Bettman says NHL teams will not be wearing Pride jerseys, or other special exercises next season

NHL teams will not wear special jerseys during warm-ups next season, commissioner Gary Pittman says to Sportsnet on Thursday Following a meeting of the NHL Board of Governors. Here’s what you need to know:

• Bateman told the governors that all Feature Nights are important and should continue, but the uniform has become a distraction and takes away from the positive efforts of teams and the league, and he could continue to do so on various Honors Nights, according to a league source.
• While teams will no longer be allowed to wear special warm-up jerseys, the evenings they represent will continue, including Pride, Military and Heritage.
• Last season, many players and teams chose not to wear Pride warm jerseys, citing religious reasons or safety concerns.
• Many Russian players chose not to wear a warm Pride night jersey as Russia’s anti-gay laws escalated.

What Bateman said

“I have suggested that it would be appropriate for clubs not to change their shirts in training as it has become a distraction and plays down the fact that all our clubs, in one form or another, host nights in honor of various groups or causes, and we would prefer those to continue to get the proper attention they deserve and not be a distraction.” attention.”

When asked about this decision made during June, which is Pride Month, and the potential for people to feel unwelcome at hockey games, Pittman said, “Well, I agree that these are legitimate concerns, but in the final analysis, all efforts and focus on hockey have been undermined.” The importance of these different causes is due to the distraction in terms of teams and players. That way, we keep the focus on the game and on these special nights, we’ll focus on the cause.”

background story

NHL Pride Nights is one of several different tribute nights hosted by individual clubs. Teams also wore unique jerseys to honor the people, traditions, and holidays of the cities in which they reside, such as the Vancouver Canucks’ warm-up yarns. Diwali night Or specially designed warm jackets from Montreal Canadiens for Aboriginal party night. Special warm-up jerseys have traditionally been worn during league-wide hosted Pride Nights and Hockey Fights Cancer Nights.

This season changed when Russia’s anti-gay laws were amended in early December. In The New York TimesThe law makes it “illegal to publish ‘propaganda’ about ‘non-traditional sexual relations’ in all media, including social media, advertising, and movies.”

In response, Russian players like Buffalo Sabers defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin didn’t wear a jersey, and Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Ivan Provorov, then on the Philadelphia Flyers, sat out for practices entirely. Some teams, such as the St. Louis Blues, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild, have eliminated warm-up jackets entirely.

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daley said the athlete In March, the league had no information indicating that its Russian players faced “physical” threats, either in Russia or elsewhere, if they chose to participate in the teams’ nighttime activities.

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(Photo: Chase Agnello-Dean/NHLI via Getty Images)