NHL caves....hockey is not for everyone...no more specialty jerseys during warmups

M

Moog

Lurker


From NHL Board of Governors: teams will not wear specialty jerseys in warmups next season.
Click to expand...

Instead of embracing everyone, and trying to grow the sport (which it REALLY needs to do), the NHL caves and makes its predominate demo (old white peeps) "happy".

Makes you really wonder who is running the league when it comes to future growth?
 

"Theme" nights remain, but players will not wear any theme jerseys.
Theme jerseys available for sale.

....so not for our league and our players, but for our fans....ok?!?!
NHL players will not wear themed warmup jerseys next season.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman told Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman Thursday that specialty jerseys, such as rainbow jerseys on Pride Nights, have "become a distraction."

"It's taking away from the fact that all of our clubs, in some form or another, host nights in honor of various groups or causes, and we'd rather them continue to get the appropriate attention that they deserve and not be a distraction," Bettman said.

Themed jerseys became a contentious issue this season after multiple players, including the Florida Panthers' Eric and Marc Staal, refused to wear Pride-themed gear during warmups.


When Friedman expressed concern about the NHL's decision being made during Pride Month, Bettman agreed the concern was "legitimate," but he said Pride Nights have been "undermined by the distraction in terms of which teams, which players."

"This way, we're keeping the focus on the game, and on these specialty nights, we're going to be focused on the cause," Bettman said.

Bettman confirmed NHL teams would continue hosting Pride Nights during the 2023-24 season.

Specialty jerseys will still be available for purchase next season, although they will not be seen on the ice.

Several NHL teams already scrapped their Pride-themed warmup jerseys this year, including the Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers, and Chicago Blackhawks.

The decision not to mandate teamwide Pride activities may have been an effort to avoid the focus on players who decline to participate.

Like the Staal brothers, San Jose Sharks goaltender James Reimer and Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov cited religion as their reason for not participating last season. Buffalo Sabres defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin and the Blackhawks cited Russian anti-gay laws as the reason behind their decision.

Either way, the decision to participate dominated headlines and led to uncomfortable post-warmup questions. The NHL will now avoid that tension by taking away the choice altogether.


During his interview with Friedman, Bettman never referred explicitly to Pride-themed warmup jerseys, but he said rainbow sweaters were the focus of "distractions" last season. There were no reports of players opting out of wearing other specialty jerseys, such as those celebrating Military Appreciation Night or Indigenous heritage.

Hockey is not the only sport struggling with growing discord regarding LGBT-themed celebrations. Catholic groups recently led a protest against the Los Angeles Dodgers after the team invited, disinvited and then re-invited a nun-themed charity drag group to their annual Pride Night.

Despite the controversy, 29 of 30 MLB teams still plan to host Pride Nights in June, with the exception of the Texas Rangers.

A majority of NHL teams will likely do the same next season, but they will do so without their players dressed in rainbow warmup jerseys.
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They forgot the fact that those jerseys get auctioned with proceeds going to charities. They should just go more extreme and remove the national anthems and ceremonial puck drops since the players don't like the delays.
 
^^ Pretty damning.
The culture "good old boys" culture of rot continues. From the Blackhawks scandal, to now this.
The NHL just can't seem to get out of its own way.
Instead of course correcting for a more inclusive, enlightened future, the NHL keeps its roots in firmly planted 40 years in the past.
 
June is recognized as Pride Month, but Bettman said the Board of Governors did not have one specific group or cause in mind in shelving the specialty pregame sweaters.

"I agree those are legitimate concerns, but in the final analysis, all of the efforts and emphasis on the importance of these various causes have been undermined by the distraction in terms of which teams, which players. This way, we're keeping the focus on the game and on these specialty nights, we're gonna be focused on the cause," Bettman said.
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deadspin.com

NHL eliminates Pride, pregame cause jerseys

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and the league owners are removing Pride jerseys next season.
deadspin.com deadspin.com

Bettman said the Board of Governors did not have one specific group or cause in mind in shelving the specialty pregame sweaters.
Click to expand...
Gary, if what you are saying is true, do tell: Who or whom objected to wearing pregame jerseys for Military Appreciation, St. Patrick's Day, Hockey Fights Cancer, Star Wars Night, MLB night, NBA night, MLS night, etc.

Gary and the NHL are gutless, and proved that they are discriminatory.
If they want to claim that they are not, then they have to explain why they originally approved of theme night pregame jerseys to begin with, and why they thought it was a great idea (See Pride Night).......then explain why they are no longer doing it. Seemed like pregame jerseys were all good and fine for many seasons, why get rid of them now? hmmmm.


