An Inclive NHL Awas s First Openly Gay Player

rumoured gay hockey players

Prokop, who was drafted by the Nashville Predators last year, me out as gay wh a heartfelt statement to fans this week, an admissn he said he hoped would improve gay visibily wh the hockey muny.

Contents:

REPORT: NHL ACTUALLY HAS HAD HUNDREDS OF OPENLY GAY PLAYERS FOR YEARS

NEW YORK—In the wake of NBA center Jason Colls and U.S. soccer midfielr Robbie Rogers g out as homosexual, reports revealed Friday that the Natnal Hockey League has fact had hundreds of openly gay athlet throughout s history. * rumoured gay hockey players *

Soccer midfielr Robbie Rogers g out as homosexual, reports revealed Friday that the Natnal Hockey League has fact had hundreds of openly gay athlet throughout s history. Feral Rerve Calls For More PovertyOffEnglishSourc nfirmed that gay players have actually been credibly mon the NHL for s, and the league is only now beg creded wh layg the groundwork for the growg acceptance of homosexualy profsnal sports.

LAKERS NOT: REAV, WTBROOK, CASTLETON, GAY

Let’s be clear right om the start. None of the athlet are nfirmed to be gay or anythg like that. The purpose of this list is to go a b more pth about some of the mors that are surro * rumoured gay hockey players *

“It’s obvly a watershed moment when a player om the NBA announc he’s gay, but most people fet about Montreal Canadiens wger Steve Shutt, who me out back 1972, ” said hockey historian Hank Crerand, notg that Shutt was the first of many gay NHL players to reveal their homosexualy. ”“The issue of gay athlet has now reached a major turng pot, and ’s only a matter of time before someone the NFL or MLB out, ” Crerand ntued.

TOP 10 ATHLET WHO ARE RUMORED TO BE GAY

* rumoured gay hockey players *

”Sce s origal ceptn 1917 through to the “Origal 6” era of the ’40s, ’50s, and ’60s, the NHL has reportedly had a long history of gay players and was far ahead of s time batg prejudice and tolerance toward homosexualy wh locker rooms and stadiums. “Thgs really started to take a turn for the better when Mike Ezne beme the first openly gay pta of an Olympic hockey team to w a gold medal, leadg the U. ”“That kiss really changed a lot of attus wh the hockey muny, ” Crerand Probert, who played 16 seasons for the Detro Red Wgs and Chigo Blackhawks, reportedly had a huge impact on the league as hockey’s “Homo Enforcer, ” timidatg the petn and pummelg opponents wh vic punch.

Crerand told reporters that Probert was the “most feared queer” the NHL and transformed the perceptn that a homosexual hockey player uldn’t be a gay goon.

NHL PROSPECT LE PROKOP OUT AS GAY, A FIRST FOR THE LEAGUE

Many gay male hockey players and officials me out on Outsports this year. Together, they’re makg the sport’s culture more clive. * rumoured gay hockey players *

