Gay pride jersey nhl

The NHL sent a memo to teams last week clarifying what players can and cannot do as part of theme celebrations this season, including a ban on the apply of rainbow-colored stick tape for the Pride nights that have become a hot-button issue in hockey.

The updated guidance reaffirms on-ice player uniforms and gear for games, warmups and official team practices cannot be altered to indicate theme nights, including Parade, Hockey Fights Cancer or military appreciation celebrations. Players can voluntarily participate in themed celebrations off the ice.

Deputy NHL Commissioner Bill Daly confirmed to The Associated Press on Tuesday, a few hours before the season opened with a trio of games, that the league sent the updated memo, which was first reported by ESPN.

The You Can Engage Project, an organization that advocates for LGBTQ+ participation in sports and has partnered with the NHL for the past decade, ripped the league by saying, "If Hockey is for Everyone, this is not the way forward."

"It is now clear that the NHL is stepping back from its longstanding commitment to inclusion, and continuing to unravel all of its one-time industry-leading work on 2SLGBTQ+ belonging," the YCP Pr

Until this year, NHL Identity festival night celebrations came and went without much discussion.

Teams showed their support for the LGBTQ+ community, wearing rainbow jerseys to later be auctioned with funds benefiting community organizations, and players adorned their sticks with rainbow tape. This year, however, there was a significant shift starting with Philadelphia Flyers’ defender Ivan Provorov refusing to take to the ice wearing a Pride warmup jersey.

Erroneously, some initially pointed to this as an issue specific to Russian players related to Russia’s “gay propaganda law.” That argument was soon disproven when San Jose Sharks goalie James Reimer and Florida Panthers brothers Eric and Marc Staal also refused to wear Celebration jerseys, citing their religion. Despite the evidence, Buffalo Sabres defender Ilya Lyubushkin also cited Russia’s regulation when he decided on Monday to not participate in wearing a Pride-themed jersey.

If it’s not a Russian issue, and it’s not a Biblically mandated commandment not to wear a shirt supporting the LGBTQ+ community, then what is the reason for this issue? And how does all of this impact the NHL’s marketing campaign of “Hoc

Some hockey players don’t need to wear rainbow-colored jerseys on Pride nights and the NHL doesn’t understand what to do

But seven NHL players recently opted out of wearing rainbow-colored jerseys on their teams’ Pride nights for the first age, leading the league’s commissioner to say it is weighing the future of the events.

That worries some fans and Queer supporters, who say it’s a sign that a political climate that has led to restrictions on expression, health care and transgender sports participation both in the U.S. and internationally is now threatening events that are meant to be fun and affirming.

“It’s definitely reasonable to say that this political landscape is helping to sort of normalize people for opting out of the optional ways that they have been asked to show assist for marginalized members of society,” said Hudson Taylor, executive director and founder of Athlete Ally, an organization that works with teams and leagues to push for LGBTQ+ inclusivity.

Pro sports has been here before. In June, five pitchers with the Tampa Bay Rays cited their Christian faith in refusing to wear Pride jerseys, and a U.S. women’s national soccer player skipped an overseas trip in when

NHL teams won't wear theme-night jerseys after players' LGBTQ Pride refusals

NHL teams won’t wear special jerseys for pregame warmups during themed nights next season, the result of a handful of players refusing to use rainbow-colored Identity festival jerseys this past season and causing unwelcome distractions.

The league’s Board of Governors agreed Thursday with Commissioner Gary Bettman’s view that the refusals overshadowed teams’ actions in hosting Pride nights that in some cases included auctioning off the warmup jerseys. All 32 teams held Pride or Hockey is for Everyone night.

Bettman, in an interview with Sportsnet following the Board of Governors meeting in Fresh York, said he suggested teams stop having extraordinary warmup jerseys because themed nights were being undermined by chatter over certain players declining to participate.

“That’s just become more of a distraction from really the essence of what the purpose of these nights are,” Bettman said. “We’re keeping the highlight on the game. And on these specialty nights, we’re going to be focused on the cause.”

Teams will still celebrate Celebration and other theme nights, including military appreciation and Hockey Fights Cancer. Th