A Washington Capitals player holds a hockey stick wrapped in Pride Tape during Pride Night. Image courtesy of Evy Mages.
Last month, as Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club” and Diana Ross’s “I’m Coming Out” blasted throughout Capital One Arena and players took warmups with hockey sticks wrapped in rainbow-colored Pride Tape, the Washington Capitals made an increasingly uncommon statement in the National Hockey League (NHL): hosting a Pride Night.
In the summer of 2023, the NHL announced its players would no longer wear special warmup jerseys on theme nights celebrating groups such as the military and the LGBTQ+ community. At the start of the 2023-24 season, the league clarified that Pride Tape, first used by the Edmonton Oilers in 2016 and later sold by the NHL’s official shop, was also banned.
A reaction to several players refusing to wear Pride Night jerseys the previous season, the NHL’s decision was lambasted by Outsports as “the most stifling, anti-LGBTQ policy any pro sports league in North America has ever issued.” Public pushback from some players led the league to quickly rescind the Pride Tape ban.
Since then, NHL Pride Nights have grown less consistent. While the majority of the league’s teams continue to hold them, the Carolina Hurricanes and Boston Bruins have rebranded their events as “Hockey Is For Everyone Night,” while the Los Angeles Kings and Utah Mammoths have moved away from Pride-specific celebrations altogether.
This seeming retrenchment is happening amid broader national debates over diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and Trump administration efforts to roll back DEI programs and initiatives in the public and private sectors, including slashing funding for LGBTQ+ health research and taking down a rainbow flag at Stonewall National Monument.
In August 2025, President Donald Trump appointed NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman to the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition.
The Capitals’ recent Pride Night was unambiguously celebratory. From highlighting the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington to nods to the hit television series Heated Rivalry to a ceremonial puck drop featuring two out players from the Professional Women’s Hockey League, the night’s message could best be summed up by the slogan displayed at the Capitals’ inclusive block party before the game: All Caps, All Love.
Capitals fans hold a Pride-themed sign during the game. Photo courtesy of Evy Mages.
Washington also paired on-ice visibility with off-ice investment, raising money for local LGBTQ+ organizations and centering queer community partners, including the Wanda Alston Foundation, which provides housing and support services to LGBTQ+ youth in DC.
Capitals video coordinator Emily Engel-Natzke, the first woman and openly queer full-time coach in NHL history, says that “hockey’s always been behind in every aspect” when it comes to hiring women and embracing LGBTQ+ inclusion. She also calls the league’s decision to ban Pride jerseys a “step back.”
Capitals defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk, a You Can Play ambassador for the NHL and one of eight players to use a Pride Tape–wrapped stick during the event, says supporting queer fans should be a “no-brainer.”
Washington Capitals center Dylan Strome arrives for the game wearing a Pride-themed beanie. Photo courtesy of Jess Rapfogel.
“Whether it’s putting tape on your stick or wearing a jersey while walking into the rink…kids are seeing that,” he says. “The more people we have doing it, the more I think kids will feel comfortable showing up to hockey rinks and not thinking of it as a space where they don’t know what they’re going to get.”
Engel-Natzke concurs: “Visibility is really, really important, especially right now. To have these nights and that visibility—and to have it kind of in the mainstream right now—to me, gives people hope. And that is really powerful.”
Editorial Fellow
Tristan Espinoza joined Washingtonian as an Editorial Fellow in 2026. A proud Osage Native from Dallas, Texas, he is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (Nonfiction) at American University. He is a graduate of Columbia University and the London School of Economics. He lives in Mount Pleasant.