Flyers Pride Night
Xfinity Mobile Arena
3601 S. Broad St.
Philadelphia
Jan. 12, 2026
There’s no easy way to say this, so I’ll just give it to you straight: I went to the first Flyers Pride Night since “Heated Rivalry” dropped on HBO Max and they didn’t even kiss. Not only that, but the extremely corporate pride event lacked any understanding of the LGBTQ+ fans in attendance other than what they may have seen on a pride themed Pinterest board. And to top it all off, the Flyers lost 5-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
I don’t usually go to pride events that aren’t organized by small groups, but after becoming obsessed with the new gay hockey romance that has everyone in my life in a spiral, it seemed like a fun first game to attend. And it was fun, regardless of the DJ’s corny setlist that included songs like “Pink Pony Club” and “Abracadabra" (although, the organist's rendition of “It’s Raining Men” was genuinely magical). It was a sweet touch to turn the exterior of the Xfinity Mobile Arena into a giant rainbow, but my tolerance for rainbow capitalism ends there, and unfortunately that color scheme is the only effort the NHL team made to turn the event into a pride night.
The rainbow pride flag was everywhere: balloon setups, projected onto the ice, the Ice Squad’s pompoms, the emcee’s t-shirt, and on the lapel of the executive I accidentally ran into on the elevator. The Ice Squad danced – off ice, by the way, which was disappointing – to “Firework” by Katy Perry, which in and of itself made it clear that the folks in charge of those decisions are over a decade behind on queer culture. It was obvious overkill, and it showed the crowd that the organization on the whole had no clue how else they could incorporate queer pride into the event.
But there were some things incorporated that made me think, “Wait, was that meant to be gay?” like Gritty, our city’s beloved mascot, pushing a cream pie in someone’s face after a round of trivia, or that the event coincided with Hello Kitty night, where fans could choose to add a Flyers themed Hello Kitty plushie to their ticket order. I would categorize these things as “accidentally gay” based on the overall vibe of corporate cluelessness.
This was a concern hockey fans had going into this season, as this Flyers Pride Night didn’t have some of its loudest advocates involved. For years, Scott Laughton and James van Riemsdyk – who both work with You Can Play, an organization focused on eliminating homophobia in sports – as well as Joel Farabee, all of whom are no longer with the team, were steadfast ambassadors for the event during their time as Flyers.
The players looked forward to Pride Night, and pushed back against the pride tape ban that was put in place in 2023 (and then backpeddled), arguing that it’s an important way to support their LGBTQ+ teammates and fans. This year, only 7 members of the team wore pride tape on their sticks for warmup: Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim, Garnet Hathaway, Owen Tippett, Noah Cates, Nicolas Deslauriers, and Emil Andrae.
But even with these shortcomings, the event itself felt welcoming, sweet, and unlike any other sporting event I’ve been to. And that is not thanks to the NHL, but because of a local group, Lavender Panzies, who put in the work.
While my friends and I were finding our section, we ran into a person named Lila who asked if we were with the Panzies. I initially said no, because we had tickets in a different section, but I knew I’d be coming back to their spot to enjoy some of the game with them. Lavender Panzies is a FLINTA (Femme, Lesbian, Intersex, Non-binary, Transgender, Agender) focused queer community in Philly, and they invited their members to join them at Flyers Pride Night. The group came last year, but noted that this year’s group was double the size.
They attribute that to the group having grown, but also largely to “Heated Rivalry." That this was the reason many people were there was extremely evident in the arena, with various folks wearing merch related to the show like a “Stupid Canadian Wolf Bird” sweater, or hats that read “I’m coming to the cottage” and “The sexual tension at this hockey game is driving me crazy.” In fact, when the players started fighting on the ice, much of the crowd chanted, or perhaps begged, for them to kiss. And when the DJ finally played the song we were all waiting for – “All the Things She Said” by t.A.T.u – the crowd got out of their seats to dance (or cry, remembering how devastating that scene in the show was.)
Alda, one of the organizers, told me that there are some hardcore fans that show up, but plenty of the group just finds it to be a nice space to spend time with their community. She has been to a few different Flyers games, including in her childhood, but prefers watching the game with a group. Lila, another one of the group’s organizers, noted that it’s a special night, especially because there are “a lot of sporty gays.” It’s clear that Alda and Lila love what they’re doing with this group, and that the events – like Qamp, their annual camping experience – are what bring folks together.
The cherry on the cake was that because the group sold over 50 tickets, they earned a photo op with Gritty between the 2nd and 3rd periods of the game. Escorted by his very own Secret Service agent, the fuzzy orange monster greeted us, posed for a photo, shook his belly, then zoomed away on his hoverboard. It was exactly what I expected, and it was perfect. Gritty, Alda said, would totally eat homophobes.
And so, sure, the Flyers lost catastrophically on Pride Night. And the event itself felt forced, especially without the help of the former team members who fought for it. And contrary to what I learned from “Heated Rivalry” about what happens on the ice, none of the players kissed. But they did get on top of each other, rip their helmets off, and let their mouths get pretty close four different times, so what more can the fujoshing fans really ask for?
