MOVIE DECISION GUIDE

The Hockey Player

Name: The Hockey Player
Genre: Documentary
Duration: 1 h 20 min
Cast: Luke Prokop, Jacob Tierney, Mark Borowiecki, Gary Bettman, Brock McGillis

2026 · 1h 20m · Documentary

MOVIHERO READ

Steady documentary with a balanced watch profile. Best if you want family relationships to matter as much as the story.

76/100

WORTH IT

WHAT IT'S ABOUT

A documentary that follows Canadian-born defenseman Luke Prokop as he decides to become the first — and still only — professional athlete playing under contract to an NHL team to come out as gay. Growing up in Edmonton steeped in Canada’s tough, often homophobic hockey culture, and playing without gay role models throughout professional sports, Luke’s path to coming out of the closet has been neither easy nor obvious. The film charts Prokop’s personal journey against the backdrop of a professional hockey industry that has had, at best, an ambivalent relationship to diversity. As the film sensitively reveals, being publicly out certainly came as an earthquake to his family, especially his father Al, who as Luke’s mentor and sometime coach represents the most complex and moving relationship in the film.

Watch Now Watch trailer

76/100

WORTH IT

WORTH ITA documentary that follows Canadian-born defenseman Luke Prokop as he decides to become the first — and still only — professional athlete playing under contract to an…

MAKE THE CALL

Does this belong in your night?

A decision, not a review. Choose the kind of night you want and keep your queue honest.

WHY THIS MIGHT BE FOR YOU

01The setup points to a story driven by family relationships and their consequences

02A compact 80-minute runtime and a more measured watch than a pure momentum movie define the practical movie-night fit

03Its 7.0/10 TMDB score is still based on a small audience sample, so MoviHero weighs the movie's actual profile more heavily

MOVIHERO EDITORIAL

Should you watch The Hockey Player?

The Hockey Player belongs in your night if you want the relationships inside a family to matter as much as the plot. It is a more measured watch than a pure momentum movie, with a compact 80-minute runtime, and the Watch Profile puts attention at 6/10 and emotional impact at 6/10. The overall profile gives it a solid case when that experience matches your mood.

WATCH NOW