By Sarah Stack
@redlineproject
Image by Google Gemini
AI disclosure: AI was used to generate the summary and create images, video, audio and the FAQ for this post.
Summary: The NHL’s Pride Night controversy highlights tension between inclusivity efforts and player objections, often tied to Russian laws or personal beliefs. The league’s ban on themed warm-up jerseys and Pride Tape drew backlash. Though the tape ban was reversed, critics argue the NHL prioritizes dissenting players over genuine LGBTQ+ support and representation.
Activism and promoting inclusivity in sports are important factors in growing a sport, both via the audience, but also when supporting young players who may not fit the stereotypical mold of other players. When looking at the NHL and its Pride night controversy, there is much to be understood in how it can impact the culture.
Theme nights are an important part of professional sports culture, with each NHL team hosting a variety of special nights each season. These nights typically aim to cater to the fans, often having special giveaways, or themed jerseys for purchase. Themes can vary from franchise-specific nights, to cultural nights that are relevant to a certain city/region. Some nights, though, are widely celebrated throughout the League, such as Military Appreciation, Hockey Fights Cancer, and a variation of Pride/Hockey is for Everyone.
Traditionally, with theme nights, the players wear the specialty jerseys during warm-ups to show their support for the cause or community being represented. During Pride night, the warm-up jerseys were typically accompanied by Pride Tape, a type of rainbow-colored stick tape. This started in 2016, when the NHL reported that the Edmonton Oilers became the first in the league to use Pride Tape.
It quickly became the norm though, with NHL Staff Writer William Douglas writing in an article that Pride Tape is an “ingrained part of hockey culture.” The same article took pride in the fact that the colorful tape had spread to other sports like baseball, softball and lacrosse, to name a few.
Despite the seemingly league-wide acceptance of Pride night, during the 2022–23 NHL season, there started to be players opting out of wearing the jerseys and tape during warm-ups. A few teams allowed players to sit out of warm-ups entirely. Some teams, in an effort to avoid singling out specific players, completely nixed the option to wear a special jersey, or the use of Pride Tape.
The players abstaining from participating were predominantly Russian, and this was occurring just after the country’s recent anti-LGBTQ laws had been passed. Vladimir Putin had just made it “illegal to spread ‘propaganda’ about ‘nontraditional sexual relations’ in all media,” according to the NYT. There was a real fear amongst players and teams that the Russian players could be persecuted by their government for supporting things such as Pride night by wearing the jerseys and tape.
Russian players from the Vancouver Canucks, Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers made individual choices not to wear the warm-up sweater, or even sit out warm-ups altogether. Most were attributed to Putin’s recent laws, while teams such as the Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues, Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers and Washington Capitals, made a team-wide decision to not wear themed warm-up jerseys. Some of these teams didn’t even consult the Russian players, choosing to make an executive decision for the entire roster, according to the Athletic.
Although it seems easy to view this matter through a Western perspective, there is a cultural difference between Russia and North America. In Russia, the threat of persecution for speaking out in support of the LGBTQ+ community is real, especially from public figures. In North America, while homophobia exists, there are not nearly as many sexuality-based dangers. This issue is extremely complex, and not as cut and dry as it may seem. There is still room to feel disappointment over the handling of the situation. Even though most of the players who didn’t wear pride jerseys were Russian, it was far from every Russian player. Notably, Russian player Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins wore a jersey.
While most of the reasons for withholding were attributed to Russia, there were a few Canadian players with the Florida Panthers, and one Canadian San Jose Shark that decided not to participate due to religious reasons. The Sharks and Panthers both had Russian players that decided to wear the jerseys, only the Canadians on either declined to wear them.
The players who decided to opt-out of participating in warm-ups or Pride night festivities made a decision for themselves, and through that they caused a ripple effect. The few people who opted out were able to draw enough attention to the situation that the League decided to step in.
In June of 2023, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced that the NHL was to ban themed practice jerseys for being worn during warm-ups. In the video with Sportsnet, Bettman claimed the decision to be in an effort to not take away any attention from the support from each team. He said the efforts and emphasis of the various causes have been undermined by the distraction of which player decides to wear the jersey or not. When asked if Pride night would be saving, Bettman responded, “Oh absolutely,” without hesitation.
It does seem as though the NHL is trying to support the Pride night in the clip, but still, a part of the picture is missing. The interviewer only focuses on the Pride night portion of the response, while Bettman tries to make it a general rule of thumb that clubs will no longer change into warm-up jerseys in any circumstance.
By taking away the aspect of seeing players wear the jersey, it makes the night even more commercialized. Typically, before the ban, players would wear jerseys to show support, or to have auctioned off later on, with the money going to a charity related to the cause. Sports have a parasocial element to them, and teams are reliant on their fans.
