NHL lends support to LGBTQ+ Chelsea Challenge

Matt Herr calls the Chelsea Challenge one of the busiest intersections in New York City.

The 24th annual tournament hosted by the New York City Pride Hockey Alliance is where LGBTQ+ players and their allies, family and friends converge for a Memorial Day weekend of competition, fellowship, fun and purpose in a safe space at Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers, overlooking the Hudson River in Manhattan.

“It's an intersection of hockey, where all sorts of members of the hockey community --  LGBTQ+, allies -- everybody that's involved in our sport is finding a common ground and a place to meet over hockey,” said Herr, NHL senior director of community development and industry growth and a retired forward who played 58 games with the Washington Capitals, Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins from 1998-2002. “It’s enjoyable.”

Herr is joining 17 of his NHL colleagues on a team competing in the B Division of the tournament that begins Friday and runs through Monday. It’s the seventh consecutive Chelsea Challenge the League will play in.

The participation is part of a longstanding commitment from the NHL to support LGBTQ+ hockey organizations and to host celebrations of authenticity.

The League co-hosted the 2026 NHL Unites Pride Cup in Surrey, British Columbia, Feb. 28-March 1, with longtime partner Pride Tape, which recently celebrated their 10th anniversary, and by the You Can Play Project, another League partner.

The Chelsea Challenge is one of the largest LGBTQ+ hockey tournaments in the United States and a beneficiary of the NHL investing nearly $125,000 in LGBTQ+ organizations and events in Madison, Wisconsin; St. Paul, Minnesota; Seattle and Vancouver this season.

"The NHL is proud to stand with the New York City Pride Hockey Alliance for the Chelsea Challenge,” said Kim Davis, NHL senior executive vice president, social impact, growth initiatives and legislative affairs. “For over two decades, this tournament has proven hockey’s power to unite communities and create spaces where everyone belongs. As we field our seventh NHL team this year, our commitment to inclusion and the LGBTQ+ community remains a year-round priority. We are honored to partner with the Alliance to build a safer, more welcoming game for every player and fan."

The challenge is welcoming sled hockey to the tournament for the first time with four games featuring two Para Hockey Pride teams.

Team USA Paralympic sled hockey captain and five-time gold medalist Josh Pauls will be on the ice and in the stands during the tournament to support teams and the LGBTQ+ community.

“I've gotten to talking with Para Hockey Pride a little bit and I just ordered a couple jerseys to rep when I'm back home,” said the native of Green Brook, New Jersey. “I think there's a lot of intersections in hockey that make it a big uniter, at least it has been for me. It’s something that we want to make sure that is a welcoming space for everyone, for the gay community, for anybody that wants to play hockey, or even just be involved. I think this is a good way for organizations like the NHL, but also for people like me to show our support.”

Christopher Lovelene, who founded Para Hockey Pride last year, said he’s elated about his organization’s inclusion in the challenge and the involvement of Pauls and the NHL in the event.

“It's really amazing because having an inclusive environment and to be able to bring our players is very important,” said Lovelene, a North Carolina resident who started playing sled hockey four years ago after surgery for Spina Bifida and heavy nerve damage. “It helps to bring a lot of attention, and it’s going to be very exciting for our players, having somebody that is so well-known in the sled hockey universe like Pauls there.”

NYCPHA president Steven Greenberg said the NHL’s involvement and support for events like the Chelsea Challenge goes a long way to help shatter stereotypes and make the sport accessible to members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Proceeds from the tournament go toward a scholarship fund that helps players in financial need cover the ice time and league fees charged for a year of hockey.

The alliance has provided $48,000 in financial assistance to players during its fiscal year which runs Sept. 1-Aug. 31, Greenberg said.

“When you're living in New York City, where things are already very expensive, something like this helps a lot,” Greenberg said. “We have seen over time a shift in the queer community participating more in our activities, and it's because of that scholarship fund.”