Global Courant
The NHL will not allow teams to wear “charity-based” jerseys next season, the league confirmed Thursday.
The league’s board of directors agreed with commissioner Gary Bettman’s view that the denials overshadowed teams’ efforts to host Pride nights, with warm-up jerseys being auctioned off in some cases. All 32 teams held Pride of Hockey’s for Everyone night.
Teams will still celebrate Pride and other themed nights, including Military Appreciation and Hockey Fights Cancer. They are also expected to still design and produce jerseys that will be signed and sold to raise money, even though players won’t be skating around in them during warm-ups.
Pride jerseys became a league hot button issue last season after several players refused to wear them during warm-ups.
Bettman said in an interview with Sportsnet after the New York Board meeting that he suggested teams stop having special warm-up jerseys because themed nights were undermined by chatter about certain players refusing to participate.
“That’s just become more of a distraction from the essence of what the purpose of these nights is,” Bettman said. “We keep the focus on the game. And on these special nights, we’re going to focus on the cause.”
Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov was the first to make that decision, citing his Russian Orthodox beliefs.
Florida Panthers brothers Eric and Marc Staal also refused to wear their team’s Pride jersey for religious reasons.
LOOK | A handful of NHLers object to wearing Pride-themed jerseys:
A handful of NHLers object to wearing Pride-themed jerseys
Canadian NHL players Mark and Eric Staal are the latest to join a handful of others refusing to wear Pride-themed warmup jerseys in support of the LGBTQ community. It has sparked a debate about inclusiveness and personal freedom in pro hockey.
Some Russian players did not wear the jerseys due to safety concerns to go home. In December, Russia amended its anti-gay laws making it “illegal to spread ‘propaganda’ about ‘nontraditional sexual relationships’ in all media, including social media, advertisements and movies,” according to The New York Times.
However, Russians such as Evgeni Malkin of Pittsburgh and Sergei Bobrovsky of Florida did wear the jerseys.
Three teams – the Minnesota Wild, the New York Rangers and the Chicago NHL team – canceled their Pride Night warmups, but held other events.
‘Worried and disappointed’
You Can Play, which works with sports and leagues – including the NHL – to help them become more inclusive for members of the LGBTQ+ community, said it was “concerned and disappointed” by Thursday’s decision.
“Today’s decision means that more than 95 percent of players who chose to wear a Pride jersey to support the community will now not have the opportunity to do so,” the organization said in a statement.
“The work to make locker rooms, boardrooms and arenas safer, more diverse and inclusive must be ongoing and purposeful, and we will continue to work with our partners in the NHL, including individual teams, players, agents and the NHLPA to ensure that this critical work continues.”