Crerand strsed, however, that no athlete was more fluential to the gay rights movement than Wayne Gretzky, wily regard as the greatt gay player NHL history. “Number 99 pletely changed the landspe for gay athlet the NHL, pecially mercially, and no one had a greater impact on young gay hockey players around the world. Louis, Rick Nash, Ryan Miller, Patrik Elias, Stephen Gnta, Clarke MacArthur, Patrick Dwyer, Mike Rupp, Carey Price, Dt Brown, Zbynek Michalek, Brad Richards, Derek Dorsett, Brian Boyle, David Krejci, Shea Weber, Derick Brassard, Sergei Gonchar, Bran Holtby, Brandon Dubsky, Stephane Robidas, Col Greeng, Jam Reimer, Kev Poul, Brandon Pst, Travis Hamonic, Mart Brour, Joakim Anrsson, Vcent Levalier, Josh Green, Daniel Aledsson, Joe Thornton, Arron Asham, Alexanr Steen, Michael Del Zotto, Patrice Bergeron, Matt Duchene, Teddy Purcell, Michael Ryr, Tomas Fleischmann, Lars Eller, Daniel Wnik, Jyri Niemi, Mikhail Grigorenko, Evanr Kane, David Back, Jiri Tlty, Sam Gagner, David Dharnais, Cody Franson, Steve Ott, Dt Byfuglien, Casey Cizikas, Daniel Sed, Brian Campbell, Ilya Kovalch, Chris Neil, Patrick Sharp, Jaromir Jagr, Hal Gill, Mark Grdano, Marc-Andre Flry, Ray Whney, Mike Cammalleri, Lee Stempniak, Jam van Riemsdyk, Mart Hanzal, David Clarkson, Vny Prospal, Taylor Hall, Ryan Getzlaf, Andrew Ladd, Alexanr Sem, Max Pacretty, Brenn Dillon, Jonathan Toews, Jordan Eberle, Marian Hossa, Frans Nielsen, Alex Galcheny, Bobby Ryan, Manny Malhotra, Mike Fisher, Bryan Ltle, Nail Yakupov, Patrick Marle, Jonathan Huber, Tyler Ennis, Craig Anrson, Saku Koivu, Shane Doan, Ryan Whe, Blake Wheeler, Evgeni Nabokov, Mark Fraser, Jeff Carter, Nicklas Backstrom, Michael Grabner, Brendan Gallagher, Tomas Plekanec, John Tavar, Taylor Pyatt, Alex Burrows, Rene Bourque, Jason Chimera, Jofey Lupul, Corey Perry, Brad Stuart, Jt Williams, Matt Cullen, Marian Gaborik, Patrik Berglund, Brian Elltt, Josh Hardg, Daniel Cleary, Roberto Luongo, Nazem Kadri, Zach Parise, Eric Staal, Jordan Staal, Marc Staal, Jared Staal, Steven Stamkos, and Ryan Kler all g out as gay recent years.

Acrdg to experts, the league’s progrsive stance toward homosexualy also paved the way for the 2013 Philalphia Flyers, the only profsnal sports roster history to be prised entirely of gay players.

GAY MALE HOCKEY PLAYERS ARE G OUT DROV, AND CHANGG THE SPORT’S CULTURE

Le Prokop said feels much longer than a year sce he beme the first player unr ntract to an NHL team to e out as gay. * rumoured gay hockey players *

“It’s nice to see the rt of the sports world begng to tch up to the NHL when to gay tolerance, ” said ESPN hockey analyst Barry Melrose, himself openly gay sce the early 1990s. ”“But whout a doubt, none of this would have been possible whout the unbelievable altism and open-mdns of the NHL fan base, ” add Melrose, “It’s far easier for players to be tly fortable their own sk knowg so many fans are gay too.

The purpose of this list is to go a b more pth about some of the mors that are surroundg the players, not to nvce the rear that the athlet are gay. In fact, as society is now much more open to people no matter their orientatn, we have seen a ton more athlet, both active and retired, e out and adm that they are homosexuals, and 's absolutely a great thg. This list will look at some of the most high profile exampl of pro athlet who have had mors about beg gay surroundg them, but aga, none of those are nfirmed and even if they were nfirmed, they would be somethg to celebrate.

PROKOP REFLECTS ON YEAR SCE G OUT AS GAY

So what is about the NHL that keeps current and former gay players closeted? * rumoured gay hockey players *

Qutns about Aikman's sexual orientatn have been around for s and the mor was started by Skip Bayls, when, his book, he stated that Troy Aikman might be gay. 8 pick the 2006 NBA Draft is about to enter his 17th profsnal the ee agent market has oled down signifintly after the ial surge — partially due to the Damian Lillard and Jam Harn tra stalemat — Gay is certaly a player worth Rumors: Warrrs, Lakers among teams terted ee agent Rudy GayOf the teams listed, Goln State and Los Angel reprent the bt opportuny for Gay to pete for his first NBA champnship. There’s somethg to be said for veteran know-how and Gay’s learship the locker room, but he’s no longer prsurg the rim as a driver or creatg his own looks.

