NHL Unites Pride Cup promotes diversity, equality, inclusion in hockey

VANCOUVER -- Cody Rigsby grew up around the Carolina Hurricanes and “had a lot of fun” watching recent New York Rangers and New York Islanders games, but his cross-country trip to the 2026 NHL Unites Pride Cup this weekend was personal.

Rigsby, a 38-year-old Peloton instructor who competed on "Dancing with the Stars" in 2021, welcomed fans to the final game of the Pride Cup, hosted by the National Hockey League in partnership with Pride Tape, on Sunday. He threw out T-shirts to a packed crowd at the North Surrey Sport and Ice Complex during intermission and handed out medals after the final buzzer to the two LGBTQ+ hockey associations taking part: the Pride Cup and gold for Vancouver’s The Cutting Edges, and silver to the visiting Seattle Pride Hockey Association.

“Sports is still a space where queerness is in its infancy,” Rigsby told NHL.com between periods. “We're still not as celebrated and confident to be ourselves in these spaces and so for the NHL to be here and have an event that involves the community in all of its capacity, really just creates a space for everyone to feel like they can be seen, that they can be part of the sport, that they can be part of the community. And I hope that this is just like a little seed that grows in the greater picture of the NHL and sports in general.”

Now in its third year, the expanded two-day event provided a showcase for the two leading LGBTQ+ hockey associations in the Pacific Northwest, increasing visibility and awareness with an interactive fan zone that included a sign-making station, photo booth and temporary tattoos, and appearances on and off the ice from former NHL players like Andrew Ference, Corey Hirsch, Dave Tomlinson, Dave Babych and Jyrki Lumme.

Pride Tape’s Dean Petruk and Jeff McLean, a long-time friend of Ranford, celebrated their venture’s 10th anniversary by being on hand to continue their mission of promoting diversity, equality and inclusion through sport. And League partner, the You Can Play Project, conducted an education session for local coaches to help support an arena environment where LGBTQ+ athletes can play as their authentic selves.

“You want kids to have spaces where they feel like they are included,” said Nora Cothren, manager, content, audience development and social impact for the NHL and a key organizer of this annual event. “So many kids leave sport because it's not an environment they feel the most embraced, and it's that much more with LGBTQ+ youth, so if we're able to reach the coaches who are working with these kids every day and really help them pack themselves with tools to be able to address situations that come up in a way that shows the kids that maybe aren't out yet that they're welcome and they have an ally in their coach, and they're welcome in the game of hockey, making that local impact so coaches in the area have those tools to be able to create inclusive environments at younger ages.”

Kurt Weaver, executive director at You Can Play, led coaches and administrators through 90 minutes of interactive discussion about how to best frame and engage in a variety of possible scenarios -- whether with a team, an individual player, a referee, a parent or opponent -- in ways that make sure an individual knows they are safe in that space.

“Coach education for us is really the tip of the spear.” Weaver said.  “When coaches start to learn this stuff and start to think about these concepts, it spreads through teams, and not just through the athletes, but the families and the adults that are surrounding them, and even the referees and the rinks and the environment. Coaches are sort of that first step in the process. They're not the only step but starting with coaches on this kind of content is so important to just think it through, and then it starts to permeate through team culture and starts to become part of the team, and all of a sudden, next thing you know we are really leaning into this kind of work to bring way more athletes into hockey.”

It’s all part of the NHL’s longstanding commitment to host celebrations of authenticity, including the inaugural NHL All-Star Pride Cup during the 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend in Toronto and the 2025 NHL Pride Cup at the 4 Nations Face-Off in Boston.

“After our first Pride Cup in Toronto, the Toronto Gay Hockey Association saw a 20 percent increase in player participation the following season, and when they surveyed those folks, they heard about it through the publicity around Pride Cup,” Cothren said. “The goal is to have more folks learn about these organizations and know they have a place to play.”

The Cutting Edges and the Seattle Pride Hockey Association each received a $25,000 donation in support of their continued community impact.

“This unlocks so much opportunity with the visibility it creates, especially with so much momentum around queer hockey right now,” said Joey Gale, vice president of the Seattle Pride Hockey Association. “It shows the NHL’s commitment to diversity and inclusion and unlocks so much for us in terms of lowering barriers to play. We want to make sure that regardless of who you are, who you love, you can play the sport and feel comfortable.”

For Rigsby, who first connected with hockey through the Hurricanes because his mom worked at their original home, the Greensboro Coliseum, that’s an important message.

“Hockey and sport in general, is a lot of people's passion and something they really enjoy doing and I feel for athletes that think that they have to make a choice of being their authentic self and living a happy life and doing the thing that they love,” Rigsby said.