Are there any openly gay nhl players

For Brock McGillis, the first openly gay former pro hockey player, an progressing “Culture Shift Tour” that made its U.S. debut last week in Seattle highlights the need for players to become “Shiftmakers” in locker rooms by standing up to wrongdoing

By Geoff Baker /@GeoffBakerNHL / nhl.com/kraken

February 11, 2025

Brock McGillis remembers the moment he discovered a group of teenage hockey players he was coaching in off-ice skills development in his Canadian hometown of Sudbury, Ontario, were in on his dreaded lifelong secret.

As a former junior-level, college and professional player, McGillis had concealed his homosexuality from the hockey world, telling only his closest family and friends. So, he was shocked when a “hockey mom” phoned to set him up on a date with another man, informing him his players already knew he was gay. McGillis was even more shocked the players didn’t seem to mind.

“I was afraid they wouldn’t want to perform with me if they knew I was gay,” he said. “But I came to find out they all knew. And I started observing their behaviors and anytime they said something homophobic, they’d freeze up and ask forgiveness to me.

“And I consideration ‘Oh, maybe we’re creating

Milwaukee Admirals’ Luke Prokop sees progress in his game, in acceptance of a gay hockey player

It hasn’t come as quickly as he would like, but Luke Prokop is seeing progress.

Progress in his game.

Progress in his sport.

Progress in society.

The first active openly gay player under contract to an NHL team, Prokop has spent this season with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals, a step up from the third-level ECHL, where he spent most of 2023-24. He is still very much a part-time player but already has been in twice as many Admirals games as all of last year. And on Saturday night, Prokop scored his first AHL goal.

Milwaukee Admirals host Pride Night

Prokop also is looking forward to Wednesday, when the Admirals host their annual Pride Night for a game against the Texas Stars.

“I’ve been blessed to play in two of them for my home teams as a junior, and I got to play in one this year on the road,” Prokop said. “Seeing the way my teammates kind of react to it, you know that they realize that it has a big impact on fans.

“Some of them have even told me that it’s the game with the most sense – not a championship game, but kind of outside of hockey, has the most definition. So it’s

Hockey needs to become a sport everyone can feel welcome in, and Nashville Predators prospect Luke Prokop doesn’t plan to permit anyone stand in his way of turning that goal into a reality.

Prokop, the first openly gay player under an NHL contract, has been a trailblazer in the hockey community and an important role model to many across the sport. But while the 20-year-old has made several positive strides in making the game more inclusive, he is disappointed about the lack of progress at the uppermost level of competition.

The 6-foot-6 defenseman expressed those feelings in a statement Monday night, describing a recent trend of teams and players opting out of Self-acceptance festivities as "a step assist for inclusion in the NHL."

"Pride nights and Pride jerseys participate an important role in promoting and respecting inclusion for the LGBTQIA+ community and it's disheartening to see some teams no longer wearing them or embracing their significance, while the highlight of others has become about the players who aren't participating rather than the meaning of the night itself," Prokop wrote.

Prokop shared these comments just days after San Jo

Just over three years ago, I wrote a piece for The Hockey Writers that argued an inclusive NHL was waiting with start arms to welcome its first openly gay player. So, in that period has one managed to crack an NHL lineup and has the NHL become more welcoming to gay players living out in the open?

Related: An Inclusive NHL Awaits its First Openly Gay Player

The retort to the first question is none and to the second it’s no. In fact, in the years since I wrote that article, it looks like the NHL has run for cover when confronted by the major social issues of the day. It’s as if the league decided that it can only lose by taking clear stands in today’s raging society wars. Pleasing one side risks angering the other.

Luke Prokop – First Openly Gay Player Under NHL Contract

While an openly gay player has yet to earn a regular spot in an NHL lineup, Luke Prokop is the first to approach out while under contract to an NHL team. The 6-foot-5, 220-pound right-shot defenceman signed an entry-level contract with the Nashville Predators in December 2020 and now skates with the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Upon coming out in July 2021, Prokop said