Fans bond and support players not only because they’re a good player, but also because they are a good person. When players can’t wear their themed warm-up jersey, the ability to bond with a player on the specific night is gone. With a complete ban, it takes away the opportunity for players to show support for their fans. Fans still can purchase the jerseys, but the sentiment of that feels more of a money grab, or, in the case of Pride night, a pinkwashing tactic.
It is unfair to both fans and players who support the theme nights to impose a full ban. It also feels as though the NHL is prioritizing the popularity of its homophobic players at the cost of LGBTQ+ fans, and players who are allies. By changing the rules to get the attention away from the seven players who don’t support Pride night, and disregarding the majority of players who do support, it shows that the League cares more about protecting them and their reputations over showing a sincere desire to include all fans.
Since 2017, the NHL has claimed the slogan “Hockey is for Everyone,” which they’ve now switched to NHL Unites. But a The Athletic article from 2017 shows the original goals of the campaign as promoting, “diversity and inclusion among those of all sexual orientation, genders, ethnicities, abilities and socioeconomic statuses.” In 2023, the NHL was firmly in the “Hockey is for Everyone” era, but with the context of banning jerseys supporting marginalized groups, it feels hollow.
The “Hockey is for Everyone” campaign was originally created in partnership with the You Can Play Project. You Can Play is an organization dedicated to ensuring the safety and inclusion of anyone participating in a sport. The organization was critical of the NHL following the announcement of a Pride jersey ban, saying it was “concerned and disappointed” with the NHL’s full ban.
Because this was happening in June, the NHL’s offseason, there was minimal rebuttal from players when the initial ban occurred. But just before the season officially began, the League made a statement clarifying that it would not only be jerseys banned from warm-ups, but also Pride Tape.
This sparked a new wave of disappointment and by the time the hockey season started, some players were ready to defy the Pride Tape ban. Players such as Scott Laughton, Rasmus Andersson and Morgan Rielly spoke to NPR about their thoughts on the ban, ranging from defiance to casual disapproval.
At their home opener, Arizona Coyotes defenseman Travis Dermott, wore Pride Tape on his stick. It was the first instance of defiance against the ban, and it worked to help get it reversed. Just days after he wore the tape, and sparked even more conversation about the fairness of the ban, the NHL came out and reversed the ban on stick tapes that “represent social causes,” according to ESPN.
While Dermott was most likely a driving factor with his activism, there were still other likely reasons for the overturning. Scotiabank, a sponsorship partner of the NHL, made a statement about Pride Tape, and gave away 5,000 rolls of the rainbow tape across Canada.
Not that losing a sponsor is the only reason the NHL decided to rethink their ban, but it could have played a part in the overall decision to overturn the Pride Tape ban. Between that and the public’s negative reaction to the way the NHL was handling the entire situation, they more than likely just realized it was not worth it to keep the ban in place.
Some may argue that the inclusivity doesn’t fully matter because there’s not an openly gay NHL player anyways. But the point is that hockey should be for everyone, and make the next generation feel welcome and accepted, so maybe there will be.
The NHL is the only one of the 4 major men’s leagues that doesn’t have any out players in history. According to Outsports, the NFL has had 16 out gay or bi players in its history, the MLB has had 3 in its history, and the NBA has one player who came out while active. But the NHL has never had a player come out–current or former.
The closest to breaking that milestone is Luke Prokop, who plays for the AHL Bakersfield Condors, who are affiliated with the Edmonton Oilers. This means that if Prokop were to be called up to the Oilers, he would make history. In 2021, he came out as gay, receiving lots of support and encouragement from NHL players, celebrities, and lots of hockey fans.
While Prokop has the potential to make history, there are others who could do it. Representation is an important step in the process of diversity and inclusion, if LGBTQ+ hockey players can’t see representation of themselves on the ice, there must still be some display of acceptance from the players.
Hockey culture now is not as inclusive as it should be, and the banning of players wearing themed jerseys only serves to set the NHL back from becoming less exclusionary. While it’s not the League’s place to tell players that they must wear the jersey or wear the tape, it also shouldn’t be their position to tell players not to wear them.
The NHL hurt the LGBTQ+ community and its allies with these bans, and even though the Pride Tape ban got overturned, this will be the beginning of the third season where players cannot wear specialty warm-up jerseys. Instead, it chooses to protect those who don’t support the community instead of highlighting and amplifying the voices of players who do.
While there are lots of nuances to the topic of how traditional Russian values played a role in this ban, there are still at least 3 players that have no basis for political fear when expressing their feelings on the LGBTQ+ community.
FAQ
The Importance of Theme Nights and Pride Night Traditions
Q: Why are theme nights considered important in professional sports?
Theme nights are an important factor in growing a sport because they promote activism and inclusivity, helping to expand the audience and support young players who may not fit the stereotypical mold of a player. Theme nights typically aim to cater to the fans, often including special giveaways or themed jerseys available for purchase. Themes can range from franchise-specific nights to cultural nights relevant to a certain region, as well as widely celebrated nights throughout the League like Military Appreciation and Hockey Fights Cancer.
