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I hope your friends/teammates are doing ok. It is a very brave thing to do—self acceptance. Sometimes it is harder than telling the world.

Thanks, I really appreciate that. the one that came out to me, isn’t doing well mentally about it still but I’ve been trying to support and be there for him best I can. the couple are still doing well I heard tho:)

Curious what the vibe is regarding the PWHL. Are most of the players you know supportive of women's hockey & female hockey players? Thanks!

hey thank you :)

most of the players I know don’t really mention the pwhl . only time I can think of is when there was a joke going around with the guys smth about being first male player in the pwhl

do you think something like that would be possible in the NHL/would potentially lessen the burden on a singular player?

Like if someone got bigger over a break or isnt as bulky?

yesss

Hiiiii thank you

it would be on sports media, mainstream news, everything for awhile. The NHL and the team would pretty quickly put out supportive statements. It would be very controlled and careful. make it clear the player is backed.

online would be the loudest. would be a lot of support, but also a lot of hate.

how it would influence things overall, it would actually matter big time long term. big news moment, but after that it I think it would slowly change the environment around the league. would be incredibly inspirational for other players too.

Do you guys not talk about it at all?

An active player willing to talk about it is a good start, so thank you for being open to it. I stay hopeful that the younger players coming in will be able to shift attitudes and make locker rooms a safer place. Not much we can do about toxic hockeybro fans.

Not speculating on what Macklin and Will have going on, but I wonder if it will take someone at their level coming out publicly to push things forward. Would the whole hockey world bash a generational talent and his linemate or is there too much respect for their game? You mentioned teammates bringing them up and the vibe in locker rooms. Do you think it'll make a difference which player eventually comes out? I hate it, but I don't know if an unknown 4th liner would be as protected as a guy who went top 5 in the draft.

Hopefully you're getting some lighter asks too because those are fun. The backwards hat thing is hilarious. You're just going to squint when you have a whole hat right there on your head? lolll

a star player like Mack would probably get more support, team PR, league messaging, and teammates speaking up publicly(backing up in support) but doesn’t change that there would still be a lot of backlash unfortunately.

tho a generational talent coming out wouldn’t fix the culture, but make it much harder for people to pretend lgbtq players don’t exist in the sport. It would force conversations that have been avoided. it would be MASSIVE. and impossible to ignore.

I think it would probably help things move forward just because it forces the whole league and fanbase to react and adjust in public. but it’s hard to answer.

and if you mean also dating a teammate, it would add more attention and be even more huge. I find it hard to see this ever happening. it is a whole other complicated conversation I find difficult even getting into. I’ve tried for the past few minutes attempting to write something for what it would be like but I can’t fathom it. sorry for that !

realistically my chances are extremely low so I don’t think it’ll happen. but hey it’s everyone’s dream,

NHL wouldn’t kick them out but

the reason it’s considered risky is more about the culture and the attention that would come with being one of the first openly gay active NHL players. some players might worry about being treated differently by teammates, or even by other players , judged by fans, and pressure of interviews.

You member of the alphabet mafia? 🤔

hiiiiii