Canucks Can No Longer Wear Warm-up Pride Jerseys After NHL Bans Them

Summary

• NHL makes decision to ban teams from wearing different warm-up jerseys 
• This effectively rules out Vancouver Canucks from wearing any pride jerseys
• LGBTQ+ organizations not happy with NHL’s decision

NHL teams have made it a habit in recent years to celebrate Pride Month and Pride Night by getting their teams to wear rainbow colored jerseys to show their support of the LGBTQ+ community. However, a number of players have chosen to not wear these pride jerseys and skip practice sessions as they were not comfortable doing so due to their religious beliefs.

This created a lot of unnecessary tension and publicity between the teams, LGBTQ+ organizations and the players who refused to wear jerseys that supported the LGBTQ+ standpoint. 

NHL To Ban Warm-Up Jerseys Going Forward 

The NHL opened discussions with all of its teams and made the decision to ban all warm-up jerseys going forward. This ban will not only include LGBTQ+ jerseys but also any other warm-up jerseys that looked to support specific charities or show their support for the military or cancer.

Vancouver Canucks have been big supporters of the LGBTQ+ community for a number of years and were keen on promoting Pride Month by wearing warm-up jerseys that supported the LGBTQ+ community. That will no longer be possible under the new NHL guidelines.

In a statement, Garry Bettman, NHL Commissioner said

I’ve suggested it would be appropriate for clubs not to change their jerseys in warm-ups because it’s become a distraction and taken away from the fact that all of our clubs, in some form or another, host nights in honour of various groups or causes, and we’d rather they continue to get the appropriate attention that they deserve and not be a distraction.

LGBTQ Community Not Happy With NHL Decision

Bettman’s decision has not gone down well with the LGBTQ+ community, especially since June is Pride Month. David Palumbo, who heads You Can Play, an organization affiliated with the NHL that promotions inclusion in sport said that they were not happy with the decision.

In a statement,

What I can say is if this is the case, what is very disappointing is that over 95 per cent of the NHL players who proudly wore (Pride jerseys) to show support and their values to the community will not get an opportunity to do so again. Of course pride should be 365 and we will continue to work toward that with everyone involved.