Whether or not the Bulls — or any team — should be playg Gay real mut at this pot is an open qutn, but he has earned the benef of the doubt over the last two s.

Natnal Hockey League prospect Le Prokop me out as gay via a heartfelt statement to fans Monday, sayg he hoped would improve gay visibily wh the hockey muny. “I hope that sharg who I am I n help other people see that gay people are wele the hockey muny, as we work to make sure that hockey is tly for everyone, ” he wrote.

HOTON OILERS HAD AT LEAST TWO GAY PLAYERS, FORMER TEAMMAT {FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}{FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}LIFEBY DAN AVERYDECEMBER 26, 2013/11:46 PMBY DAN AVERYDECEMBER 26, 2013 / 11:46 PM{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"NEWSARTICLE","HEADLE":"HOTON OILERS HAD AT LEAST TWO GAY PLAYERS, FORMER TEAMMAT SAY","DATEPUBLISHED":"2013-12-27T04:46:58.000+0000","DATEMODIFIED":"2013-12-27T04:46:58.000+0000","IMAGE":{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT","WIDTH":1920,"HEIGHT":1080},"URL":","THOR":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","NAME":"LOGO TV"},"MAENTYOFPAGE":{"@TYPE":"WEBPAGE","@ID":"},"PUBLISHER":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","@ID":","NAME":"LOGO TV","URL":","LOGO":{"@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT"}},"CREATOR":"DAN AVERY","ARTICLESECTN":"LIFE"}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}WE'RE ALL EAGERLY WAG FOR THE PRO-ATHLETE CLOSET TO BE DISMANTLED FOR GOOD, BUT LET'S NOT FET THAT GAY MEN HAVE BEEN QUIETLY PLAYG THE NFL, NBA AND MLB ALL ALONG: MEMBERS OF THE 1993 HOTON OILERS HAVE E FORWARD A RECENT TERVIEW AND STATED THAT AT LEAST TWO TEAMMAT WERE WILY KNOWN TO BE GAY, AND THE TEAM DIDN'T HAVE A REAL PROBLEM WH {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}“EVERYBODY THE LOCKER ROOM, THE NSENS KNEW OR HAD AN IA THAT THGS WERE NOT EXACTLY RIGHT," FORMER OILERS LEBACKER LAMAR LATHON TOLD THE HOTON CHRONICLE. "BUT GUS WHAT? WHEN THEY STRAPPED THE PADS ON AND GOT ON THE FIELD, MAN, WE WERE GOG TO WAR WH THE GUYS BEE THEY WERE UNBELIEVABLE.” LATHON LLED THE UNNAMED PLAYERS  "UNBELIEVABLE TEAMMAT" AND SISTG THAT "IF YOU WANTED TO GO TO WAR WH SOMEONE, YOU WOULD GET THOSE GUYS FIRST."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}[PTN ID="ATTACHMENT_137434" ALIGN="ALIGNRIGHT" WIDTH="239"] WARREN MOON WH THE HOTON OILERS. (PHOTO: GETTY IMAG)[/PTN]{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}THE REVELATN IS ALL THE MORE STUNNG GIVEN THAT THE 1993 OILERS HAVE BEEN LLED THE MOST DYSFUNCTNAL PRO FOOTBALL TEAM NFL HISTORY: THE TEAM HAD A ROCKY START BUT WON 11 STRAIGHT GAM THAT YEAR, THE LONGT THE NFL SCE 1972. BUT THEY LOST ABYSMALLY THE FIRST-ROUND PLAYOFFS TO JOE MONTANA AND THE KANSAS CY {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}RUMORS ABOUT THE TUMULTUO TEAM CIRCULATED THE MEDIA AT THE TIME: ERNT GIVENS, WHO PLAYED WH THE OILERS THE 1990S WAS THE SUBJECT OF GAY MORS, BUT NIED THEM TO ESPN 1998. (DEFENSIVE TACKLE JEFF ALM WAS, TOO, WHEN HE MTED SUICI AFTER KILLG HIS BT IEND A DNK-DRIVG ACCINT 1993.){BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}"I KNOW OF A UPLE OF PLAYERS WHO I WON'T MENTN THEIR NAM BEE THEY HAVE NOT MA PUBLIC YET," HALL OF FAMER WARREN MOON ANNOUNCED ON THE VICTOR AND MATT SPORTS PODST 2011. "IT REALLY DON’T BOTHER ME WHAT YOUR SEXUAL PREFERENCE IS AS LONG AS YOU DON’T BRG YOUR SEXUAL PREFERENC TO THE LOCKER ROOM... AS LONG AS YOU'RE G TO THE FOOTBALL TEAM AND BRGG A POSIVE FLUENCE, THAT’S ALL THAT MATTERS TO ME."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}DISHMAN ADD THE TWO PLAYERS BEG DISCSED NOW WERE ACPLISHED ON THE FIELD, AND SAID SHOWERG WH THEM WAS  “NO BIG AL.”{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}SO THE LSON IS PRO TEAMS WILL EAGERLY ACCEPT A GAY PLAYER—IF HE'S AN {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;CLEAR:BOTH;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;MARG:0 TO;WIDTH:90%;M-WIDTH:288PX;MAX-WIDTH:1440PX;M-HEIGHT:194PX;}LATT NEWS

