Photo by Lauren Drewes Daniels
Audio By Carbonatix
On Friday, the Dallas Stars released their 2026-2027 theme night promotional schedule. It contains all the classics like Hockey Fights Cancer Night and Halloween Night. There’s even an Anime Night. What it does not include, to the dissatisfaction of many fans, is a Pride night.
It’s a surprising change in the usual schedule for the team, and comes at a particularly interesting time. Since the debut of “Heated Rivalry,” the smash-hit fictional TV show about two professional hockey players who fall in love, hockey ticket sales have surged 30%.
This season will mark the first time since at least 2020 that the night has been left off the annual theme night calendar, though that year’s iteration was canceled in light of the pandemic. Before then, the team hosted a “You Can Play” night which featured Pride-themed player equipment on the ice.
Already, the choice has received backlash from devout fans.
“It’s getting harder and harder to stay a dallas fan,” wrote one fan on the team’s official Instagram. “Especially with no pride night. C’mon you chose western and anime night over that?”
Other teams in the league, like the Los Angeles Kings, have kept their Pride Night. The Boston Bruins have a rainbow-branded “Hockey Is For Everyone” night instead of an explicit Pride night. Not all teams have released their theme night schedules yet, but even the Nashville Predators have a Pride Night on Jan. 5.
In response to our inquiry about why the theme night was dropped with the context of the growing popularity in LGBTQ+ spaces, the Stars vice president of communications, Joe Calvillo, relayed the team’s official statement:
“The new Hockey Unites Night allows our organization to use our platform to celebrate and support a different underrepresented community each season.”
This year’s title for the Stars’ Hockey Unites Night is “Hockey Unites: Women In Sports Night.” Interestingly, the Boston Bruins’ themed nights schedule includes both the aforementioned “Hockey is For Everyone” game as well as a “Women In Sports Night.”
The Stars now controversially join the Texas Rangers as a major league sports team that does not have an official Pride-themed game. The Mavericks and the Cowboys have yet to release their theme calendars, so they still have time to avoid the errors of their contemporaries. We’ll be watching.
