Yesterday as the site was dark for the NHL’s lack of action following national sports protests across four other major sporting leagues, the NHL and NHLPA finally announced their own protests. Games yesterday and today are cancelled, a joint effort by the NHL and NHLPA to allow the Black Lives Matter message to resonate. The Hockey Diversity Alliance has also proposed multiple ideas. As per usual, I have some thoughts.
1. Better late than never for the NHL. They had a gimme on Wednesday night to cancel the games. But immediately following, a collection of Vancouver Canucks reached out to Ryan Reaves, their opponent for their playoff series. Kevin Shattenkirk also called Reaves. This is how the movement in the NHL started.
2. The NHL came to the proper decision to cancel NHL games yesterday and today, in protest and solidarity with Jacob Blake. This is bigger than hockey. This is a movement. And spare me your “politics don’t belong in sports” takes. This isn’t politics. This is basic human decency and empathy. It is not politics to show empathy and human decency. It is not politics to believe people need to be held accountable for their actions. It is not politics to to think the police shouldn’t be judge, jury, and executioner. It is not politics, period.
3. Sports have always been at the center of these issues and of politics anyway. So spare me.
4. The HDA has asked the NHL $100 million over 10 years to battle systemic racism. They’ve asked for the HDA logo to be on the ice, black out jerseys (which are fantastic and I would 100% buy one), and to change the blue line to black temporarily. The NHL has not agreed to any of these yet. The black lines might be a game flow problem though, since the puck is black and offsides would be a nightmare.
5. This isn’t about putting the attention on themselves, or whatever “virtue signaling” people concoct. It’s about doing the right thing to allow the message get through. It’s about putting the attention where it needs to be. If you want to help make a difference, donate to Black Girls Hockey Club (@blackgirlhockey) here.
6. This is not an issue that gets punted to others to solve. This is on all of us. We all can learn and be better people. We all can listen and watch and understand. We all can be empathetic to the struggles of others.
7. I posted this yesterday, and it bears repeating. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. This is a quote from Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner. This is a movement, and there is no neutrality here. Repeat bullet point #2 here.
8. I want to thank all of you for not bringing the discussion from yesterday’s post into other posts. I will not be closing comments on this post, but I will be monitoring closely. You all know the rules, and remember point #2 above.
9. Black Lives Matter.
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