Gay hockey players list. No out gay athlet on the Natnal Hockey League (NHL) but some brave ele, pro and llege hockey players are out of the closet. * rumoured gay hockey players *

Prokop hasn’t played an NHL game yet, but if he do, he’ll jo que a small club: There have only been two openly gay active players the four largt US sports leagu – Carl Nassib of the NFL’s Las Vegas Rairs, who me out last month, and Jason Colls, an NBA veteran who me out 2013 and retired the followg season. This n evolve to lastg homophobic attus or e gay players to hi their sexualy om their teammat, said Erik Denison, a behavral scientist and lead rearcher on the Sport Incln Project at Monash Universy Atralia, a June terview wh CNN.

Durg the quiet of the sprgtime sports shutdowns, two well-known NHL players, Stanley Cup champn Dt Penner and wger Brendan Leipsic, were ught postg horribly homophobic and misogynistic msag on social media.

LE PROKOP COM OUT AS GAY AND MAK NHL HISTORY

In major league baseball only two players have publicly me out as gay other than that few of mor league players have done so. * rumoured gay hockey players *

This year alone, longtime NCAA Divisn 1 ref Brian Hicks announced he was gay; player and referee Gordie Mchard me out; pro announcer Jonathan Kliment penned his g-out story. After a lifetime of hearg gay sults the rk — opponents were always lled “cksuckers” or “fuckg fags” — Wton cid to e out to his teammat a heartfelt speech. The play-by-play broadster for Uti, the New Jersey Devils' Amerin Hockey League affiliate, publicly me out as gay October 2021, fluenced by Prokop's cisn.

We're all eagerly wag for the pro-athlete closet to be dismantled for good, but let's not fet that gay men have been quietly playg the NFL, NBA and MLB all along: Members of the 1993 Hoton Oilers have e forward a recent terview and stated that at least two teammat were wily known to be gay, and the team didn't have a real problem wh .

But they lost abysmally the first-round playoffs to Joe Montana and the Kansas Cy about the tumultuo team circulated the media at the time: Ernt Givens, who played wh the Oilers the 1990s was the subject of gay mors, but nied them to ESPN 1998. There have been mors for years the NHL league about Sean Avery’s sexualy, but he has always vehemently nied , Sean even went as far as to “date” a beard girliend (Elisha Cuthbert), who he was never even remotely to, to ver up him receivg backlash om his NHL teammat and ternally the NHL for beg gay.

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“… Sean thks that by havg an openly gay relatnship wh another pubic figure such as Andy will give him the tle of “NHL’s first openly gay athlete datg a BRAVO Executive” followg him and people not notice him for anythg else.

AN INCLIVE NHL AWAS S FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER

Avery was the first NHL player to speak out favor of marriage equaly New York and was the talyst for discsns about gay athlet that have ntued wh mpaigns like “You Can Play.

