NHL stars criticize league's decision on Pride jerseys
The NHL decided this past week that teams will no longer wear any specialty warmup jerseys during the 2023-24 season, including for Pride nights, military appreciation nights and Hockey Fights Cancer nights.
That decision has been ripped by a couple of the league's biggest stars, including the 2022-23 league MVP Connor McDavid.
The league decided the jerseys will not be worn after seven players declined to wear Pride jerseys during warmups this season, a trend that was started by former Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman called those decisions and the fallout that came from them "a distraction."
McDavid called the decision on Monday "disappointing" and added this, via the Canadian Press:
“I certainly can’t speak for every organization,” said McDavid, who won the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP. “I know in Edmonton, we were one of the first teams to use the Pride tape. “We strongly feel hockey is for everybody, and that includes the Pride nights.”
Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos was perhaps even more pointed in his criticism, via ESPN's Greg Wyshynski.
“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. 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. 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.”
NHL teams are still allowed to design special themed jerseys and auction them off, but it might not have the same appeal if they are not worn by players during warmups.
Fans liked the idea of bidding on a jersey that was actually worn by players during warmups on the ice, and now that it is no longer an option it might be costing the league and a lot of good causes some significant money.
It does all seem like quite an overreaction by the league to just a small handful of players. The league decided to let seven individuals decide the outcome for every other player that had no objection to wearing — at least not publicly — to wearing a rainbow jersey and decided that it just would not do anything for anybody.
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