Q: What tradition was typically associated with NHL Pride Nights prior to the controversy?
Traditionally, players would wear specialty jerseys during warm-ups to show support for the cause or community being represented. During Pride night, these warm-up jerseys were usually paired with Pride Tape, a rainbow-colored stick tape. The Edmonton Oilers were the first team in the league to use Pride Tape in 2016, and it quickly became the norm, considered an “ingrained part of hockey culture”.
The 2022–23 Season Controversy and Player Opt-Outs
Q: What started the controversy surrounding NHL Pride Nights during the 2022–23 season?
Despite what seemed like league-wide acceptance, during the 2022–23 NHL season, some players began opting out of wearing the specialty jerseys and tape during warm-ups. This caused a ripple effect, leading some teams to allow players to sit out of warm-ups entirely, or, in an effort to avoid singling out specific players, completely nix the option to use special jerseys or Pride Tape.
Q: What was the primary reason cited for the non-participation of many players?
The players who abstained from participating were predominantly Russian. This occurred shortly after Russia passed new anti-LGBTQ+ laws, making it “illegal to spread ‘propaganda’ about ‘nontraditional sexual relations’ in all media,” according to the NYT. There was a real fear among teams and players that Russian players could be persecuted by their government for supporting Pride night by wearing the jerseys and tape.
Q: Were all players who opted out Russian?
No. While most reasons for withholding participation were attributed to Russia, there were also a few Canadian players—with the Florida Panthers and one San Jose Shark—who decided not to participate due to religious-reasonings.
Q: Did all Russian players refuse to participate?
No. While many players who chose not to wear pride jerseys were Russian, it was far from every Russian player. For instance, Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins wore a jersey, despite being Russian.
The NHL’s Response and Subsequent Bans
Q: How did the NHL respond to the controversy regarding player participation?
The few players who opted out drew enough attention that the League decided to intervene. In June 2023, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced that the NHL would ban themed practice jerseys from being worn during warm-ups. Just before the following season began, the League made a further statement clarifying that not only jerseys, but also Pride Tape would be banned from warm-ups.
Q: What reasoning did Commissioner Bettman give for the ban on themed warm-up jerseys?
Bettman claimed the decision was made in an effort to not take away any attention from the support provided by each team. He argued that the efforts and emphasis of the various causes had been “undermined by the distraction” of which player chose to wear the jersey or not.
Q: What impact did the ban on themed jerseys have on the theme nights?
Critics argue that by removing the visual aspect of players wearing the jersey, the night becomes more commercialized. Since players previously wore jerseys to show support or have them auctioned off for charity, removing this ability also takes away the opportunity for players to show genuine support for their fans, making the availability of purchasable jerseys feel more like a “money grab” or a “pinkwashing tactic” in the case of Pride night.
Q: What concerns did critics raise about the NHL’s overall handling of the situation?
It is argued that the full ban is unfair to fans and players who support the theme nights. It was suggested that the NHL was prioritizing the popularity and protecting the reputations of the handful of players who opposed Pride night, rather than amplifying the voices of the majority of players who are allies and showing a sincere desire to include all fans.
The Reversal of the Pride Tape Ban
Q: Did the NHL’s ban on Pride Tape remain in effect?
No. Just days after a public act of defiance, the NHL reversed the ban on stick tapes that “represent social causes”.
Q: What led to the overturning of the Pride Tape ban?
Activism played a key role. At their home opener, Arizona Coyotes defenseman Travis Dermott wore Pride Tape on his stick, which was the first instance of defiance against the ban and helped spark further conversation. Additionally, Scotiabank, an NHL sponsorship partner, made a statement about Pride Tape and gave away 5,000 rolls of the tape across Canada. The public’s negative reaction to the NHL’s handling of the situation likely also contributed to the decision to overturn the ban.
Inclusivity and LGBTQ+ Representation
Q: What is the NHL’s official stance or slogan on inclusion?
Since 2017, the NHL has used the slogan “Hockey is for Everyone,” though they have recently switched to NHL Unites. The original goals of the “Hockey is for Everyone” campaign were to promote “diversity and inclusion among those of all sexual orientation, genders, ethnicities, abilities and socioeconomic statuses”. This campaign was originally created in partnership with the You Can Play Project.
Q: Has the NHL ever had an openly gay player?
The NHL is the only one of the four major men’s leagues that has never had a player come out—current or former—in its history. In comparison, the NFL has had 16 out gay or bi players, the MLB has had 3, and the NBA has had one player who came out while active.
Q: Who is the player closest to potentially breaking the milestone of an openly gay active NHL player?
Luke Prokop. He came out as gay in 2021 and plays for the AHL Bakersfield Condors, who are affiliated with the Edmonton Oilers. If Prokop were called up to the Oilers, he would make history.