” Avery has also been the target of gay slurs durg gam, cludg an famo one om Wayne Simmonds of the has appeared on Bravo’s programmg for years, and even ma a facto retirement claratn on Cohen’s show. As sure as our Third Rock From The Sun is a spng, round orb, like a blue 10-p bowlg ball, gay men wh wi gaps their teeth and ill manners have skated, blocked pucks and bare-knuckled one another the pla's premier puck mune. Whereas players om each of the other major men's pro sports enterpris North Ameri have stepped forward to jo the gay/bisexual roll ll—the majory dog so post-reer—not a soul among the thoands of men listed on NHL rosters more than 100 years has outed himself as part of the LGBT(etc.

Not even Vegas sports books uld provi a morng le on such an improbable circumstance, bee the notn that there's never been a gay/bisexual NHL player is as believable as the Tooth Fairy leavg a dollar bill unr the Easter Bunny's pillow. But we also know that there's a long-held belief that gay equals weaker-than the NHL, a homophobic put-down that likely rri currency to this day. No surprise, therefore, to learn that Kyle Beach was the target of homophobic tntg and ridicule by members of the Chigo Blackhawks at trag mp 2010, snt months after rmg club officials that he stood before them as a victim of sexual asslt, the culpr beg then-vio ach Brad Aldrich.

9 BASEBALL PLAYERS WHO CAME OUT AS GAY

Beach is not a gay man, but he was (allegedly) sexually asslted by a gay man and his name never appeared on a regular or post-season NHL lp sheet.

Unlike other sports such as gby and Amerin football, the world of hockey still has to see a gay profsnal hockey player e out of the closet. Apparently, he planned to e out when he was playg profsnally but the anti-gay jok he heard the locker room and worri about his job secury as a hockey player prompted him not ’s what he says about his g out: “It would be ial if I didn’t have to talk about this.

PREDATORS’ PROSPECT MAK HISTORY AS FIRST GAY PLAYER UNR CONTRACT

Cotsonika as “the clost person to the NHL ever to e out publicly and say that he is gay” g out 2009 created que a stir the hockey world as his father, Brian Burke, is the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs and of the US Olympic hockey team. Brendan, on the left, wh kid brother Patrick Burke who now heads the NHL Department of Player Safety and -founr of the You Can Play Project which seeks to elimate “homophobic culture found some rners of hockey” McGillis, who once played for the Ontar Hockey League, me out as gay a November 2016 article on Yahoo Sports.

Photo of Brock urty of >> Related Post: Shirtls Hockey PlayersHere’s what Brock wrote his Yahoo g-out article: “I was gay, but uldn’t share my secret wh anyone.

Atralian A-League soccer star Josh Cavallo me out as gay an October vio posted to his social media, beg hailed as the first current male top-flight profsnal soccer player to publicly do so. "He ntued: "Growg up I always felt the need to hi myself, you know, bee I was ashamed, and ashamed I'll never be able to do what I love and be gay. The 28-year-old Natnal Football League player and Rairs fensive leman ma history when he me out as gay on Instagram durg Pri Month, beg the first veteran NFL player to e out as gay while signed to a regular-season ntract.

GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI

The Bachelor star and former football player (who was signed by the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted ee agent and was on the practice squad of the Oakland Rairs and the Philalphia Eagl) me out as gay April, sayg he had fally e to terms wh his sexualy and the "next step all of this was sort of lettg people know.

Corey Walsh, the 27-year-old pro BMX rir and Vans spokperson, said he isn't normally the type of person to "let people " on his personal life, but felt was important to e out as gay a March Instagram post bee "there are a lot of people still stgglg wh the same suatns" and he "jt wanted to let people know that they are not alone. Champn long track speedskater Conor McDermott-Mostowy never hid beg gay om his fay, iends, and fellow athlet, but he also wasn't one to rate his locker wh rabow Pri flags eher.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* RUMOURED GAY HOCKEY PLAYERS

Prokop reflects on year sce g out as gay | .

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