NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is taking a page from his baseball counterpart’s book on the subject of special jerseys.
After MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters last week he advised teams against wearing pride logos on uniforms, Bettman said Sports Network that teams won’t wear special warm-up jerseys this year after becoming too much of a “distraction.”
“I suggested it would be appropriate for clubs not to change jerseys during warm-ups because it becomes a distraction,” Bettman said.
“And it should be remembered that all of our clubs, in one form or another, organize evenings in honor of various groups or causes, and that we prefer that these continue to receive the appropriate attention that they deserve. And don’t be a distraction.
Last season, the NHL faced numerous controversies regarding pride-themed warm-up jerseys, which included a situation with the Rangers.
Bettman said the criticism and drama damaged the “various groups or causes” the jerseys were meant to celebrate.
The NHL commissioner said the ban would apply to all warm-up jerseys, including military tribute nights, but that the root of the problem was pride-themed jerseys.
But Bettman was adamant that parties held to honor various causes would remain a part of the NHL.
He also specifically mentioned that all 32 teams had Pride Nights last season.
Teams will still be able to design special jerseys to honor causes that can be sold, “and players who chose to model them can do so.”
“In the final analysis, all the effort and emphasis on these various causes was undermined by distraction in terms of which teams and which players,” Bettman said. “This way we stay focused on the match and on these specialized evenings we will focus on the cause.”
LGBTQ+ initiative nights became increasingly controversial for some NHL clubs last season, as individual players opted out of wearing Pride-themed warmup jerseys, while some teams began to ditch jerseys altogether.
While playing for the Flyers last year, Ivan Provorov made headlines when he refused to wear a Pride jersey – citing his Russian Orthodox religion – and I completely skipped the warm-ups during the event.
The Rangers, who planned to wear Pride uniforms in January, I reconsidered this decision before their Pride Night at Madison Square Garden.
“Our organization respects the LGBTQ+ community and we are proud to highlight important local community organizations as part of another great night of Pride,” the Rangers wrote in a statement at the time.
“Consistent with the core values ​​of our organization, we support the individual right of everyone to express their beliefs with respect. »
The problems continued to escalate as other players around the league cited their religious beliefs for refusing to wear the pride-themed uniforms.
The Blackhawks and Wild also opted not to wear them as a team.
More recently, Major League Baseball has found itself in the fray.
The Dodgers were embroiled in controversy surrounding their Pride Night this year when they upset both Clayton Kershaw and Nationals pitcher Trevor Williams on the team’s decision to include the controversial group, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, as part of the festivities.
Thousands of people – led by the group Catholics for Catholics – gathered outside Dodger Stadium on June 16 to protest against the “anti-Catholic” organization.
And Manfred told reporters last week that “in terms of uniforms and hats and bases, we don’t think putting logos on them is a good idea just because of the desire to protect the players.”
