Hockey Diversity Alliance slams NHL/NHLPA announcement of Player Inclusion Coalition

[The Grim Reaper]

What are we upset about this time?

Too few Malaysians in the game.

 

[Voight]

To put it simply, I don’t see any past history of activism by the NHLPA which would lead me to believe they’re competent to lead an initiative like this. I do see a past history of talking a big game about various subjects while doing nothing of substance to make a difference about them.

At the end of the day, the PA is a union which does union things. This whole topic is off-mission for them, and they have no particular incentive to push the owners on this matter. So they’re a perfect partner for the NHL, if the NHL wants a cheap marketing boost without doing any real work to change the status quo.

To be fair, everyones gotta start somewhere.

 

[tarheelhockey]

To be fair, everyones gotta start somewhere.

Things you won’t hear a bunch of billionaires say when choosing a business partner for an initiative that they are taking seriously.

 

[joestevens29]

To put it simply, I don’t see any past history of activism by the NHLPA which would lead me to believe they’re competent to lead an initiative like this. I do see a past history of talking a big game about various subjects while doing nothing of substance to make a difference about them.

At the end of the day, the PA is a union which does union things. This whole topic is off-mission for them, and they have no particular incentive to push the owners on this matter. So they’re a perfect partner for the NHL, if the NHL wants a cheap marketing boost without doing any real work to change the status quo.

I mean what damage can the NHL or NHLPA really do with this program?

HDA is still there and I'm sure they will be there to poke holes at the program, so in some aspects I really don't see what can go wrong here.

And man NHL/NHLPA don't drastically mess this up somehow. Like I can't think of any way you can make this a negative impact program, so please don't prove me wrong.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I mean what damage can the NHL or NHLPA really do with this program?

HDA is still there and I'm sure they will be there to poke holes at the program, so in some aspects I really don't see what can go wrong here.

And man NHL/NHLPA don't drastically mess this up somehow. Like I can't think of any way you can make this a negative impact program, so please don't prove me wrong.

It’s not so much a concern that they actively do harm. It’s that they make a lot of marketing noise while doing nothing meaningful at ground level. That’s what HDA is up in arms about.

I mean we all know the corporate playbook at this point. We just saw it play out to a tee with the jersey situation. Both the NHL and NHLPA want the marketing rewards of being associated with this, without the pain of doing the actual work.

 

[surixon]

It’s not so much a concern that they actively do harm. It’s that they make a lot of marketing noise while doing nothing meaningful at ground level. That’s what HDA is up in arms about.

I mean we all know the corporate playbook at this point. We just saw it play out to a tee with the jersey situation. Both the NHL and NHLPA want the marketing rewards of being associated with this, without the pain of doing the actual work.

Im sure most teams do a lot of work at the grass routes level and have for a long time. The HDA isn't the only group out there. I think its disingenuous to say most teams just care about the marketing aspect while not doing actual work.

I know for a fact the Jets and their youth foundation do a lot of work in the community with regards to inclusion and breaking down barriers and have since before the team came back over a decade ago.

 

[joestevens29]

Honestly where is the disconnect with inclusion? Truthfully I honestly don't see it at the early stages. Seems like it's something that starts to happen closer to the junior levels. Seems that organization like the CHL need to be really focused on this with the message that is being sent from the top down.

Watching the Brick tournament and seeing these kids interact on and off the ice, I'm not really seeing them all concerned what color, race or sex their teammates are.

 

[Hierso]

If your organization that is meant to bring a message of inclusion is mad at more inclusion your basically admiting that it's nothing but a grift.

 

[BigEezyE22]

It’s not so much a concern that they actively do harm. It’s that they make a lot of marketing noise while doing nothing meaningful at ground level. That’s what HDA is up in arms about.

I mean we all know the corporate playbook at this point. We just saw it play out to a tee with the jersey situation. Both the NHL and NHLPA want the marketing rewards of being associated with this, without the pain of doing the actual work.

The jersey situation went to shit because if the irrational reaction from the social media mob who made it very clear the objective was submission, not support.

 

[hangman005]

I'm not gonna lie, but the first thing that came to mind when I saw this was....

 

[tarheelhockey]

Im sure most teams do a lot of work at the grass routes level and have for a long time. The HDA isn't the only group out there. I think its disingenuous to say most teams just care about the marketing aspect while not doing actual work.

I know for a fact the Jets and their youth foundation do a lot of work in the community with regards to inclusion and breaking down barriers and have since before the team came back over a decade ago.

I’m sure the individual franchises all do great work within their communities, but that’s not what we’re talking about here. This is about a centrally coordinated effort by the NHL and NHLPA.

To be sure I’m not at risk of being disingenuous, please point me toward the NHLPA’s history of meaningful civil rights work.

 

[surixon]

I’m sure the individual franchises all do great work within their communities, but that’s not what we’re talking about here. This is about a centrally coordinated effort by the NHL and NHLPA.

To be sure I’m not at risk of being disingenuous, please point me toward the NHLPA’s history of meaningful civil rights work.

I'm talking about the league and teams as they seem to be the ones who are always on the receiving end from the HDA. I have no clue what the PA has or hasn't done over the years.

 

[SomeDude]

I think this coalition and alliance need to settle their quarrels so they can get to investigating why NHL.com discriminates against Canadians so much.

