Former Finnish hockey star Janne Puhakka has just come out as gay. He also revealed the reason he left hockey behind at such a young age: to protect himself from homophobia.
Puhakka grew up in Espoo, Finland and began playing professional hockey at age 16. He played for the French team Rapaces de Gap until 2018, when he retired at the tender age of 23. He left the sports world to work in the fashion industry.
Puhakka’s decision to retire sparked much speculation in the world of pro sports, as hockey players typically play well into middle age. He now says that he worried he would lose his job for being gay.
Related: Hockey star Jon Lee-Olson comes out of the closet on live TV
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“I’m sure other players fear the issue because of their jobs, as well,” Puhakka said in an interview with Helsingin Sanomat. Though other pro sports have seen increasing numbers of players coming out as LGBTQ, Puhakka says hockey is “lagging behind.”
“We wouldn’t have to go through all this if everyone could be themselves in the locker room,” he says. “I’m glad if even one junior or professional player finds something positive in this interview.”
Puhakka becomes the fourth pro hockey player in history to come out of the closet, following Danish player Jon Lee-Olsen last month. “It would be ideal if I didn’t have to talk about this,” Puhakka says of coming out. “But as long as people are silent on the subject, we must speak up.”
Invader7
Wow. I’m now officially into Danish &Finnish former hockey players…
j41005
Me too!
Josh447
Yes truly delish.
Matthewnow
5 Five bonus points for acknowledging your true self. We can not allow our orientation to rule our lives. Peace
Henreid
Between the concussions and the dental damage that a career in hockey often inflicts on players, Puhakka was probably wise to leave while his mind and body were still intact.
j41005
Hey Pukakka…
Can we date? ??
GayEGO
Whoops! You misspelled his name, it is Puhakka, not Pukakka! ;>)
GayEGO
Such an intelligent, good looking man!
CanadianGuy62
He’s a FORMER pro athlete. It’s a VERY important distinction as few active pro athletes have come out, even fewer active team sport athletes. Does anyone remember Michael Sam and how well that went with the NFL?
Thad
The NHL is officially welcoming to LGBT players, coaches, and fans. You Can Play is hockey’s program for LGBT inclusion and Hockey Is For Everyone crosses many lines to demonstrate support for all hockey lovers. All 31 teams hosted special events last season…I went to three, in Philadelphia, Brooklyn, and Raleigh (yes, North Carolina, and I enjoyed theirs most!).
RyanMBecker
You can see an interview of him by searching on, “Yle Areena
Liigagalleria: Janne Puhakka.” The interview is in both Finnish and English. It was kinda weird to hear them switch language for no apparent reason, and then back to Finnish. And it was sad to hear him say that his dream was to play for the NHL — something that was never realized. Great solid masculine voice, although he looked adorably shy at times. Very wholesome awww-shucks kinda guy.
RyanMBecker
I’m somewhat surprised that he would feel such fear in Finland. The Nordic countries are among the most gay friendly in the world. Finland has had anti-discrimination laws in place since the 1990s, long before most other countries. And legendary physique illustrator Tom of Finland is featured on one of its stamps.
I guess the issue was that he played in France, which is less gay-friendly. I wonder how his French former teammates have reacted.
skeldare
Good for him, but why is it always a FORMER athlete?
piriblue
Men have been having sex with one another since the beginning of time. It is some just simply, not talked about. It happens with best friends every day. When we start naming it and making a big thing out of it, is what makes it can I say taboo. You go to a bar, you meet a man. You are attracted to one another and have sex. We don’t ask “are you gay?” Does it matter? If we stop labeling we would all be happier individuals. Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t. Why do we feel to out someone just for the fact that we are feeling insecure about ourselves.
Cam
Translation: Everybody should stay in the closet because actually talking about it scares the homophobes. Screw that.
nitejonboy
I’m not normally into blondes but dayummm that muthafukas fineeee..it is a damn shame that he felt the need to retire so early though, no one should have to put their dreams in a box and hide them away just so they can be themselves…I pray he is happy now and finds peace. God bless you kind sir!!