Capitals Among Top 10 Most LGBTQIA+ Inclusive NHL Teams

Certain NHL franchises have done a better job of being inclusive to their given market’s LGBTQIA+ community than others. June is Pride Month, so it is a good time to see where teams stack up.

BetVirginia.com took a break from reviewing Virginia betting apps because we wanted to celebrate Pride Month by finding out which NHL teams (including the Washington Capitals) are the most LGBTQIA+ inclusive. We created a scoring system, assigning points based on the number of pride posts on Instagram and Twitter, along with the reported LGBTQIA+ safety of each city and state where the teams play.

Top 10 LGBTQIA+ Ally NHL Teams

Rank	Team	Total Points
1	Washington Capitals	181
2	Ottawa Senators	139
3	Philadelphia Flyers	136
4	Los Angeles Kings	134
5	Colorado Avalanche	130
6	Pittsburgh Penguins	126
7	New Jersey Devils	123
8	Winnipeg Jets	117
9	Buffalo Sabres	115
10	San Jose Sharks	114

Capitals The Most LGBTQIA+ Inclusive Team in NHL

The Washington Capitals host a Pride Night event each season and take part in the Gay Pride event in the Nation’s Capital, Capital Pride, each year. Those are among the reasons that the club ranks as the most LGBTQIA+ inclusive team in the 32-team league, according to our metrics.

Our scoring system gave the Capitals 181 points, far and away the most in the league. The Caps outpaced the second-place Ottawa Senators by 42 points, illustrating how inclusive the organization has been.

Other NHL franchises that scored well were the Philadelphia Flyers (136 points), Los Angeles Kings (134) and Colorado Avalanche (130).

The Pittsburgh Penguins fell just outside the NHL top five, with 126 points, followed by the New Jersey Devils (123), Winnipeg Jets (117), Buffalo Sabres (115) and San Jose Sharks (114) to round out the top 10 on our list.

As Pride Month unfolds across America, it’s worth remembering the franchises in the NHL that go above and beyond to ensure that members of the LGBTQIA+ community feel included. That is a facet where the Capitals excel, taking home the top spot in the 32-team league by that metric.

As for the upcoming Stanley Cup final, VA sportsbooks have installed the Florida Panthers as a slight favorite to defeat the Edmonton Oilers in the best-of-seven series. BetMGM Virginia sportsbook has Florida at -130 odds; at Caesars Virginia Sportsbook, Edmonton has +126 odds to take the Stanley Cup.

USA Today photo by Geoff Burke

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Author

Christopher Boan

@cgboan

Christopher Boan has been covering sports and sports betting for more than seven years, including stops at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.