{"id":455272,"date":"2026-02-12T05:18:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T05:18:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/455272\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T05:18:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T05:18:17","slug":"heated-rivalry-is-bringing-new-fans-to-hockey-does-the-sport-deserve-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/455272\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Heated Rivalry\u2019 Is Bringing New Fans to Hockey. Does the Sport Deserve Them?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NHL also pointed WIRED to its partnerships with Pride organizations around the US<\/a>, Canada, and Australia, as well as pro-inclusivity organization You Can Play, which it’s been working with since 2013<\/a>. The league said it will be hosting its third annual Pride Cup in 2026.<\/p>\n

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has said he \u201cbinged\u201d Heated Rivalry in one night and told reporters that all NHL teams do a Pride night. However, as The New York Times reported<\/a>, that is no longer the case, with a couple of teams opting for more general inclusivity events.<\/p>\n

Teresa Fowler, an associate professor at Concordia University of Edmonton and Tim Skuce, an associate professor at Brandon University, have both been researching hockey culture in Canada for years. Fowler is candid when she speaks about the league\u2019s embrace of Heated Rivalry, which she feels is performative.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere’s your gay friend on your team? You know what I mean?\u201d she says. \u201cIt just seems so hypocritical when people are saying, \u2018Yeah, we would welcome them,\u2019 and yet, the person who they call their brother, you know, that they would do anything for, is too afraid to bare their soul.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fowler and Skuce published a study<\/a> on hockey culture in 2023, interviewing 21 elite players from the junior A level and higher, many of whom they say were current or former NHL players. Fowler says she\u2019s also worked with younger players, including U18 players and youth hockey. One of the main issues they pointed to that fosters a toxic culture in sport was hazing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey would make players dress up like women, and then go into a shopping mall and sing \u2018My Little Teapot.\u2019 They would have notches in their belts for sexual conquest. But then, of course, there’s the more physical [hazing rituals]: drag your testicles across the rink naked, get in bathrooms naked,\u201d Fowler says. \u201cIt’s just gross. It makes no sense to me how this is team bonding, none whatsoever. Those rituals are sexism rituals, misogynistic rituals, where you’re constantly demeaning women.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2022, a Globe and Mail investigation<\/a> revealed that Hockey Canada, the sport\u2019s national governing body, had in part used players\u2019 registration fees to cover uninsurable liabilities, such as sexual assault settlements; last July, five former Canadian Junior Hockey players were acquitted<\/a> of sexually assaulting a woman at a hotel room in London, Ontario.<\/p>\n

Hockey Canada did not respond to WIRED\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n

Skuce, who played university and AAA hockey, says a lot of the men he\u2019s interviewed said they \u201cfelt uncomfortable\u201d with the hazing but \u201cthey didn’t want to say anything about it.\u201d Team belonging is predicated on going along with what\u2019s happening.<\/p>\n

Skuce says he wants to see a shift away from humiliation-based hazing rituals to ones that are more \u201cinclusive.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the Olympics taking center stage, there\u2019s once again the potential for a spotlight on trans people in sports\u2014a culture war issue Browne says has created a \u201cmoral panic.\u201d He coauthored the 2025 book<\/a> Let Us Play about the issue.<\/p>\n