Inside Nashville Predators prospect Luke Prokop’s ‘whirlwind’ year – Tennessean
In the year since Luke Prokop became the first openly gay player under NHL contract, the Nashville Predators prospect’s life has been a “whirlwind.”
“It’s changed me a little bit as a person,” Prokop said following the first day of Predators development camp on Monday. “I’ve been more open about my personality and a lot more fun, and I think I’ve shown that this season.”
The feedback both from teammates and from the general public since publicly coming out on July 19, 2021, has been overwhelmingly positive, even more so than he expected.
“It was a little hard to know what was going to happen, because no one had done it before,” Prokop said. “I was expecting a positive reaction, but not as big as I got. The reaction from outside and inside the hockey community was overwhelmingly positive.”
The Predators drafted Prokop in the third round of the 2020 NHL Draft. He played the first three games of the 2021-22 season with the Calgary Hitmen in the WHL before being traded to his hometown Edmonton Oil Kings.
Edmonton played its first pride night in the organization’s history this season in support of the LGBTQ+ community, and Prokop said his teammates were supportive.
“A lot of guys came up to me and said that it was the most important game that they had been a part of,” Prokop said.
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The Predators and the NHL have been staunch supporters of the LGBTQ+ community, including sponsoring pride nights during the month of June, as many NHL teams have begun doing.
“I think they’re heading in a good direction,” Prokop said. “The pride nights are huge with the teams, and we’re just continuing to make it a safe space and being able to have the conversations that need to be had. I think the game of hockey is headed in the right direction.”
Former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam is set to over as majority owner of the Nashville Predators by July 1, 2025. He said on June 23 that the franchise’s track record of diversity and inclusion is “not going to change.”
Haslam sparked controversy in 2014, during his tenure as governor, over an anti-recognition law that denied same-sex couples from being recognized in Tennessee.
Haslam and Prokop have not yet spoken, and Prokop said that he doesn’t anticipate that a change in ownership will change his role within the Predators organization.
Prokop hopes that as more gay players come out publicly, he’ll become known more for his career on the ice and less for being the first out NHL player.
“It’s always going to be with me until there are some other players coming out, but it’s something I’m very proud of and am not afraid to talk about,” Prokop said. “I’m hoping in the future that I’m not so much known for it as I am for just going out and playing my game.”
Emma Healy is a sports reporting intern for The Tennessean. Contact her at ehealy@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @_EmmaHealy_.