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NHL postpones Thursday's games amid athlete strikes

By Zac Wassink | Last updated Aug 27, 2020 2:52 PM ET

The morning after athletes from the NBA, WNBA, MLB, MLS and tennis world went on strike to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake, members of the Hockey Diversity Alliance campaigned for the league to postpone Thursday's playoff games.

We the @TheOfficialHDA have formally requested the @NHL to suspend all playoff games today. We strongly feel this sends a clear message that human rights take priority over sports.
— Akim Aliu (@Dreamer_Aliu78) August 27, 2020

Players in the bubble are telling me they’re not playing tonight. But we await official announcement from the NHL and NHLPA.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) August 27, 2020

It appears the NHL granted that request.

ESPN's Emily Kaplan first reported that Thursday's New York Islanders-Philadelphia Flyers and Vegas Golden Knights-Vancouver Canucks games won't be played as scheduled.

No NHL games will be played tonight.

Sounds like the Hockey Diversity Alliance, w/ a strong push from Evander Kane & Matt Dumba, convinced players to take a step back. If you want to know more about the HDA, here's their website. Group was formed in June. https://t.co/LCA8GqpdcH
— Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) August 27, 2020

Blake, an unarmed Black man, was shot seven times by police officers in Kenosha, Wisc., on Sunday. In response to that act of police brutality, members of the Milwaukee Bucks refused to leave their locker room for Wednesday's Game 5 against the Orlando Magic.

Subsequently, all pro basketball games in the country were postponed. Players from other leagues followed with similar strikes that are continuing through at least Thursday, with fixtures in the NBA and MLB affected by the protests.

Multiple NFL practice sessions were also called off due to the strikes.

Zac Wassink

Zac Wassink is a longtime sports news writer and PFWA member who began his career in 2006 and has had his work featured on Yardbarker, MSN, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report. He is also a football and futbol aficionado who is probably yelling about Tottenham Hotspur at the moment and who chanted for Matt Harvey to start the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series at Citi Field. You can find him on X at @ZacWassink

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