Pride Tape: How a Roll of Tape Became a Statement

Most hockey tape does two jobs: it protects the blade and it helps you feel the puck. In October 2023, one roll of tape did a third. Arizona defenceman Travis Dermott wrapped the top of his stick in rainbow tape for a home game against Anaheim, in open defiance of an NHL memo that said players couldn’t use it. Within days the league had backed down. For a product that had existed for less than eight years, it was a remarkable moment, and it started in Edmonton with a very modest goal.

An Edmonton idea

Pride Tape was the work of Kris Wells, then faculty director of the University of Alberta’s Institute of Sexual Minority Studies and Services, and Jeff McLean, creative director at Calder Bateman Communications. NHL.com also credits Dean Petruk as a co-creator.

Their starting point was research. Wells told The Hockey News in January 2016 that LGBTQ+ youth are less likely to take part in organized sport, and the founders wanted something simple that could open a conversation at every level of the game. Their answer was rainbow stick tape that any player could wrap on a stick as a sign of support.

They raised the money on Kickstarter. In late January 2016, with 10 days left, the campaign was still a little short of its $54,000 goal, which would pay for the first 10,000 rolls. Roughly half of those rolls were meant for grassroots and minor hockey programs. The company’s own 2026 anniversary release says the goal was reached in early February 2016, with more than 1,100 backers, the Oilers, and Brian Burke and his family among the supporters. Oilers defenceman Andrew Ference was the project’s public face.

McLean later told NHL.com that the hopes were small. Reaching one person, and spreading the idea that hockey is for everyone, would have been enough.

The Oilers go first

On January 24, 2016, the Edmonton Oilers became the first NHL team to use Pride Tape, at their skills competition at Rexall Place. CTV Edmonton described it as a visible show of support for young LGBTQ+ players.

From there the tape spread to warmups and Pride nights around the league. It also reached games that counted. On February 25, 2019, Kurtis Gabriel of the New Jersey Devils scored the winning goal in a 2-1 game against Montreal at Prudential Center with Pride Tape wrapped around the top of his stick. The game was televised across Canada.

Oilers Nation reported that Connor McDavid led several Oilers in wearing Pride Tape during warmups against the Devils. In the women’s game, Rebecca Morse of the NWHL’s Metropolitan Riveters told NHL.com in 2021 that she had worn it at the top of her sticks for three seasons, and that it had connected her with LGBTQ+ people and allies across the sport.

By 2021, NHL.com reported, the tape was common in youth hockey, beer leagues and pro leagues, and had moved into other sports. UCLA softball players wrapped their bats with it, and Premier Lacrosse League players had used it since 2018.

The 2023 ban

In the summer of 2023, the NHL announced that teams would stop wearing special warmup jerseys on theme nights. The decision followed a season in which several players declined to wear Pride Night jerseys, citing religious or other reasons. Commissioner Gary Bettman said those refusals had overshadowed the work clubs were doing.

As the 2023-24 season approached, a league memo made clear that the ban also covered Pride Tape. NPR reported the reaction. Flyers forward Scott Laughton said he would use the tape even if he had to buy it himself. Flames defenceman Rasmus Andersson called the ban a letdown. Maple Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly called it unfortunate. Brian Burke, one of the original backers, called it a serious setback. Kris Wells offered Laughton and his teammates free tape.

Dermott’s tape

On October 21, 2023, Travis Dermott played Arizona’s home opener at Mullett Arena in Tempe with Pride Tape on the top of his stick. The Coyotes beat Anaheim 2-1. He was the first player to openly break the ban in a game.

Dermott, a long-time advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, told The Athletic he chose to ask forgiveness rather than permission. He said he hoped the gesture would help people who needed it. He also said he would not keep doing it on the ice, so that nobody in the Coyotes organization would be put in a difficult spot.

He didn’t have to. The following Tuesday, after meetings with the NHL Players’ Association and the NHL Player Inclusion Coalition, the league reversed itself. Its statement read: “Players will now have the option to voluntarily represent social causes with their stick tape throughout the season.” Dermott told reporters it was amazing, and that he respected the league’s decision.

Why tape was the right tool

It’s worth asking why this fight happened over tape in the first place. Part of the answer is in the rulebook. NHL rules allow tape of any colour anywhere on a skater’s stick, so a rainbow roll needs no special approval to be legal equipment. Every player tapes, every game, so wrapping a stick in Pride Tape costs nothing and fits into a routine players already have.

Tape is also personal in a way a team jersey isn’t. Players choose their own tape and put it on their own sticks. Many already use the handle to carry something that matters to them: initials, a number, a tribute. Our player stories include many of them. Pride Tape slotted into a long hockey habit of using the stick to say something.

Ten years on

Pride Tape marked its tenth anniversary in February 2026. The company says hundreds of NHL players have wrapped their sticks since its NHL partnership began in 2016-17, and that it now also makes tape for lacrosse, baseball, softball and curling. Its release also acknowledges early backlash, including threats and bans. Its new goal is to wrap one million hockey sticks over the next decade.

If you want to add a statement to your own stick, the handle is the usual place. See our knob styles for ways to build the top of the stick, our tape types guide for the difference between cloth and grip tape, and the Tape Lab to try a design before you tape it.