The NHL has issued new guidelines to teams banning players from participating in a number of theme nights this season, according to reports.
The updated guidelines state that on-ice players cannot alter their uniforms or equipment to reflect themed party celebrations, including LGBTQ+ pride, military appreciation, Hockey Fights Cancer, Latino Heritage Month and Black History Month. The ban — which includes acts such as using rainbow-colored tape on hockey sticks — extends to team games, warmups and practices.
NHL players, however, can voluntarily participate in themed celebrations when they are not playing.
The NHL released the updated guidelines in a memo sent to teams ahead of Tuesday’s regular-season openers for the 2023-24 season.
Pride Tape, a maker of rainbow-colored sports tape in support of the LGBTQ+ community, said it was “extremely disappointed by the NHL’s decision to eliminate Pride Tape from all league on-ice activities.”
“The league has used language in recent days that would prohibit the video from being in close proximity to NHL hockey,” Pride Tape said in a statement. “We hope the league – and the teams – will once again demonstrate their commitment to this important symbol of the fight against homophobia.”
The updated guidelines come months after the NHL announced in June that teams would no longer be allowed to wear “special” jerseys — celebrating many of the same aforementioned theme nights — during games, warmups or practices.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said the move “removed any distractions” after some players around the league refused to wear Pride Night jerseys last season.
“What happened last year was the question of who wanted to wear a particular uniform on a particular night overshadowed everything our clubs were doing. So instead of getting sidetracked and letting our players decide whether or not they wanted to do something and being singled out, we said, ‘Let’s not touch that,’” Bettman told ESPN Radio’s “UnSportsmanLike” show Tuesday.
“Our teams and players are continually encouraged to give back to the community and get involved in causes that are important to them, whether it’s around the game or off the ice,” he added. “But I think we’ve been able to eliminate any distractions. Now we can focus on the causes that we want to highlight.”
Article by Zach Mentz, cleveland.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency.