The NHL is already bleeding fans. They are no longer in the big 4 professional sports teams in TV viewership (Soccer is now in top 4).
The current NHL fanbase is 2nd oldest (after MLB).
The young(er) fans (Gen Z, millennial) is what the NHL wants/needs, and on the whole, are very much on board with "Hockey is for Everyone"

.....and then the NHL does this.
The NHL does stuff like this to its own peril.
 
Just wondering why Vegas fans didn't boo Bettman when he presented the cup. They have a lot to learn.
 
Pretty sure hockey was for everyone before all the warm-up jersey hoopla.

Speaking from experience, back in the day (when I started playing Bantams in 1989), I played with just about every nationality, ethnic background, not too sure about sexual preferences, (thats none of my business) and even had a girl and two deaf players on our team. Fast forward to today, I see more "everyone" playing hockey than ever, lil beedee (my young daughterl) and her bestie were playing in the Little Ducks program and with the California Wave (again, with kids from just about every ethnic background). There are all women teams at the BHL level, I see teams that are comprised of 99% a specific ethnicity, etc....

My point is, hockey has been for EVERYONE for as long as I can remember, and even more so now than ever before. Personally, I don't need contrived "nights" with warm-up jerseys to feel one way or another about hockey.

:: ducking for cover ::
 
This was 100% damage control and the NHL took the easy way out by eliminating the controversy around the pride jerseys under the guise of labeling all the warm-up jerseys as a distraction. The alternative was a future battle with the NHLPA - and worse, the court of public opinion - regarding certain players not wanting to participate on Pride Night and the headlines that it will create regarding "intolerant players."
 
I would imagine that the players had a major say in this and not just the "old white peeps". The theme night is still there.
 
Honestly i was hoping that the NHL would blame this on Fanatics and that deal would get the kybosh from any fallout.
 
Bettman is so full of crap. He kowtowed to a few bigoted players who didn't want to participate & from the a few bigoted fans. So besides no pride jerseys there's no hockey fights cancer, military appreciation, Black heritage, Mexican heritage, or any other heritage night jerseys. Was it that hard for those players to put on a jersey & skate around for a few minutes?And all those people who said we don't need those nights & they should just play, would they say the same thing if they were in 1 of those groups? The NHL's trying to reach out to those groups to grow the game. It's not like I think they really care about those groups. It's just a bad decision. They should've at least let each team decide if they wanted to participate or not.
 
Based on the reaction to the announcement of no more warm-up jerseys for specific causes, you would have thought the NHL had banned gays from the sport. In fact, there is no reason why anyone with same-sex attraction cannot play hockey at any level, including the NHL. As a fan, I don't care who they're attracted to, but rather how well they play the sport, period. I'm certainly fine with keeping the military and Hockey fights cancer nights, as these are causes that 99.999999% of everyone supports. That is not at all the case with the homosexual lifestyle (separate and distinct from merely having same-sex attraction), which "Pride" nights seem to celebrate. That is something that many, myself included, do not support. The recent backlash against Target, Bud Light, and the Dodgers is evidence of this.
 
Moog said:
deadspin.com

NHL eliminates Pride, pregame cause jerseys

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and the league owners are removing Pride jerseys next season.
deadspin.com deadspin.com


Gary, if what you are saying is true, do tell: Who or whom objected to wearing pregame jerseys for Military Appreciation, St. Patrick's Day, Hockey Fights Cancer, Star Wars Night, MLB night, NBA night, MLS night, etc.

Gary and the NHL are gutless, and proved that they are discriminatory.
If they want to claim that they are not, then they have to explain why they originally approved of theme night pregame jerseys to begin with, and why they thought it was a great idea (See Pride Night).......then explain why they are no longer doing it. Seemed like pregame jerseys were all good and fine for many seasons, why get rid of them now? hmmmm.


The NHL is already bleeding fans. They are no longer in the big 4 professional sports teams in TV viewership (Soccer is now in top 4).
The current NHL fanbase is 2nd oldest (after MLB).
The young(er) fans (Gen Z, millennial) is what the NHL wants/needs, and on the whole, are very much on board with "Hockey is for Everyone"

.....and then the NHL does this.
The NHL does stuff like this to its own peril.
Click to expand...
This is a tipping point. Countdown to contraction. Vancouver better pray they win the cup before their time is up.

On a happy note:
This month for Pride I purchased some Tom Finland coffee table books, 1950's gay porn where everyone has thick thighs (actually everyone is thick alllll over) and a great smile. Ally por vida. My former-stepmother will be appalled. =)
f32469f7628d434bfc07061a9126fa22.png
 
NHL were 98% of the players had no problems with wearing pride jerseys.

NHL responds with standing with the 2% who did.

NHL pro Russia
NHL pro gambling
NHL pride jerseys are where we draw the line!!!

This move by the league will end up on the ash heap of sport’s history.
 
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