"Caved to homophobes": NHL fans divided as Gary Bettman announces removal of Pride, specialty warmup jerseys

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, in an interview with Elliotte Friedman, said that he &quot;suggested&quot; teams not to have special jerseys for warmups because, &quot;it's become a distraction.&quot;NHL fans were divided as some thought the league was wrong in removing warmup jerseys that supported special communities. Others were happy with the news calling it a, &quot;Rare NHL W.&quot;Jake@RivardNHL@FriedgeHNIC Imagine caving to the loudest, most hypersensitive group of crybabies because players wear a jersey for 15 minutes1151@FriedgeHNIC Imagine caving to the loudest, most hypersensitive group of crybabies because players wear a jersey for 15 minutesLafreniere For MVP@Laf4MVP@FriedgeHNIC Rare NHL W32@FriedgeHNIC Rare NHL WPresOfHockeyOps@PresOfHockeyOps@FriedgeHNIC The world is waking up to woke. Love to see it!4@FriedgeHNIC The world is waking up to woke. Love to see it!One user was outraged, stating the league would rather support the LGBTQ+ community less than punish players,donovan@dcounts351@FriedgeHNIC The nhl would rather do less to supports LGBTQ+ than punish it’s players35@FriedgeHNIC The nhl would rather do less to supports LGBTQ+ than punish it’s playersA user &quot;thanked&quot; players who had refused to wear pride warmup jerseys such as Ivan Provorov, the Staal brothers and James Reimer.Dan Sudfeld@dansudfeld@FriedgeHNIC A small victory for sanity. Thank you Provorov, Reimer, Staal bros., etc.11@FriedgeHNIC A small victory for sanity. Thank you Provorov, Reimer, Staal bros., etc.cait 🥀@reignusoking@FriedgeHNIC shame how much hate and controversy there is that they feel they have to do this. 🙄3@FriedgeHNIC shame how much hate and controversy there is that they feel they have to do this. 🙄The Canadalorian@TheCanadalorian@FriedgeHNIC So much for &quot;hockey is for everyone&quot; eh?47@FriedgeHNIC So much for &quot;hockey is for everyone&quot; eh?One made a bold claim that the league had caved to homophobes.michael is in times new roman@eh_toque@FriedgeHNIC Wow they literally caved to homophobes. What a joke1791@FriedgeHNIC Wow they literally caved to homophobes. What a jokeScooby Doo ✡️@junkyardbeagle@FriedgeHNIC Out of all the possible decisions, this one is the best one@FriedgeHNIC Out of all the possible decisions, this one is the best oneBrian C@brianhwc@FriedgeHNIC The NHL is travelling backwards109@FriedgeHNIC The NHL is travelling backwards&quot;It's taking away from the fact that all of our clubs, in some form or another, host nights in honor of various groups or causes,&quot; Bettman said. &quot;And we'd rather them continue to get the appropriate attention that they deserve and not be a distraction.&quot;Elliotte Friedman stated that the public's perception to this news, it being Pride Month, would be alarming to certain fans. Bettman termed this as &quot;legitimate concerns&quot; and said the importance of supporting various groups have been undermined.Are NHL Pride Nights canceled?In the interview, Gary Bettman confirmed that NHL Pride Nights and other specialty nights such as Heritage Nights, Hockey fights Cancer, Military Nights celebrated by all 32 teams will continue.He also confirmed that the Pride Night jerseys will continue to be designed and sold to fans. Players who choose to model these jerseys, are permitted to do so. The league is just shutting it down on the ice.NHL teams who canceled plans to wear Pride Night Jerseys after originally scheduling themNew York RangersThe New York Rangers were the first team to outright not wear Pride Night jerseys at all despite planning for them early in the season on Jan. 27. The jerseys were scheduled to be auctioned off after the game, which never happened either.Minnesota WildThe Minnesota Wild canceled Pride Night jerseys, making a last-minute decision to scrap the jerseys but still held the event.Chicago BlackhawksThe Chicago Blackhawks canceled wearing pride-themed jerseys for warmups as well. The Blackhawks were reportedly not wearing the jerseys due to the recent law in Russia that restricts LGBTQIA+ rights. They worried that certain players would not be able to return to the country at season’s end.

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