I believe, however, that it won’t be long before the NHL has openly gay players lacing up their skates and others working in the ranks of management and hockey operations. As with everything in life, the reason for their absence is complex. I have heard the explanations, ranging from the ludicrous (there are no “gays” in the league) to the simplistic (the game’s hateful, toxic male culture drives gay players underground). Not one player in the league’s 103-year existence has ever come out publicly as gay – not even in retirement. While other sports have many members of the LGBTQ+ community playing out in the open, the NHL remains an outlier. There has never been an openly gay player in the NHL.
