Rock icon Elton John personally phones Predators prospect Luke Prokop

Nashville Predators prospect Luke Prokop made the decision to come out last month, and immediately received a whirlwind of support from the NHL and commissioner Gary Bettman. 

Prokop, who was drafted third round (73rd overall) of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft by the Nashville Predators, has spent the first portion of his professional hockey career playing with the Calgary Hitmen. The Edmonton native becomes the first player under an NHL contract to come out. And in addition to the support he received from his hockey colleagues, he got a special message of support from none other than music icon Elton John. 

From NHL.com: 

"He took a shower, ate breakfast and was getting ready for the gym when the French number came in. The caller identified himself as Elton. 

"We just had a really good conversation," Prokop said. "He congratulated me, just asked me how the day was, how the support was, and then he thanked me for being brave and coming out. It was a really cool conversation."

While he was talking to the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, Prokop's mother was in the living room and heard the name "Elton." She gave him a weird look. He hung up. 

"I was like, 'Mom, you'll never guess who phoned me,'" Prokop said. "'Mom, that was Elton John.' She started screaming, like, 'What?' She almost started breaking down. She was probably more excited for me than I was for myself to get that call."

Prokop said he has always been a huge fan of John's work, having watched "Rocketman," the 2019 biopic about the musician, at least four times. And even more so now. 

Prokop was selected in the third round (No. 73) of the 2020 NHL Draft and plays for Calgary of the Western Hockey League. He said it meant a lot for John to reach out to him. To congratulate him. To make sure he was OK. 

"It was really cool for someone to do that kind of really outside of the hockey world," Prokop said. "To see someone that big, that famous, who has a humungous impact on the LGBTQ+ community to reach out and phone me and thank me for being brave and coming out and being able to help kids going through what I went through and allowing them to have someone to look up to, in a sense. He thanked me for that. 

"I don't think I'll ever truly understand how cool that was and how important that was that he called me." 

John wasn't the only person who reached out to Prokop. He mentioned talking to Brian Burke, the president of hockey operations for the Pittsburgh Penguins, whose son Brendan came out in 2009 before his 2010 death in a car accident. He mentioned a text message from Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews that was so stunning to Prokop that he dropped his phone. 

But it was hard to compare anything to the impact of John. And Prokop made sure to say that he would like to pay it forward, to ensure that any kid interested in talking to him could contact him through social media, where he could lend an ear or a bit of advice, if it might help."