Celebrating progress with Mandy Cronin as Winterhawks partner with You Can Play for fifth annual Pride Night
When the Portland Winterhawks host their Pride Night on January 24, they’ll be carrying forward the vision that Mandy Cronin champions every day. As a former professional goalie who co-founded the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, established M-Power, a girls’ sport development company, and later managed two National Women’s Hockey League teams, Cronin has spent her career breaking barriers and working to transform hockey into a sport that welcomes everyone.
Now, as Head of Corporate and Sports Partnerships for You Can Play Project, she’s helping organizations like the Winterhawks create meaningful change in hockey culture. For the second year, the Winterhawks are partnering with You Can Play Project for their fifth annual Pride Night, building on a shared vision of making hockey truly inclusive.
“Pride to me, when I see a rainbow flag somewhere, it’s not just a rainbow,” Cronin said. “That’s supposed to symbolize different colors, different people, different walks of life. If everybody is contributing to a team—if they’re your communications, your social media, your trainer, your coach, your athlete—if they’re making your team better, who cares? And if they’re not hurting anybody, who cares? That’s really what pride is for me.”
This philosophy shapes how Cronin approaches her work with hockey organizations. Rather than offering one-size-fits-all solutions, she believes in understanding each community’s unique needs. Through her work with You Can Play Project, she has helped teams across North America develop programs that reflect their local communities’ values and needs.
“What works in your market might not work in another market,” Cronin said. “So we like to sit with your team and say, what can we do? What can we do with our services and our offerings to customize them and tailor them to what works in your space and what you’re looking for?”
In Portland, that means bringing together local LGBTQ+ organizations to connect with fans during Pride Night. Groups like New Avenues for Youth & SMYRC, Rose City Hockey Club, and Utopia Portland will join the celebration, which includes everything from a concourse parade to on-ice performances. The Portland Lesbian Choir will perform the national anthem, while Miranda Robinson from You Can Play Project will be on hand as the in-game co-host.
But for Cronin, these events are just the beginning. She sees each Pride Night as part of a larger conversation about making hockey more accessible.
“We get to find creative ways to open the doors for more kids and adults to participate in sports, whether it’s as a fan, as an athlete, as an official,” she said. “It’s finding your local organizations that are already doing the work in this space and kind of leaning on them, asking those questions: how can we be better as an organization?”
These questions reflect Cronin’s personal journey in hockey. From playing professionally to advocating for inclusion, she’s witnessed the sport’s evolution. Through partnerships with organizations like the Winterhawks, her message resonates: hockey grows stronger when everyone feels welcome to play, coach, officiate, or simply cheer from the stands.
When the puck drops against the Tri-City Americans on January 24, it will be more than just another game. It’s a celebration of how far hockey has come, and a reminder of the work still ahead to ensure everyone feels at home in the sport. Learn more about the You Can Play Project here and how you can help contribute to inclusivity and diversity in hockey!
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