Around the League - 2023 Offseason Edition

[Bill Peckerskull]

 

[RockLobster]

Better include no more Military nights too, that's all I'll say on it.

 

[Ararana]

Better include no more Military nights too, that's all I'll say on it.

We all know it won't.

 

[redacted]

Better include no more Military nights too, that's all I'll say on it.

All of them are done.

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

We all know it won't.

Betcha it will.

This means no more cancer jersey's, men's health, women's health, etc. either.

I believe the US military paid the NHL out of yours and mine tax dollars to sponsor those events.

I honor the troops and their service but believe this was more about recruitment than anything else.

 

[UncleRisto]

Does this include the Avs social media person posting every June just like "Some different sexual orientations are for example straight and gay."

 

[Ararana]

Betcha it will.

This means no more cancer jersey's, men's health, women's health, etc. either.

I believe the US military paid the NHL out of yours and mine tax dollars to sponsor those events.

I honor the troops and their service but believe this was more about recruitment than anything else.

Not joking, they should ditch the national anthems while they're at it. The fact that we play that before every single sporting game is moronic.

 

[Foppa2118]

What a dumb idea. No more military, cancer survivor, or pride appreciation in the NHL, just because they're scared of some ignorant bullies boycotting bud light.

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

Not joking, they should ditch the national anthems while they're at it. The fact that we play that before every single sporting game is moronic.

I think its pretty dumb too..... I look at the benches during the anthem play and think, so who on this bench is actually from the nation that the anthem applies too.....

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

What a dumb idea. No more military, cancer survivor, or pride appreciation in the NHL, just because they're scared of some ignorant bullies boycotting bud light.

I didn't read the exact statement made by the NHL but assumed it was only dealing with player wearing special warm up sweaters.

I would doubt very strongly that celebratory events overall will no longer be signified. And I expect there will still be franchise Pride Night and Hockey Is For Everyone dates placed on the calendar.

I suspect this was done in consideration of the special interests of select players..... mostly from the former eastern bloc.... who may suffer consequences....

 

[Foppa2118]

I didn't read the exact statement made by the NHL but assumed it was only dealing with player wearing special warm up sweaters.

I would doubt very strongly that celebratory events overall will no longer be signified. And I expect there will still be franchise Pride Night and Hockey Is For Everyone dates placed on the calendar.

I suspect this was done in consideration of the special interests of select players..... mostly from the former eastern bloc.... who may suffer consequences....

Yeah they'll probably still have some celebrations, but now they've just made it clear those celebrations are meaningless, and they don't really care about the causes.

Not sure this was because of eastern bloc players though. The NHL is a North American company. They don't need to cater to threats in other countries that likely would never have played out.

I think it's more about the Staals of the league throwing a fit and and their Bud Light sponsorship.

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

Better include no more Military nights too, that's all I'll say on it.

Watch the video. There are no more specialty jerseys for anything. Bettman explains it quite well. Says the theme nights will continue. Jerseys will still be available to buy, the players just won't be wearing them in warmups.

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

What a dumb idea. No more military, cancer survivor, or pride appreciation in the NHL, just because they're scared of some ignorant bullies boycotting bud light.

This is not what's happening at all. All those themes, appreciation nights, etc. will still be there. Jerseys will still be available to buy and wear. All they are doing is removing the distaction of players wearing or not wearing them. As Bettman explains in the video, that was becoming a big distraction from the true causes, and he and the owners wanted to eliminate that so fucus would be on the cause, not on who is wearing jerseys, who isn't, etc.

 

[Foppa2118]

My God, WATCH THE VIDEO!

I did. Like I said, they're still gonna have celebrations, they just won't wear the jerseys in warmup. I just didn't buy the obvious BS spin about it being a "distraction."

This is about money and only about money. Looks at how Target and Bud Light have bent over backwards to compensate for their boycott.

the players just won't be wearing them in warmups.

I guess LGBT fans seeing the players wear the jerseys in warmup was "distracting" from their "Hockey Is For Everyone" message.

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

I guess LGBT fans seeing the players wear the jerseys in warmup was "distracting" from their "Hockey Is For Everyone" message.

