Prokop’s experience is an example of progress. When he came out at age 19, the Canadian said the response was 鈥渘othing but positive,” at the time with Calgary of the Western Hockey League and then on six subsequent teams.
鈥淓verywhere I鈥檝e gone, everyone鈥檚 been open, honest, really positive,鈥� said Prokop, who plays in the American Hockey League for the team Bakersfield, California. 鈥淓very team I鈥檝e 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.鈥�
Prokop was worried about how he would be perceived, and McGillis said the two spoke almost every day for months before the 6-foot-5, 220-pound defenseman decided to come out. Drafted by Nashville in the third round in 2020, the Predators’ front office and coaching staff were among the people who needed to be informed. A call with them assuaged a lot of Prokop’s fears.
鈥淭hey said it was the right thing to do, that they wanted to help in any way they could,鈥� Prokop said. 鈥淭hey thought I was really brave for doing this, and they had my back every step of the way.鈥�
What will happen when an NHL player comes out?
Burke, 70, expects a negative outcry from people of his age range and on social media, something he said Brendan dealt with until his death in a car crash in early 2010. Then he expects an outpouring of support. He said he wished it had happened when he was general manager of an NHL team.
鈥淚t didn’t happen,鈥� Burke said. 鈥淏ut I think we are closer and closer to it.鈥�
The NHL is more than a century old and change often comes slowly. There was and even as recently as 2023.
Commissioner Gary Bettman pointed to the league’s longstanding relationship with You Can Play and teams’ involvement in Pride tournaments all over North America as evidence that an openly gay player would be received positively.
鈥淲e鈥檝e always said, and I believe it would be the case, that if a player comes out, he would be welcomed,” Bettman said. 鈥淲e have fully embraced being a welcoming sport on and off the ice, no matter who you are.鈥�
Prokop said 鈥渉ockey gets a bad rap鈥� 鈥� some of it deserved 鈥� but going on his journey led him to see the best in people in the sport. McGillis believes the fan base would be welcoming and that players by and large are tolerant, based on going around talking about his experiences.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e engaging with me … and it would be easy for them not to,鈥� McGillis said. 鈥淚鈥檓 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鈥檚 very progressive in terms of the way they engage with me.鈥�
McGillis, who regrets not coming out sooner to people in his life, sees a silver lining in hockey’s do-anything-for-my-teammates mentality that could eventually clear the way for a player being 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,鈥� McGillis said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think 鈥楬eated Rivalry鈥� is the reason for that. I think that鈥檚 always been the case.鈥�
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