The NHL also pointed out to WIRED its partnership with Pride organizations around the USCanada, and Australia, as well as the pro-inclusivity organization You Can Play, which was then working with since 2013. The league said it will host its third annual Pride Cup in 2026.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman says he’s “fooling it” Hot Rivalry on a night and told reporters that all NHL teams are doing Pride night. But, as The New York Times reportsis no longer the case, with a couple of teams choosing for more general inclusivity events.

Teresa Fowler, an associate professor at Concordia University of Edmonton and Tim Skuce, an associate professor at Brandon University, have both been researching Canadian hockey culture for years. Fowler was candid when he talked about the league’s embrace Hot Rivalrywhich he feels is performative.

“Where’s your gay friend on your team? You know what I mean?” he said. “It seems so hypocritical when people say, ‘Yes, we will accept them,’ and yet, the person they call their brother, you know, they will do anything, they are so afraid to remove their soul.

Fowler and Skuce published a study of hockey culture in 2023, interviewed 21 elite players from the junior A level and higher, most of whom they say are current or former NHL players. Fowler said he also works with younger players, including U18 and youth hockey players. One of the main issues they point to that fosters a toxic culture in the sport is hazing.

“They make the players dress up like girls, and then go to a shopping mall and sing ‘My Little Teapot.’ They have notches on their belts for sexual conquest. But then, of course, there are more physical ones (hazing rituals): drag your testicles across the rink naked, inside the bathrooms naked” said Fowler. “It’s terrible. It makes no sense to me how this team bonds, nothing. Those rituals are sexist rituals, misogynistic rituals, where you always put women down.

In 2022, a Globe and Mail INVESTIGATIONS revealed that Hockey Canada, the sport’s national governing body, partially used player registration fees to cover uninsurable liabilities, such as sexual assault settlements; in July, five former Canadian Junior Hockey players were acquitted of sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel room in London, Ontario.

Hockey Canada did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment.

Skuce, who played university and AAA hockey, said many of the men he interviewed said they “felt uncomfortable” with the hazing but “didn’t want to say anything about it.” Belonging to the group is based on being together in what is happening.

Skuce said he would like to see a shift from the stigmatized hazing rituals to something more “inclusive.”

With the Olympics taking center stage, there is once again the potential for a spotlight on trans people in sports—a culture war issue that Browne says has created a “moral panic.” He coauthored 2025 BOOK Let’s Play about the issue.