NHL teams won't wear special jerseys for pregame warmups during themed nights next season—the result of a few players refusing to use Pride jerseys this past season, among other things, according to an NBC News item.
The league's board of governors agreed with Commissioner Gary Bettman's view that the refusals overshadowed teams' efforts in hosting Pride nights that sometimes included auctioning off the warmup jerseys. Each of the 32 pro hockey teams held Pride or Hockey is for Everyone night.
Teams will still celebrate Pride and other themed nights. They're also expected to still design and produce jerseys to be autographed and sold to raise money, although the players won't wear them.
"[The] 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," pro-LGBTQ+ organization You Can Play said in a statement. "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."
Earlier this year, Windy City Times noted that the Chicago Blackhawks did not wear Pride jerseys during warmups this past season because of safety concerns for Russian players. (A Russian law banning "gay propaganda" reportedly led to the Hawks deciding to scrap the jerseys.) Windy City Times has reached out to the Blackhawks for a statement on this latest development.
—Andrew Davis
