The NHL never has had an openly gay player, but if a player does come out, he will be accepted, according to results of an anonymous survey conducted by USA TODAY Sports at the NHL/NHL Players' Association Media tour Sept. 8-9, 2015, in Toronto.
Thirty-five NHL players were asked whether they would be accepting of an openly gay teammate, and 34 (97.1%) said they would be.
“I’m not surprised by that,” said Calgary Flames president Brian Burke. “I’m disappointed by the one player. I don’t think our players have an issue with gay players. I think the first player to come out is going to find an unbelievably welcome reception.