DELAY OF GAMES
Mets & Fish walk off and don’t play Jets cancel practice in revolt NHL ices playoffs for 2 days NBA sits again, but plans return
The NHL was the only professional sports league that didn’t alter its game schedule Wednesday in the wake of the police shooting of Jacob Blake, but a call for action from the Hockey Diversity Alliance and the NHL Players Association ultimately led to the postponement of all playoff games Thursday and Friday.
The decision was made Thursday afternoon, after the NHLPA conducted a call with several players to discuss the “growing sense” that players were in favor of postponing games.
At first, the league called off Thursday’s action, then later in the day decided to postpone Friday’s games as well. Thursday’s slate was a pair of Game 3s in the Flyers-Islanders and Golden Knights-Canucks series, and the Lightning-Bruins and Avalanche-Stars series were both to play Game 4 on Friday. The NHL announced games are expected to resume Saturday.
“Black and Brown communities continue to face real, painful experiences,” a joint statement from the NHL and NHLPA read. “The NHL and NHLPA recognize that much work remains to be done before we can play an appropriate role in a discussion centered on diversity, inclusion and social justice.”
After the NBA, WNBA, select MLB teams and most of the MLS postpone their games Wednesday in solidarity with the ongoing racial injustice protests around the country, the NHL was subject to a heap of scrutiny for going ahead with its schedule. The Islanders and Flyers were already on the ice Wednesday when news started to break from the other leagues, but the Lightning-Bruins and AvalancheStars games, which were played later Wednesday, went on as scheduled.
Following the official postponement, the NHL set up Zoom calls with select players from each conference. Representing the Western Conference, several players came and stood behind those who were chosen to address the media. For the Eastern Conference, Islanders captain Anders Lee, the Flyers’ James van Riemsdyk, Boston’s Zdeno Chara and the Lightning’s Kevin Shattenkirk addressed the topic at hand.
“We have this platform as professional athletes to make our community a better place,” Lee said. “I think Kevin and I are happy to do that, and all the guys in the league that are coming together that has an opportunity to be better in the outside world. You try to do the right thing. We’re trying to do that today in support of our teammates and in our communities.”
“We want every NHLer to become the face of this movement,” Shattenkirk added.
Sharks star Evander Kane, co-head of the Hockey Diversity Alliance, took to Twitter on Thursday afternoon to announce the organization had put in a formal request to the NHL to suspend all playoff games for the day.
Kane and the Wild’s Matt Dumba, also a founding member of the HDA, have been vocal about their disappointment with the way the NHL has addressed the movement against racial injustice in America and within the sport itself. More than 100 NHL players in the NHL bubbles were on a call with Kane and Dumba to discuss their course of action, according to TSN.
It was the NBA’s Bucks who started a domino effect Wednesday, as other sports leagues postponed their games. Milwaukee is close to Kenosha, Wis., where Blake was shot seven times in the back by a police officer while his children were in the car.
The rest of the NBA followed before WNBA players staged a walkout and the league postponed all three of its games. Three MLB games were canceled, including the Milwaukee Brewers, five MLS games, and tennis star Naomi Osaka initially pulled out of the Western & Southern Open, though later electing to return when the tournament resumes Friday after canceling Thursday’s slate.
By the time the Islanders came to address the media following their 4-3 overtime loss to the Flyers in Game 2 on Wednesday, they had just learned about what was going on and were evidently caught off guard. After having the night to digest, coach Barry Trotz took a strong stance on the matter before the NHL ultimately canceled Thursday night’s games.
“They understand the importance of the playoffs, but they also understand where the world is right now,” Trotz said of his team on a Zoom call. “What happened [Wednesday], we weren’t really informed what was happening, we were playing when all this happened. As you get to digest it, I think what happened last night is a great statement for the athletes — they have a great platform and they used it.”