NHL All-Star festivities kick off, weeks after job fair ad drew scrutiny
A string of NHL All-Star events showcasing many of hockey’s top players is underway in South Florida, with celebrations lined up through Saturday. The events come just weeks after the NHL drew criticism from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over the wording of a job fair that coincided with the festivities.
Many events are planned through the week, including the Truly Hard Seltzer NHL All-Star Beach Festival, which began Thursday and runs through Saturday at Fort Lauderdale Beach Park, at 1100 Seabreeze Blvd.
The free outdoor event offers hockey fans interactive games and attractions and the chance to take a picture with the Stanley Cup.
Saturday’s lineup also features the 2023 Honda NHL All-Star Game. This year’s All-Star Weekend marks the second time in two decades that the Florida Panthers and South Florida served as the center of such all-star activities, according to the NHL. The Panthers also hosted the showcase in 2003.
Facing criticism
The events come just weeks after an NHL job fair faced complaints from DeSantis’ office that an advertisement was too “woke” and discriminatory.
The original ad announcing the “Pathway to Hockey Summit” had read: “Participants must be 18 years of age or older, based in the U.S., and identify as female, Black, Asian/ Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latino, Indigenous, LGBTQIA+, and/or a person with a disability. Veterans are also welcome and encouraged to attend.”
DeSantis’ office issued a statement saying that “discrimination of any sort is not welcome in the state of Florida, and we do not abide by the woke notion that discrimination should be overlooked if applied in a politically popular manner or against a politically unpopular demographic.”
The statement, released by his press secretary, called on the NHL to “immediately remove and denounce the discriminatory prohibitions it has imposed on attendance.”
NHL officials later insisted they had simply written the ad incorrectly, replacing it with a new announcement. The league said it never meant to exclude anyone and the original ad should have said that those groups were “encouraged to attend” instead of participants “must” be one in one of those categories. “The Pathway to Hockey Summit is an informational and networking event designed to encourage all individuals to consider a career in our game — and, in particular, alert those who might not be familiar with hockey to the opportunities it offers,” NHL spokesman John Dellapina said in a statement. “The original wording of the LinkedIn post associated with the event was not accurate.”
The job fair was scheduled to be held Thursday at an undisclosed location. Participants had to register in advance to get the details. Dellapina declined to say where the event was being held, and how many people had chosen to attend, saying it was “a participants-only, private event.”