Anybody who has played organized hockey has heard it before.
Patrick Burke calls it “casual homophobia.”
It’s intended to be a joke amongst teammates when they’re sitting in the locker room, or an insult to opposing players.
That language has forced gay hockey players at all levels to shy away from being candid about their sexuality.
It’s exactly what the Philadelphia Flyers scout is trying to eliminate from the NHL.
That is why he created the You Can Play project, which was launched with a public service announcement on March 4, during a game between the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins.
The project aims to carry on the message inspired by his late brother Brendan, who was tragically killed in a car accident in February of 2010, three months after announcing he was gay. At the time, Brendan Burke was a student manager with the Miami University hockey team.
His announcement marked the first time anybody directly involved in high-level hockey had openly discussed his homosexuality. It was a landmark moment his family is trying to carry forward.
According to the organization, You Can Play aims to “change the sometimes homophobic culture of locker rooms with a message that athletes should be judged on athletic skill and ability, not sexual orientation or other discriminatory factors.”
By starting this campaign, Patrick Burke has taken the first big step towards erasing a problem that has hampered the sporting world for far too long.
With roughly 30 NHL players supporting the cause so far, a solid foundation has been formed.
But without an openly gay athlete at the highest level of professional hockey, the message could fall upon deaf ears.
With one, Flyers winger Wayne Simmonds might not have alledgely yelled a homophobic slur towards Rangers pest Sean Avery during a 2011 pre-season game. If there were an openly gay player in the league, Simmonds would not degrade him by using that language so carelessly.
Maybe then the league would start cracking down on these incidents. Simmonds was not suspended for his action.
The NHL is one of the slowest leagues in the world to react and change with the times. After all, it still has not banned headshots, despite an alarming concussion issue in recent years.
Unless a homosexual athlete is seen to have the same ability as any straight hockey player, the sad fact is this campaign will not produce the necessary change.
Burke thinks that will happen within the next two years. For the sake of the project, it needs to.
The league needs a prominent face if the stigma surrounding gay athletes is to be removed. Without one, NHLers will continue to believe that only the most macho individuals can succeed in the sport.
The reason Jackie Robinson was able to break the colour barrier in baseball was simple; he was talented. Robinson was an MVP-calibre ball player who made six all-star teams during his MLB career.
As Patrick Burke would say, he could play.
Racial equality would have happened eventually in baseball, but Robinson’s talent helped speed up a process that was long overdue.
Sixty-five years later, the NHL finds itself in a very similar position with homophobia.
An openly gay player with an average skillset would be an incredible step forward. One with superstar status could change the lives of kids everywhere who are afraid to come out, living in fear of being ridiculed by teammates.
For a hockey team to succeed, chemistry in the dressing room is critical. Those who disrupt that chemistry are often traded away because they created tension amongst the group.
If someone in the NHL embraces Burke’s message right now, gay athletes everywhere would no longer need to worry about being kicked out of that group. It’s almost as important as the play on the ice; every player wants to be accepted as ‘one of the boys.’
Those boys are expected to be many things. From a young age, physical strength is at the top of that list.
If a current NHL player came out and openly embraced his homosexuality, he would be the strongest of all, and the league could finally welcome itself into the 21st century.