NHL Teams Will No Longer Wear Pride “Specialty” Sweaters
ESPN and the Associated Press.Among the players refusing to don Pride memorabilia were then-Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov, San Jose Sharks goaltender James Reimer, and Florida Panther players Eric and Marc Staal, who cited their religious beliefs.
Three Russian players — Ilya Lyubushkin of the Buffalo Sabres, Denis Gurianov of the Montreal Canadiens, and Andrei Kuzmenko of the Vancouver Canucks — cited a Russian anti-gay “propaganda” law that prosecutes individuals for having engaged in activities or made statements perceived to “promote” LGBTQ rights or treating homosexuality as a normal occurrence.Additionally, the Chicago Blackhawks team did not wear their Pride-themed warmup sweaters in March because of security concerns over that same Russian law.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota Wild and New York Rangers also reversed course on wearing Pride-themed warmup gear.Bettman noted that teams will continue to host specialty nights such as Pride Night, Black History Night, Military Appreciation Night, and Hockey Fights Cancer Nights.
Teams may choose to create and sell specialty sweaters for various charities, so long as individual players are allowed to choose, and are not required, to participate or wear warmups against their will or in violation of their beliefs.“Players who choose to model [the specialty gear] can do that,” Bettman said. “It’s really just the question of what’s on the ice.”Defending his decision to eliminate the practice of players donning specialty sweaters for certain causes, Bettman said it would be better to eliminate the practice so as not to distract from the sport, and to avoid headlines singling out players who choose not to participate in warmups.Emerging from a meeting with the NHL.
