Members of Boston Pride Hockey took the ice at the Boston Bruins’ practice facility for the second installment of the NHL Pride Cup on Sunday.
Team White, coached by Madison Packer and featuring Hockey Hall of Famer Joe Mullen, skated to a 5-4 victory against Team Blue in what was a competitive event promoting equality and inclusion in hockey. Boston Pride Hockey, founded in 1989 as New England’s first LGBTQ+ hockey club, has grown to more than 350 members.
Team Blue was coached by Venla Hovi and Anya Packer and featured former NHL player Andrew Ference. It staged a late game comeback, BPH director of communications Kevin Corsino scored with 56 seconds left to bring the score within one. The second half of the game saw goalie Corwin Dickson outdueling their dad Ross for the win.
Boston Pride Hockey President Mark Tikonoff was credited with the game-winning goal for Team White -- a laser shot just inside the right post mid-way through the third period.
“Playing the game was incredible, I thought the pageantry, the attention to detail, you could really feel the true support of the NHL and those running the event,” Tinokoff said. “There is meaning behind it, there is thought behind it and we definitely all noticed it and had a great time. I think its super important to have advocates and allies in organizations like the NHL, getting visibility onto our organization and onto LGBTQ people its hugely important that people are seen and having an event like this is incredible.”
Kim Davis, NHL senior executive vice president of social impact, growth initiatives and legislative affairs, was on hand to present the Pride Cup trophy and a $25,000 donation to Boston Pride Hockey scholarship fund.
“We’re incredibly proud to partner with the NHL and it’s something that we really looked forward to,” Corsino said. “Boston Pride Hockey is really the only certified nonprofit organization in New England that’s dedicated to creating a safe, welcoming space for certainly queer players, but definitely allies. We really welcome anyone who is willing to support our mission of making sure there’s a welcoming and inclusive place for everybody regardless of their identities.”
The ceremonial face-off was conducted by Kerry Burke, the mother of Brendan Burke, a pioneer in the battle against homophobia in hockey. Brendan, the son of longtime NHL executive Brian Burke, died in an auto accident Feb. 5, 2010 at the age of 21.
“What the NHL is doing here by hosting a Pride Cup in tandem with the 4 Nations Face-Off this year, they’re providing our organization with a platform that is really incomparable,” Corsino said. “The one thing I love about the NHL is that they’re digging their toes in and they’re not afraid to make sure they have these community outreach programs in the cities and with clubs that are hosting these global events.”
Jeff McLean, the co-founder of Pride Tape, also attended the Pride Cup in support of the event. Pride Tape was created nearly a decade ago in Edmonton as a badge of support for the LGBTQ+ hockey community but has since branched out to a number of different sports.
Last season, the first NHL Pride Cup was held at the NHL All-Star Weekend in Toronto in the form of a ball hockey game. This season the game was moved to ice.
McLean said it’s critical to continue promoting the importance of providing a safe and inclusive places for players of all sports.
“Yeah, it’s very important,” McLean said. “Right from the very beginning we said we created Pride Tape so that one day we don’t need Pride Tape. We can all see today we need it more than ever to show up and show our support, and the visibility is increasingly important to show inclusion and be welcoming, not only in our sport (hockey), but to all sports and in our communities.”
Boston Pride began with a handful of players gathering to play pick-up hockey once a week. The pick-up games spawned the Inclusive Hockey League, now featuring five teams.
“We have about 80 players that come together on Sunday nights for two games,” Corsino said. “We’re in our third season and it’s been incredible. It’s has been a tremendous growth driver for BPH and bringing folks who want a little more of that competitive edge and a little bit more of an organized fashion, so it’s been amazing to see that.”
The competitive edge transferred to the Pride Cup on Sunday. Though the main theme is inclusivity, once the puck dropped it was all about lifting the Cup.
“This really means everything to us,” Corsino said. “As you can imagine, one of the most critical challenges we have as a nonprofit organization is that we don’t have the resources a typical hockey club or organization might have to get the word out, and to celebrate what we’re doing and make sure folks know about it. We need allyship year-round and the NHL is amplifying that message on a global scale.”
