The NHL’s pathetic weasel of a “Commissioner” Gary Bettman announced that effective next season, a new policy banning players from wearing cause-based warmup jerseys will apply not only to LGBTQ+ Pride, but also military and other recognitions.
Austin Nivison at CBS Sports:
Starting in the 2023-24 season, NHL teams will no longer wear specialty jerseys during warmups for themed nights. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced the decision following the league's Board of Governors meeting.
This decision from the NHL comes after a season that was filled with how various Pride nights were handled across the league. Some individual players refused to wear the warmup jerseys, and several teams chose not to wear an LGBTQ-themed warmup jersey at all.
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Bettman acknowledged the jerseys can make fans the LGBTQ community feel more included and that the NHL made this decision during Pride month but re-emphasized his opinion that the jerseys had become a distraction.
"Those are legitimate concerns, but in the final analysis, all of the efforts and emphasis on these important various causes have been undermined by the distraction in terms of which teams and which players (are wearing them)," Bettman said. "This way, we can keep it focused on the game. On these specialty nights, we're going to be focused on the cause."
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"Absolutely, 32 of our clubs did Pride nights. Some do Heritage nights," Bettman said. "Everyone does Hockey Fights Cancer. Some do military nights. All of those nights will continue. The only issue will be -- or the only difference will be -- we aren't going to change jerseys for warmups because really that has become more of a distraction from the essence of what the purposes of these nights are."
Cyd Zeigler at Outsports:
The NHL has banned clubs from wearing Pride warmup jerseys, league commissioner Gary Bettman acknowledged in an interview with Sportsnet.
Congratulations homophobes, Bettman and the NHL just gave you the biggest win you’ve had in sports in many years.
The league’s action comes after about a dozen NHL players this past season refused to wear team-requested warmup jerseys that featured the team logo in a Pride rainbow.
Some teams sat their non-complying player for the warmups, while other teams disallowed anyone on the team from wearing them due to a small minority of players.
CBC Sports:
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-coloured Pride jerseys this past season and causing unwelcome distractions.
The league's board of governors agreed with commissioner Gary Bettman's view that the refusals overshadowed teams' efforts 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.
Teams will still celebrate Pride and other theme nights, including military appreciation and Hockey Fights Cancer. They're also expected to still design and produce jerseys to be autographed and sold to raise money, even though players won't skate around with them on during warmups.
Pride jerseys became a hot-button issue in the league last season after multiple players refused to wear them during warmups.
Matt Keeley at New Civil Rights Movement:
Before the new rule, theme nights—including nights for military appreciation as well as special anti-cancer events—often had players wearing special jerseys. Similar to how Pride jerseys are festooned with rainbows, military appreciation jerseys are usually in military drab with camouflage print. Lavender jerseys were worn for the Hockey Fights Cancer nights.
The news about the hockey jerseys comes a week after Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred advised teams to not wear Pride-themed uniforms because it made some players “uncomfortable.”
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Though all specialty jerseys are banned, it does not appear that any players objected to any of the other promotions.
The decision has been panned by many. You Can Play, a group promoting inclusivity in professional sports, said that prior to this decision the NHL was “a leader among major sporting organizations” in terms of “advancing visibility and acceptance” of the queer community.
“Today’s decision means that the over 95 percent of players who chose to wear a Pride jersey to support the community will now not get an opportunity to do so,” the organization said in a statement.
TSN NHL commentator Gord Miller on Twitter:
Queerty reports on the disapproval of the NHL’s new shortsighted policy from stars such as Connor McDavid and Steven Stamkos:
Because two of the NHL’s biggest stars, Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steven Stamkos and Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid, are now speaking out against the league’s new speciality jersey ban.
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“It was 98 percent or 99 percent of other players that wore the jersey and enjoyed wearing it and were proud wearing it, whatever jersey it was, whether it was the Pride, the military night, the cancer nights,” he said.
“The story shouldn’t be about the guy that didn’t wear it, the one guy or the two guys. I understand that’s what gets the clicks and that’s what gets the views, but the word ‘distraction’ gets thrown around.”
He added, “I don’t think it had to have been a distraction. It could have been a non-issue while focusing on the good that was coming out of those nights.”
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McDavid, for his part, said the Oilers will always support LGBTQ+ people and marginalized communities.
“It’s disappointing to see,” he said to reporters about the new uniform policy. “It’s not my call, but obviously it’s disappointing.”
The NHL should frankly be ashamed of themselves for coddling to anti-LGBTQ+ zealots by disallowing not only Pride Night jerseys from being worn, but also other cause-themed jerseys, such as military and breast cancer prevention jerseys.
[This story originally appeared on The JGibson Report at Substack]