The Three Hardest Words for the NHL to Say
Do Black Lives Matter to the NHL?
To the excitement of hockey fans, the NHL returned to play this past weekend, or at least for games that matter. A lot has changed in the world since the NHL shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March, and I’m not referring to the release of the Seattle Kraken. In terms of things that REALLY matter, the league fell short in its response to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Since the police killing of George Floyd and the ensuing protests, Black Lives Matter has rightfully come to the forefront of sports and popular culture. The NHL hasn’t been totally oblivious to the push for addressing racial inequality, discrimination, and racism. As outlined by Hemal Jhaveri, the league did come up with slogans such as #WeSkateForBlackLives, and provided space for Matt Dumba to address the audience watching at home and to kneel during the anthem. But, and this is a big BUT, the NHL came up very short in having a league official actually say or show the words “Black Lives Matter”. Instead, that job was left up to individual players as the league passed the buck.
This is held up in stark contrast to how other leagues have supported with the Black Lives Matter movement. The NBA prominently featured the words Black Lives Matter on each court, as well as allowing players to replace their names with Black Lives Matter on their jerseys. The defending champions Toronto Raptors even wrote Black Lives Matter on their team buses. Major League Baseball, the same league that was widely criticized with their delayed recognition of the George Floyd murder (including by star Black player Mookie Betts) has done more than the NHL. Despite not having a reputation of being at the forefront of social change, MLB has allowed players to wear Black Lives Matter batting practice shirts, Black Lives Matter jersey patches, and has placed the words Black Lives Matter and the league logo on the pitcher’s mound in clear view of the camera. The league has even lifted uniform rules, allowing players to decorate their cleats with social justice sayings. Heck, even NASCAR, a sport widely perceived as being preferred by mainly white, mainly conservative, and mainly men who are fans, has taken a firm stand against racism by banning the Confederate flag and by supporting Bubba Wallace (the lone current Black driver), who raced with a Black Lives Matter paint scheme.
The fact that even the NFL, the league that mishandled the Colin Kaepernick anthem kneeling peaceful protest, has backtracked on their opposition to players kneeling during the national anthem. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell even said the words “Black Lives Matter" in a video where he also apologized for the league response to Kaepernick.
The NHL seems like it wants to do right by encouraging inclusiveness and creating slogans like #WeSkateForBlackLives, however it also seems like it’s trying to stay “apolitical” and appeal to individuals opposed to Black Lives Matter… in other words, they seem to be afraid of potentially losing their most bigoted fans. In addition to this being morally wrong, this is also very short sighted in terms of growing the sport. Combined with criticism of the lack of inclusiveness at all levels of hockey, the NHL has a real problem with their image in the eyes of many fans and critics alike.
I’m not going to argue that by the NHL actually saying the words Black Lives Matter will change things overnight, but it would be a much needed move in the right direction. Racism is not an issue just for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) to protest and solve. White people, such as those who own and run NHL teams and the league itself, need to be part of the change, and part of the conversation. How about starting with those three, very important words?
