The New York City Pride Hockey Alliance and the Albany Pride Hockey Association will play in the fourth annual NHL Unites Pride Cup, Feb. 4-7, during 2027 All-Star Weekend, the NHL announced Thursday, Nov. 5.
“There’s no better stage to celebrate hockey and everyone who loves our game than NHL All-Star Weekend,” said Kim Davis, the league’s senior executive vice president of social impact, growth initiatives and legislative affairs.
The league is staging the event with Pride Tape. Besides games between the two clubs, the release promises “a Try Hockey For Free event and a public party.”
The NHL hasn’t named venues. “A full list of locations, game times, community partners, special guests and details for the opening party will be announced at a later date,” the NHL said.
All-Star Weekend itself runs Feb. 5-7 at UBS Arena, the New York Islanders’ home on Long Island, the league announced in October 2025, though it hasn’t said where the Pride Cup games will be. “And there’s something especially powerful about showcasing this tournament alongside the best players in the world,” Davis said.
How the NHL Unites Pride Cup Grew Since Toronto 2024
The first Pride Cup was a ball hockey game at the 2024 Hyundai NHL Fan Fest in Toronto on Feb. 3, 2024, and Team White beat Team Blue 6-2, NHL.com reported. “I’m just so happy to be a part of this tournament, it’s been an amazing time and I’m just so glad the NHL made space for us,” said Kris Hamill, a goalie from Mississauga, Ontario.
Commissioner Gary Bettman handed the Toronto Gay Hockey Association the cup and a $25,000 check after the game. “Never thought we’d be here at the NHL-All Star Game,” Pride Tape co-founder Kristopher Wells said.
The second Cup moved to ice at the Boston Bruins’ practice facility during the 4 Nations Face-Off on Feb. 16, 2025, and Team White won that one 5-4, NHL.com reported. “Right from the very beginning we said we created Pride Tape so that one day we don’t need Pride Tape,” Pride Tape co-founder Jeff McLean said in Boston.
“We can all see today we need it more than ever to show up and show our support,” he said.
Last season’s edition was a three-game series between Vancouver’s The Cutting Edges and the Seattle Pride Hockey Association in Surrey, B.C., on Feb. 28 and March 1, 2026, with $25,000 for each club, the NHL said. “It’s really special for the players who didn’t experience that as kids to get to have that feeling, to have the announcer, the music and have the big stage, it feels nice,” said Kade Lacasse, a forward for The Cutting Edges, whose team won Game 1.
The NHL’s 2023 Pride Tape Ban and Its Reversal
In June 2023, after a handful of players opted out of team Pride nights the season before, the NHL stopped letting teams wear theme jerseys in warmups, Global News reported. “We’re keeping the focus on the game. And on these specialty nights, we’re going to be focused on the cause,” Bettman told Sportsnet that month, CBS News reported.
A league memo that October barred Pride Tape on sticks, and Arizona Coyotes defenseman Travis Dermott used it anyway on Oct. 21 against the Anaheim Ducks, CBS reported. Three days later, the NHL said players would have “the option to voluntarily represent social causes with their stick tape throughout the season,” according to its statement.
“I think today is a great day for hockey and human rights,” Wells said, according to Global News.
NYC Pride Hockey Alliance and Albany Pride Hockey Association
“For NYCPHA, the NHL Unites Pride Cup is about more than a tournament, it’s about the players who found a team, a community, and a place to belong,” said Steven Greenberg, the alliance’s president.
The club runs teams at Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers and the LeFrak Center at Prospect Park, and its website says it has provided “a safe-space for the LGBTQ+ community and its allies” for 25 years. “Being part of NHL All-Star Weekend puts that story in front of a national audience,” Greenberg said.
Albany’s association has served its community since 2005, according to vice president Dmitry Rowan. “For more than twenty years, we have worked to give LGBTQ+ athletes and allies a safe and welcoming place to learn the game, find belonging and grow on and off the ice,” he said.
LGBTQ+ leagues have drawn fresh interest since “Heated Rivalry,” which The Associated Press called “a hit TV show that traces the romance of two professional hockey players.” In April, Chicago Pride Hockey Association president Gina Malizio estimated to the AP that new player inquiries numbered in the hundreds since its first episode.
People are “feeling more comfortable seeing themselves potentially be represented in a TV show,” Malizio told the AP. Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said in January that his team was ready to welcome a player who came out, Gayety reported.
“We are grateful to the NHL for this platform and excited about what comes next for our players and our community,” Rowan said.
