The NHL and its Pride Nights Controversy

Players for the Buffalo Sabres on an NHL Pride Night | Photo Credit: Adrian Kraus/Associated Press via NBC

Over the last decade, the National Hockey League (NHL) has introduced a trend of having players adorn themed warm-up gear to show support for minorities across the globe. This has included Lunar New Year themed jerseys, or camouflaged gear supporting US and Canadian Armed Forces. Following this idea came the introduction of rainbow coloured warm-up jerseys for NHL “Pride Nights”.

Since its introduction in 2013 with the Edmonton Oilers, Pride Nights within the NHL were created as a way to show support for the LGBTQ+ community. They also raise money for organizations such as the Twin Cities Queer Hockey Association and for the advocacy of queer resources in both sport and general well-being.

However, Pride Nights has recently struck particular controversy, as this season, several players within the league chose not to participate in the warmup activities or wear the specially designed gear. This included brothers Eric and Marc Staal, who cited their religious beliefs as reasoning for their decision.

In addition, three teams who had participated in the themed jerseys in previous years did not continue this season. Two of those three teams, the Minnesota Wild and the New York Rangers, originally held plans to sport the rainbow-coloured gear, but the reason for not doing so was not specifically disclosed.

In a press conference on Mar. 30, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman stated that “Some players choose to make choices that they’re free to make.” He added, “That doesn’t mean they don’t respect other people and their beliefs and their lifestyles and who they are. It just means they don’t want to endorse it by wearing uniforms that they are not comfortable wearing.” 

Hudson Taylor, founder of Athlete Ally, an organization that works with teams and leagues to push for LGBTQ+ inclusivity, commented in The Globe and Mail that it was “conspicuous” to see players and teams “roll back the ways in which they have historically shown support for and given visibility to the LGBTQ community.”

The same article also mentioned the co-founder of the Twin Cities Queer Hockey Association, Bennett-Danek, and her thoughts when asked about the Minnesota Wild’s team decisions to not wear the pride team jerseys. 

“Yes, canceling wearing the jerseys was wrong, but they did not cancel any other part of Pride night and they continue to support our group, even today.” She continued, “They are also handing over the Pride jerseys with signatures for auction to further help support our LGBTQIA community here in the Twin Cities. So, in our mind they have righted the wrong. They have promised us that Pride next year will not be canceled.”

While the opinions on the validity of players using personal beliefs as reasoning against the warm-up attire vary greatly, context behind certain players' decisions goes beyond individual opinions. 

In December 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law that expanded on the ban of LGBTQ+ “propaganda” within the country, thus making the act of showing content that aims to normalize LGBTQ+ existence illegal. This poses a threat for the 45 Russian players currently in the NHL, accounting for 6.8 per cent of the NHL roster.

Players such as Ilya Lybushkyn and Andrei Kuzmenko, both of which did not participate in their respective teams’ Pride Night warmups, have cited their Russian heritage as their reasoning. The majority of both players' families live in Russia, and both players still frequently visit the country. With tensions surrounding LGBTQ+ rights in Russia continuing to rise, the participation in Pride Nights would have been a cause for concern for the players upon reaching Russian borders.

Penalties and fines against anti-LGBTQ+ language or discrimination haven’t happened in the NHL since 2017. However, since the uprising of players and teams choosing not to participate in Pride Night warmups, Bettman claimed in another news conference that the league would be “evaluating” in the off-season how Pride Nights would be handled in the future. Although the athletes not participating are a minority in the league, individual refusals are a distraction from “the substance of what our teams have been doing and stand for”.