No, but all the focus on who isn't wearing them sure was

 

[Foppa2118]

No, but all the focus on who isn't wearing them sure was

And now the only focus is on the NHL bending to their will and canceling pride jerseys in the middle of pride month. Great way to support the cause they claim to still believe in.

If you believe this was about a distraction I've got a bridge to sell you. This is the same kind of reaction Target and Bud Light have had. It's about not losing money and nothing else.

 

[LOFIN]

I think it's a poor choice by the NHL, and they are going to need to reverse it at some date. Not because of this military stuff no, but as celebrating diversity and all these different social causes become more acceptable, it's hard to justify the NHL staying out when everyone else does it no?

All in all, it's sad that the league basically gave in for a handful of people, who could've faced the media themselves and explained their actions.

 

[GeoRox89]

I don’t love this but am fine with it. The focus of theme nights should be on the people they are honouring not who will not wear a jersey

Pretty sure the Avs auctioned off the regular home jerseys they wore for pride night with the only difference being they’re tagged pride night not ‘Set X: Date 1 - Date 2’. There is nothing stopping them from doing the same thing with whichever normal jersey they wear on future the theme nights to still raise money

 

[dahrougem2]

Good. Keep the focus on hockey for hockey games.

 

[LOFIN]

Good. Keep the focus on hockey for hockey games.

You can't live inside a hockey bubble pretending the real world doesn't exist.

Sooner or later this will come back to bite the NHL in the ass. All for a handful of players, who couldn't bite their tongue and play nice despite what they thought inside their heads.

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

Yeah they'll probably still have some celebrations, but now they've just made it clear those celebrations are meaningless, and they don't really care about the causes.

Not sure this was because of eastern bloc players though. The NHL is a North American company. They don't need to cater to threats in other countries that likely would never have played out.

I think it's more about the Staals of the league throwing a fit and and their Bud Light sponsorship.

It's a business..... And all of those celebrations at the corporate board level are meaningless. Once they attain a decent ESG score, it's back to making money........

I really don't care about the causes either. I'm here for the game, not the special interests.

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

I know I won't be able to fully support Cancer Night, Pride Night, Military Night, etc. without the players wearing themed jerseys for 20 min. before the game starts. Makes the whole cause moot.

 

[sethro109]

I'm fine with that decision. I actually agree with Bettman on this one. It was absolutely becoming a distraction. when every reporter is constantly asking, posting stories and retweeting about it, that's a distraction from hockey. I wish they would just do away with theme nights all together. I just want to watch hockey and for the games to start on time.

 

[LOFIN]

Are you able to please elaborate on how wanting to watch the game when it’s supposed to be on instead of a theme night presentation lead you to the above comment? Feel like I’m missing everything in the middle that lead from point A to point B here. Genuinely curious

I'm not saying everyone should like and accept these "theme-games" if you will. My point was rather that the attitude of "this is just hockey/sport and leave everything else outside of it" just doesn't work these days, and it shouldn't either.

We are talking about team sports. They are found around communities. Communities are touched by different stuff.

 

[Foppa2118]

I know I won't be able to fully support Cancer Night, Pride Night, Military Night, etc. without the players wearing themed jerseys for 20 min. before the game starts. Makes the whole cause moot.

Yeah lets just scrap all the celebrations, not just the jerseys. No more military appreciation for anything ever. They don't need to be celebrated to do their jobs.

We don't need to make an effort to show marginalized communities they can enjoy hockey either. I'm not an intolerant bigot, so that means nobody else is either. Have you looked at an NHL roster? It's so diverse. And it's not like gay people have ever had bad experiences playing organized sports.

Also, lets scrap health care initiatives. I don't need someone to remind me to eat healthy and exercise, so that means nobody else in this country does either right? I'm annoyed I have to read my tv dinner is 4000 calories. I just want to enjoy my dinner, I don't need this distraction.

Also, no more medals for saving peoples lives or dedicated service. Those puss**s should know to do that without some virtue signaling medal. Yeah I might be wearing lederhosen and an arm band right now without them, but every time I see WW2 veterans applauded, it's such a distraction I go blind for the next three hours and can't watch my pointless game.

No more birthday celebrations either. I know I won't be able to love my family members, if we don't have birthday parties, but I don't care. Makes the whole cause moot right?