Another NHL team chooses not to wear Pride jerseys - due to safety concerns

The last few weeks have brought waves of disappointment through the NHL, as a few teams and individual players took it upon themselves to remind us that hockey is not yet for everyone. First, Ivan Provorov, then the Minnesota Wild, the New York Rangers, James Reimer, and now the Chicago Blackhawks have all declined to wear jerseys for Pride night.

According to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, the Blackhawks have opted not to wear jerseys in support of Pride night due to ‘safety concerns' for the three Russian players on their roster. The players are Philipp Kurashev, Nikita Zaitsev, and Anton Khudobin.


The claim of safety concerns here seems like a thinly veiled cop-out of the actual homophobic stances from the Russian Blackhawks, or more players on the team. The reality is that Russian athletes' families are not punished for their actions overseas. Just last week, Alexander Barabanov, Nikolai Knyzhov, and Evgeni Svechnikov of the San Jose Sharks wore the jerseys for their Pride night.


It's another disappointing decision, especially considering the stench that's followed the Blackhawks organization in the last few years. Hopefully with resolution to conflict overseas and more educated players in the future, these Pride night events will actually succeed in their goal of promoting acceptance.