Brothers Eric and Marc Staal of the Florida Panthers declined to wear special Pride-themed warmup jerseys ahead of the team’s 6-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.
The jerseys were part of Florida’s Pride night game in support of the area’s LGBTQ community, and the brothers cited their religion as the reason for the decision.
“We carry no judgement on how people choose to live their lives, and believe that all people should be welcome in all aspects of the game of hockey,” the Staal brothers said in a statement. “Having said that, we feel that by us wearing a Pride jersey it goes against our Christian beliefs.”
After the loss, Eric Staal said he wanted to stick with the brothers’ statement and “try my best to move forward.” Marc Staal was not made available to the media.
While the Staal brothers declined to participate, Russian goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was one of the Panthers who went ahead with the Pride-themed jerseys.
“My thought is the story is not about them,” said Florida coach Paul Maurice, who has coached Eric Staal since he was the second overall draft pick in 2003 by the Carolina Hurricanes.
“The story is about the rest of the group being excited, the organization and the fans being excited to celebrate a great night. These are grown men who have lived in their faith their whole lives. This is not new to them. They have the right to take that stand. The rest of the players wore that sweater proudly and I hope we conveyed that message of `Welcome to our building, welcome to our franchise and welcome to the great game of hockey.”‘
Florida forward Matthew Tkachuk wore the warmup jersey, and said he “embraced a night like this.”
“A night like tonight, for me, is just about including everyone,” he said. “It is, in my opinion, the greatest game in the world and everyone is welcome in our locker room and into our organization.”
Auston Matthews had two goals for Toronto, and Matt Murray made 33 saves. Mitchell Marner and William Nylander each had a goal and an assist, and John Tavares finished with three assists.
WATCH | Matthews leads way as Leafs thump Panthers:
A pair of goals by Auston Matthews included the winner as…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CBC | NHL News…