In response to civil unrest ignited by the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, in Kenosha, Wis., the eight teams remaining in the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup Playoffs decided to postpone all scheduled games through Friday.
The NHL and NHLPa formalized the postponements Thursday evening, following a rash of criticism stemming from their decision to hold three games Wednesday. In a joint statement with the players association, the NHL expressed support for the players’ decision and announced the playoff schedule will resume Saturday.
“Black and Brown communities continue to face real, painful experiences,” the statement 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.
“We understand that the tragedies involving Jacob Blake, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others require us to recognize this moment. We pledge to work to use our sport to influence positive change in society.”
People are also reading…
Other active professional sports league in North America – the WNBA, NBA, MLB and MLS – made history Wednesday by postponing competition in protest of social injustice and police brutality.
While the New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers were playing a Stanley Cup Playoff game in Toronto on Wednesday afternoon, the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic refused to compete in their playoff game at the bubble in Orlando.
The NBA postponed the rest of its scheduled games, three of 16 MLB games were postponed and the WNBA decided Thursday to not hold competition for a second consecutive night.
Rather than following suit Wednesday, the NHL held a 27-second moment of silence at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena ahead of a game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins to acknowledge Blake, who is paralyzed from the waist down after he was shot seven times by a white police officer. The shooting, which was captured on video, sparked violent protests and a white teenager has been charged with killing two protesters and injuring another in Kenosha.
“The NHL would like to take this moment to wish Jacob Blake and his family well and call out to our fans and communities to stand up for social justice and the effort to end racism,” the public address announcer said while the phrase “End Racism” was shown on the scoreboard above center ice.
No other details were mentioned. Buffalo Sabres winger Wayne Simmonds, an executive committee member on the non-NHL affiliated Hockey Diversity Alliance, called the league’s attempt “futile.”
“First and foremost, I think we were disappointed with how the NHL responded,” Simmonds said during an interview with TSN Radio in Toronto on Thursday. “We were the only league to not postpone or cancel games yesterday, which I think is a shame. I think as a Black man playing in the NHL it’s a little bit of a slap in the face, especially with what we’ve gone through over the last little while here. Coming from George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and obviously Jacob Blake, the most recent tragedy that’s happened.
"I think for the NHL to actually play that game and to I guess show a futile attempt at trying to say you’re with the Black Lives Matter movement by having a moment of silence, I don’t think that’s enough.”
The Hockey Diversity Alliance, which pledged to “eradicate racism and intolerance in hockey” when it was formed in June following the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, called on the NHL to cancel its two games Thursday night: the Philadelphia Flyers vs. the New York Islanders in Toronto and the Vegas Golden Knights vs. the Vancouver Canucks in Edmonton.
The HDA has asked the NHL to sign a pledge that includes commitments to fund grassroots programs for Black, Indigenous and People of Color; impactful social justice initiatives; and anti-racism education. It also urged the league to create targets for hiring and promoting Black individuals and businesses.
TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reported that more than 100 players inside the bubble cities participated in a call Thursday with San Jose Sharks winger Evander Kane, formerly of the Sabres, and Minnesota Wild defenseman Matt Dumba, both of whom are on the Hockey Diversity Alliance’s executive committee.
The latest call for change in hockey intensified in November when former NHL player Akim Aliu, now part of the Hockey Diversity Alliance, alleged that then-Calgary Flames coach Bill Peters used a racial slur when the two were together with the Rockford Ice Hogs a decade earlier. Peters was fired following an investigation by the Flames.
NHL players began to speak out against racial injustice following the killings of Floyd on May 26 and Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman fatally shot in March while three plain-clothed police officers executed a no-knock search warrant at her Louisville apartment.
Dumba knelt during the American national anthem on the first day of qualifying round games in Edmonton on Aug. 1, and former Buffalo Sabres goalie Robin Lehner, now with the Vegas Golden Knights, along with his Vegas teammate Ryan Reaves and two players from the Dallas Stars, Tyler Seguin and Jason Dickinson, did the same two nights later.
Reaves, who is Black, told reporters on a Zoom conference call Thursday night that he was considering sitting out the Golden Knights’ game against Vancouver before he received several text messages from white players around the league, including one of his opponents, Canucks captain Bo Horvat. The players then gathered to discuss their options and concluded they wanted the games to be postponed.
“I couldn’t be more proud of these guys,” said Reaves. “The statement we’ve made today is something that’s going to last. These two days aren’t going to fix anything, but the conversations and the statement that has been made are very powerful, especially coming from this league.
