How “Heated Rivalry” Brought One Gay Hockey Player Back To The Rink
Matt Kenny spent close to 15 years away from ice hockey. The Canadian-born former defenseman didn’t leave because he wasn’t talented enough. He left because he didn’t feel safe.
Growing up playing competitively in Ontario, Kenny kept his sexuality hidden from teammates before quietly stepping away in his late teens. “It just kind of felt like I was giving everything to this sport, and deep down inside, I just knew that this sport I loved probably wasn’t able to love me back,” he said.
The show that brought it all back
That changed on Christmas Eve 2025, when Kenny sat down to watch Heated Rivalry, a Canadian Crave series about a secret romance between two competing professional hockey players. Adapted from Rachel Reid’s novel of the same name, it became Crave’s most successful original series debut to date.
For Kenny, watching it triggered a five-day panic attack. Decades of memories surfaced: the secrecy, the shame, a relationship with a fellow player he’d never spoken about publicly. Days later, he posted about it on Instagram. He woke up three times that night wanting to delete it. He didn’t.
Reid shared Kenny’s story on her own social media. His posts have since been viewed by 4.5 million people. Closeted athletes reached out. So did parents of kids going through something similar.
Back on the ice, and in the room where it counts
Kenny’s return took on new meaning at the third annual NHL Pride Cup (National Hockey League Pride Cup), held on 28 February in Surrey, British Columbia. The event brought together the two leading LGBTQIA+ hockey associations in the Pacific Northwest. Vancouver’s The Cutting Edges took gold; silver went to the Seattle Pride Hockey Association. The NHL donated $25,000 to each team.
Among the former NHL players in attendance were Andrew Ference, Bill Ranford, Corey Hirsch, Dave Tomlinson, Dave Babych, and Jyrki Lumme. Kenny stood alongside them, having laced up skates for the first time in 15 years just weeks earlier. “It felt amazing,” he said.
The moment that stayed with him came after the games. A nine-year-old boy, surrounded by Stanley Cup champions, asked specifically for a photo with Kenny. On the drive home, the boy told his mum that Kenny was the hero of the day.
“This weekend reminded me that visibility within our community matters,” Kenny wrote to his followers.
What comes next
At DNA, we know this kind of visibility doesn’t happen by accident. Kenny has confirmed he’ll return for next year’s NHL Pride Cup. He’s also writing a book and working with an American Hockey League (AHL) team to build more inclusive spaces for the next generation of players.
The NHL has never had a publicly out active player. That fact sits behind everything Kenny is doing right now, and it says plenty about how far the sport still has to go.
