Nashville Predators prospect Luke Prokop says he is gay, hopes living 'authentic life' helps NHL career

Connor Jessup will be in those DMs.

Waiting for a shirtless photoshoot and reality show

Adorable.

He looks like a guy I dated once. Kinda nerdy loooking, but super sweet. I wish this guy well, and congratulate him on doing this at 19. Hockey is so homophobic. My partner’s 3 nephews play hockey - they’re all under 14. The kids are usually okay, but the parents can be brutal. You hear all kinds of slurs coming from them. It’s rural Canadian prairie hockey, so I don’t really expect less, but I’m sure pro hockey is just as brutal.

What a stupid name for a sports team. Predators.

There has never been an openly gay active player in the NHL.

This defenceman is coming out before his first pro camp.

Luke Prokop shares his story with The Athletic.

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Congrats!

Bump

Jesus, you could tell he’s gay from space. He looks like Maggie Smith with a hockey stick.

R9, you are extremely annoying. Kick rocks, dude.

Nassib chose not to do press but Prokop is set to interview on sports center soon

Ooooooh, a challenge.

Bump for the original thread.

Does the NHL typically recruit such young players? I'm used to the NBA, NFL rookies who are usually post-college age.

Go to his IG page. Bunch of photos through the past year in groups of people, no masks anywhere.

Is Matt his boyfriend?

I'm with you, R9.

I could see that he is gay, from outer space!

He can't be gay!

Not with those pants....

F&F r16.

Dear Luke,

You're fired!

Sincerely,

The NHL

Actually, r21:

Thank you for not linking to Outsports.

Good for him!

We should whine that athletes don't come out while attacking the few that do

Hmph, they used to put THAT sort of thing away- and throw away the key!

No other athletes are gay besides him!

Is he a HOMOSEKSHUL?

Caint be.

R17 he looks like he has the dreaded Gen Z foot stink

This will be marketing gold for the NHL. They have been spoiling for a gay player for the last few years, what with all of the "You Can Play" overtures. This is a triumph for them, and I expect that he will be treated well by management. I hope he is thick-skinned though, the locker room will be boisterous, as it always is, but this will be an added dimension, but hopefully all in good fun. Boys will be boys.

If I recall correctly, NHL did a reasonable job recognizing pride month this year.

R1 Connor just reposted to his IG story lol

Who did he vote for? That's all that matters.

Well, R32, his last name literally IS "pro-cop" - so what do you think?

He's only 19, R32, so too young to have voted in 2019.

That’s great!

One difference about this guy is that unlike Nassib, he's not going right to the NHL. He is a prospect, which means that he will be playing in the hockey minor leagues until they decide he's ready (if they ever do) to move up. That could be good and bad. Less pressure and attention, but also less regulation of other players. I see he's giving an interview to SportsCenter today. That kind of thing might cause some resentment in a minor-league locker room.

But good on him for being brave. The NHL was always proactive in terms of gay athletes, so it was surprising it took this long. But I still think by far the best thing for this or any other of the major sports would be an established star (or even dare we hope, superstar) coming out. Aaron Rodgers may have welded his closet door shut, but surely another undeniably good player must be working up the courage to take the plunge.

[bold][italic] AN ATHLETE HAS COME OUT

HIS FRIENDS, FAMILY AND TEAMMATES SUPPORT HIM

HISSS!!!!!! HISSSSS!!!!! HISSSSSSS!!!!!

TEAR HIM DOWN!!!

TEAR HIM DOWN!!!!

SAY HE IS FLAMES FROM SPACE GAY!!!!

CLAIM THAT HIS TEAM IS JUST FAKING IT AND HE'LL NEVER BE A SUCCESS!!!1

HISSS THAT HE IS NOT ATTRACTIVE!!!!!

HISSS THAT HE WAS IN THE CLOSET!!!!!!

ALL TOGETHER NOWWW

HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!

R36, my boyfriend Aaron is very, very straight. We make passionate live every night.

[quote] We make passionate live

That’s much more believable than “passionate love”.

Absolutely Shailene. Now all you have to is reveal that you are really Sheldon, and we're in business.

The way this segment is produced.

Luke: I'm going to accept myself as a gay man.

Announcer during a game. DRILLED BY LUKE PROKOP

Good for him! It makes me happy to see the younger generation afforded the opportunity to live a happy, authentic life. Too bad some of the jealous, old queens on this thread can't say the same.

I see only congratulatory comments, R42.

r43, so do I, but some people see 1 negative post and it becomes the whole thread in their mind.

Will say I'm glad he came out as gay and not something like queer or fluid or "part of the LGBTQ+ community"

Really, is no one going to say it? Off all the hockey teams for a gay man to come out on it’s the Predators?!? This is going to set us back decades, they’re going to be talking about the predatory gay player all the time now. “See that that hockey player over there, he’s Gay!” “Which one?” “The Predator!”

Me too R44–besides R46 who’s trolling. Oh well. I shouldn’t have said anything because I now I did it.

No hockey players are gay besides him. No need to speculate about which other hockey players might be gay!

I wish Tyler Seguin was homosexual...and my boyfriend.

As long as he's not a Trump supporter, he's fine

R47 I’m not saying anything bad about him, I’m more disturbed that there is a team called the Predators, that until today I never heard of before. We’ve gone from exploiting Native Americans to naming teams after criminal groups- what’s next, The Flashers, The Molesters, The Child Pornographers?

Tyler’s a good dude.

This is a brave young man. Good for him!

R51 If you're that triggered by the word 'predator,' that you instantly think about sexual predators instead of any other kind, then maybe you need to examine why that might be, and then deal with it.

Hmm, not pretty enough to need a guide, though

I wonder if he would have come out if he was a McDavid level player with a ton of pressure on him. I guess it would have been harder to do.

He's lucky his contract is with the Preds. Had it been the Capitals with a known homophobe as a captain, it would have been very awkward. Good on Josi for showing his support.

Eyeroll

R10 thinks using words like “dude” makes him more masculine, but his flames can also be seen from outer space.

Another Canadian stanksleeve jock comes out. Does he expect a goddam parade in his honor??

despite his looks, he's gonna get a freakin' mountain of dick!

Cool for him.

R15, NHL stars tend to start playing in the league as soon as they are drafted- Auston Matthews, Sidney Crosby, Ovechkin, etc. But others either take the college route and play NCAA hockey (Gaudreau, Eichel, etc) or they'll play on the affiliated lower level teams depending on their age and eligibility (AHL, etc), and this could take however many years necessary. And then undrafted guys may bounce around leagues in North America and in Europe. So players starting early are more typical compared to the NBA and NFL but there are still some following pathways you're more familiar with.

He's ugly and looks WAAAAAY older than his age! Sorta don't care about his coming out. Carl Massive is better-lewking

I knew he was Canadian with that last name. Tons of people with eastern european heritage in Canada.

R59 There is nothing wrong with foreskin.

R59, not all Canadian guys are uncut.

R59 This obsession with circumcision (only caused by religious hangups, like fear of masturbation, so not even justified by medical concerns) is PURELY MRKAN (and especially Midwesterner). Have a bidet installed in your bathroom like Italians and call it a day. Jeesh

I know right. This is the only place I see such a stupid fixation.

I once made a comment here that when I see a post hissing about "stanksleeves", it's a very easy 'tell' that the poster is a sexagenarian at the very least.

One of the replies I got declared that the younger generations are "not allowed" to dislike foreskin because of "political correctness". OK buddy, whatever makes you sleep at night.

R68 Mrka abd the Filthypines

So cool