 

[Three On Zero]

This would be a non issue if the HDA could form a good working relationship with the NHL but at almost every turn they call the league out for something or other.

HDA completely lost the plot with the childish “what about us” and “me me me” approach. Trying to strong arm a multi-billion dollar business isn’t going to end well

 

[tarheelhockey]

I'm talking about the league and teams as they seem to be the ones who are always on the receiving end from the HDA. I have no clue what the PA has or hasn't done over the years.

HDA’s beef is that the NHL claims to want to make this big impact on diversity issues, so they roll out an initiative where their primary partner is an organization with zero experience or mission relevance regarding this topic.

Does that sound like the NHL taking a serious approach to the issue? Or does it sound the NHL’s marketing department wanting a rubber stamp from the players so they can tout their “efforts” to the media?

 

[S E P H]

This nonsense social media clash reminds me of this video, and I cannot put it in better words than this lol.

 

[awegrzyn]

Disease.

 

[buffalowing88]

I think it's gross that ESPN has editorialized their own "coverage" of the issue by just immediately saying the NHL is backwards every time an advocacy group complains. It's hard to look like you're doing anything right when the preeminent sports media platform in the US is serving as a mouthpiece for only one perspective.

 

[surixon]

HDA’s beef is that the NHL claims to want to make this big impact on diversity issues, so they roll out an initiative where their primary partner is an organization with zero experience or mission relevance regarding this topic.

Does that sound like the NHL taking a serious approach to the issue? Or does it sound the NHL’s marketing department wanting a rubber stamp from the players so they can tout their “efforts” to the media?

The HDA didn't have an iota of experience a few years ago when it formed and asked the league for an obscene amount of money to fund them.

How is what the league doing much different. The committee is full of ex players from the NHL and other leages. Maybe it's a publicity stunt but that is also calling into question the integrity of all the players from the minority groups on the committee. I'd like to trust they are motivated to go out and make real change.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

HDA’s beef is that the NHL claims to want to make this big impact on diversity issues, so they roll out an initiative where their primary partner is an organization with zero experience or mission relevance regarding this topic.

Does that sound like the NHL taking a serious approach to the issue? Or does it sound the NHL’s marketing department wanting a rubber stamp from the players so they can tout their “efforts” to the media?

I think Gary had an intern put this together over a weekend: https://cms.nhl.bamgrid.com/images/assets/binary/335880796/binary-file/file.pdf

 

[Voight]

The HDA didn't have an iota of experience a few years ago when it formed and asked the league for an obscene amount of money to fund them.

How is what the league doing much different. The committee is full of ex players from the NHL and other leages. Maybe it's a publicity stunt but that is also calling into question the integrity of all the players from the minority groups on the committee. I'd like to trust they are motivated to go out and make real change.

NHLPA has also much better odds at recruiting current and former players of color.

As I said earlier in the thread, HDA is never going to get off the ground without Iggy & PK. Iggy being one of the most respected guys in hockey and PK being an extremely popular figure with a big following.

 

[Albatros]

The HDA didn't have an iota of experience a few years ago when it formed and asked the league for an obscene amount of money to fund them.

How is what the league doing much different. The committee is full of ex players from the NHL and other leages. Maybe it's a publicity stunt but that is also calling into question the integrity of all the players from the minority groups on the committee. I'd like to trust they are motivated to go out and make real change.

The key issue is that the NHL & the NHLPA represent the privileged that have no particular interest in altering the status quo. I'm sure some individual NHLPA members do take these themes very seriously, but they're pretty much guaranteed to be in minority within their own organization.

 

[BigEezyE22]

HDA’s beef is that the NHL claims to want to make this big impact on diversity issues, so they roll out an initiative where their primary partner is an organization with zero experience or mission relevance regarding this topic.

Does that sound like the NHL taking a serious approach to the issue? Or does it sound the NHL’s marketing department wanting a rubber stamp from the players so they can tout their “efforts” to the media?

Or, their primary partner is the entity that represents the players that exist as the de facto face of the league, as opposed to an offshoot group that decided they should be the ones strong-arming the NHL into a bunch of impractical "pledges."

 

[Albatros]

HDA is never going to get off the ground without Iggy

...who was brought up by WASP grandparents in rural Alberta. Nothing against Iginla, but not sure he's the very best advocate here.

 

[tarheelhockey]

The HDA didn't have an iota of experience a few years ago when it formed and asked the league for an obscene amount of money to fund them.

How is what the league doing much different. The committee is full of ex players from the NHL and other leages. Maybe it's a publicity stunt but that is also calling into question the integrity of all the players from the minority groups on the committee. I'd like to trust they are motivated to go out and make real change.

Well, the NHL rejected the new and inexperienced HDA out-of-hand, so that’s not a very strong endorsement of their current strategy to align with an organization that has zero experience.

Or, their primary partner is the entity that represents the players that exist as the de facto face of the league,

Yeah, that’s exactly the crux of the issue. The NHL’s effort to diversify is being led by insiders who have a vested interest in the status quo.

Whether they align with HDA specifically is a side issue. There are a ton of other groups out there with the track record and expertise to do this work. NHLPA is not one of them. If anything, NHLPA is going to need to hire a consultant to give their leadership a clue how to approach the issues involved in this work.