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THE NHL sent a memo to teams last week clarifying what players can and cannot do as part of the themed celebrations this season, including a ban on using rainbow-colored tape for the game. Pride evenings that have become a hot topic in hockey.
The updated guidelines reaffirm that player uniforms and equipment on the ice for official team warm-ups and practices cannot be altered to reflect theme nights, including Pride celebrations, hockey vs. cancer or military recognition celebrations. Players may voluntarily participate in themed off-ice celebrations.
NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly confirmed to The Associated Press on Tuesday, hours before the season opened with three games, that the league had sent the updated memo, which was first reported by ESPN.
The NHL decided in June not to allow teams to wear themed jerseys for warmups after a handful of players opted out of those situations on Pride Night last season. The league said players opting out of pride nights was a distraction from the work its teams were doing in the community.
“You know what our goals and our values and our intentions are across the league, whether it’s at the league level or the club level,” Commissioner Gary Bettman said in February during All-Star Weekend festivities. “But we also have to respect certain individual choices, and some people are more comfortable than others in committing to a cause. And part of being diverse and welcoming is understanding these differences.
Philadelphia’s Ivan Provorov was the first player to decide not to participate in warmups when the Flyers wore rainbow-colored jerseys before their Pride Night game in January, citing his Russian Orthodox religion. Six other players followed for various reasons – Russians Ilya Lyubushkin, Denis Gurianov and Andrei Kuzmenko and Canadians James Reimer, Eric and Marc Staal – and individual teams, including the New York Rangers, Minnesota Wild and Blackhawks. Chicago, have decided not to have any players. wear Pride jerseys during warm-ups.
A message sent to the Pride Tape creators seeking comment was not immediately returned.
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P.A. NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
