What nhl players are gay

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

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. Pleasing one side risks angering the other. You never know what the reaction is going to be inside hockey, outside hockey, because no one has done it before.

I did not expect the amount of support I got from NHL players. I look forward to sharing the ice with you someday. If you need anything, let me know. Guys would accept it. The question this raises for many is why the NHL seems less willing than its players to embrace those skaters who are openly gay.

Banning Pride jerseys and other gear is not something that only the NHL has done. Still, the decision is puzzling. I know in Edmonton, we were one of the first teams to use the Pride tape.

Why the NHL Still Awaits Its First Openly Gay Player

We strongly feel hockey is for everybody, and that includes the Pride nights. Alluding to the handful of players who declined to wear Pride jerseys for religious reasons, Bettman seemed to suggest that the ban was put in place out of respect for religious freedom. Even so, how can the NHL be tolerant of intolerance?

Why do the objections of just a handful of players to sporting Pride jerseys trump the wish of most NHLers to wear them once a year? Surely the NHL could have made wearing the jerseys optional. That would have solved their Russian problem. Without a doubt, players refusing to wear the jerseys will suffer the wrath of many fans.

Yet do players who embrace what many regard as homophobia in the name of their religion really expect to remain unscathed? All of us are entitled to express our opinions, including those that many consider loathsome. And as is their right, they may exact a price when you voice those views in word or deed.

Even so, ducking culture wars seems to be NHL policy now. In trying to straddle both sides of the issue, the league has satisfied no one. The move to ban them was a public relations disaster. In the year history of the NHL, there has never been a gay player who has come out — not even in retirement. Do the math — assuming 4.