Nashville Predators prospect
Luke Prokop took a very courageous step forward on Monday, when he became the first NHL prospect to come out, with the full support of his WHL team (the Calgary Hitmen), the Nashville Predators organization and the NHL and publicly announce that he is gay.
While the response to the news was overwhelmingly positive, there still existed a large contingent of hockey fans who seemingly missed the mark on the true significance of Luke's actions and the immense amount of bravery that went into making that very tough decision to expose himself in a hockey market that has shown itself to be less than accepting and welcoming in the past.
Responding with a "nobody cares" attitude, pointing to the player's ability to play the game as the only real factor that matters simply diminishes the profound impact that Luke's decision can have on the broader hockey community.
Young boys and girls who are growing up and coming through youth hockey programs who may have questions about themselves and their true identities, or teens who have discovered who they are but are too afraid to share it with others for fear of rejection and ridicule.. they now have a role model in the sport - someone who represents them and gives them hope that they too can achieve their goals and make their dreams come true if they work hard, without having to be afraid of having doors shut in their faces because of homophobia and discrimination.
Many professional hockey players and recognizable figures around the hockey community have since shown Prokop a great deal of respect and admiration on social media for his willingness to put himself out there and be the first to usher in a new era in professional hockey, where acceptance and support take the place of ignorance and hate.
On Tuesday, Predators forward
Matt Duchene sent a video out to Prokop on Twitter to show his support publicly for the young defenseman to let him know that the whole team supports him in his decision to come forward and blaze a trail for other gay athletes, especially in hockey, which hasn't historically been so accepting of change.
Whether it's something that people wish to acknowledge or not, Luke's decision to come forward is a massive step forward for the sport, in that it represents a brand new demographic and provides the members of that demographic with a role model - someone to look up to and aspire to be like.
If hockey is truly for everyone, a decision like this should be celebrated, and not dismissed or ridiculed. It's grade one stuff. If you don't have anything nice to say, then just say nothing.
Don't stand in the way of progress. At the end of the day, hockey is just a game, and some things are bigger than a game. This is one of those things.
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