Pride nights, held annually for several years by National Hockey League teams to show support for the LGBTQ+ community, are in the spotlight following several high-profile incidents this season.
A handful of players have objected to participating in pregame warmups that included Pride-themed jerseys, most recently Florida’s Eric and Marc Staal on Thursday night. On Wednesday, the Chicago Blackhawks decided against having players wear Pride-themed warmup jerseys for their upcoming Pride night, citing an anti-gay law in Russia.
WHAT ARE THE OBJECTIONS?
The Staal brothers and San Jose’s James Reimer — who are Canadian — and Philadelphia’s Ivan Provorov, who is Russian, all pointed to their religious beliefs for refusing to take part in warmups.
“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,” Eric and Marc Staal said in a statement. “Having said that, we feel that by us wearing a Pride jersey, it goes against our Christian beliefs.”
The Blackhawks said they acted out of concern that the safety of their Russian player and two others with connections to Russia could be jeopardized by the law when they return home because it expands restrictions on supporting LGBTQ+ rights.
Chicago coach Luke Richardson said he and his players were disappointed.
“It’s an unfortunate situation,” Richardson said. “I don’t think we can control the world issues, so that takes it out of our hands.”
The New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild decided not wear Pride-themed jerseys during warmups after advertising that they would. While each team has at least one star Russian player on its roster, neither specified the reason for the change.
IS THIS RELATED TO RUSSIA’S WAR IN UKRAINE?
Somewhat. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the anti-gay law signed by President Vladimir Putin in December have combined to pose some problems for the NHL and its 32 teams.
No North American professional sports league has as many Russian players as the NHL. The Russian contingent includes some of the league’s best athletes.
There are currently 45 Russia-born players spread across 28 teams, or about 6.4% of all players. They include No. 2 career goal-scorer Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, Tampa Bay’s two-time Stanley Cup-winning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, Lightning teammate and 2019 MVP Nikita Kucherov and reigning Vezina Trophy winner Igor Shesterkin of the New…