National Hockey League (NHL) teams will no longer wear rainbow-colored LGBTQ-themed jerseys during pregame warmups for Pride nights.
NHL Pride Nights became a hot topic of conversation earlier this year when Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov refused to participate in his team’s Pride Night due to his orthodox Christian faith, sparking outrage from leftists who proceeded to accuse him of bigotry and homophobia. However, the Philadelphia Flyers kept him in the lineup, and the team even went on to win the game against the Anaheim Ducks.
“I respect everybody, and I respect everybody’s choices,” he said after the game. “My choice is to stay true to myself and my religion. That’s all I’m going to say.”
Later, the San Jose Sharks goaltender James Reimer chose not to wear a pride-themed warm-up jersey in a recent game, citing his Christian faith.
Mario Ferraro, #38 of the San Jose Sharks, skates during warmups wearing special Pride Night jerseys before the game against the New York Islanders at SAP Center on March 18, 2023, in San Jose, California. (Kavin Mistry/NHLI via Getty Images)
On Thursday, the NHL Board of Governors agreed with Commissioner Gary Bettman that the numerous refusals from certain teammates to wear Pride jerseys were a distraction. Bettman told Sportsnet that he suggested teams stop wearing rainbow warmup jerseys because “themed nights were being undermined by chatter over certain players declining to participate,” according to ABC News.
Jaycob Megna #44 of the Seattle Kraken skates on the ice in his special Pride Night jersey during warmups before a game against the Dallas Stars at Climate Pledge Arena on March 13, 2023, in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Christopher Mast/NHLI via Getty Images)
“That’s just become more of a distraction from really the essence of what the purpose of these nights are,” Bettman said. “We’re keeping the focus on the game. And on these specialty nights, we’re going to be focused on the cause.”
Teams will still celebrate some form of Pride night as well as other themed nights. Teams will also still design rainbow Pride jerseys for sale to raise money.
You Can Play, which has worked with sports leagues on LGBTQ outreach, admitted to feeling “concerned and disappointed” by the decision.
“Today’s decision means that the over 95% 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. “The work to make locker rooms, board rooms and arenas safer, more diverse, and more inclusive needs to be ongoing and purposeful, and we will continue to work with our partners at the NHL, including individual teams, players, agents and the NHLPA to ensure this critical work continues.”
Paul Roland Bois joined Breitbart News in 2021. He also directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed on Tubi, Google Play, YouTube Movies, or Vimeo on Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.