Hockey left behind on a historic night
Protest by NHL players arrives day late, as sport misses chance to act in solidarity
Hockey missed its moment to make a major statement and act in solidarity with basketball players the night before.
Many felt it would be too little, too late if NHL players, after failing to join the hoop holdouts, decided not to play games on Thursday in Toronto and Edmonton.
The way it worked out, however, was better late than never. The NHL players got it right in the end and doubled down for effect.
The NHL players thus managed to pull themselves up by the skate laces and emerge by making a significant statement after all.
All eight remaining playoff teams will not play their next schedule game. The games slated for Thursday and Friday were postponed in a delayed reaction, after electing to play the day before while NBA, WNBA and some Major League Baseball teams did not.
On Thursday, the NHL Players Association voted to follow the call of Matt Dumba and Evander Kane of the seven-player Hockey Diversity Alliance after involving all eight remaining teams in afternoon conference calls.
Hockey has long had the perception of being a white man’s game with white fans sitting in the stands. That’s been changing significantly lately. And to me, Wednesday was the day to show the rest of the world of sport the inclusive culture that has been developing.
It was a historic night in the world of sport and hockey was left wanting.
“We have formally requested the NHL to suspend all playoff games today,” said Kane in a statement Thursday morning. “We strongly feel this sends a clear message that human rights take priority over sports.”
As was the case with the NBA players and those in other leagues, this was a player-driven initiative.
Within a couple of hours,
Kane confirmed it with a Twitter statement.
“The PLAYERS took a stand today, they stepped up. Proud of my fellow PLAYERS for their actions.”
The official confirmation announcement of the postponed games between the Flyers and Islanders in Toronto and Canucks and Golden Knights in Edmonton followed and Friday’s games featuring the Lightning and Bruins in Toronto and Stars and Avalanche in Edmonton finally emerged an hour before game time in Toronto.
I’m not sure what was the most disappointing response on Wednesday — what happened in Toronto for the first game or the failure that followed in Rogers Place for the second game in Edmonton.
As game time approached in the Western Conference bubble, there was debate as to whether the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars players would do something to upgrade the disheartening response in Toronto.
There was also the question about whether the NHL would rewrite the patently pathetic statement delivered in a 30-second “moment of reflection” prior to the start of the Tampa Bay-Boston game in Toronto earlier in the evening.
All the leagues left it up to the players to decide how to respond to the latest shooting of an unarmed Black man in the United States — Jacob Blake, who was shot in the back seven times by a white police officer in Kenosha, Wis.
The NHL players in both bubbles decided they were here to play hockey, and the NHL, instead of making a stronger statement in a pre-game moment in Edmonton than the one that went over like a lead balloon in Toronto, decided to ditch both the statement and the “moment of reflection” entirely and just drop the puck.
It wasn’t hockey’s finest hour. Thursday wasn’t either. But at least the hockey players got the puck out of their own end.
The effective response that was expected on Wednesday from the sport ended up being made not by the players and the league but by the broadcasters in response to the sport not shutting down the two games last night.
Sportsnet panellist Kelly Hrudey led the way.
“I don’t think we should be here. I think that the NHL is missing out,” said Hrudey.
“I feel sick to my stomach that we’re doing this game,” said reporter Christine Simpson.
With Nazem Kadri the only player on the seven-member Hockey Diversity Alliance remaining in the playoffs playing in the game in Edmonton, there was the thought he might step up and ask the players here to make a different response. Instead, he stepped up and scored the winning goal with 6:06 remaining for Colorado on a night the Avalanche became the first team in Stanley Cup history to go up by two goals, fall behind and end up winning by two goals, 6-4.
After the game, Kadri was asked if he gave any consideration to sitting out.
“It crosses your mind when you see other leagues doing stuff like that,” he said. “We support and applaud the NBA. It’s about action and making a difference. Eventually words get stale and it’s about action and making a difference.”
They shouldn’t have played. When the Hockey Diversity Alliance asked the NHLPA not to play on Thursday night, it didn’t fix their failing the night before. But can you imagine the uproar if they had decided to proceed and play again anyway?