NHL Players Who Refuse to Wear Pride Jerseys Are Facing Authoritarian Media Backlash

There’s something deeply unhealthy happening in the National Hockey League (NHL) this year. Week after week, a different NHL team hosts a Pride Night to “celebrate the LGBTQA+ community” and, week after week, a new “controversy” emerges where a player is berated by mass media for not complying.

As the “controversies” pile up, there’s a bizarre, authoritarian pattern emerging where players must either submit or be shamed by mass media for days on end.

The main problem of these Pride Nights: ALL players from the home team are required to skate around while wearing rainbow flag jerseys during warmups and/or games. By forcing players to be draped in the pride flag – on jerseys that bear their last names – these “celebrations” turned into some kind of authoritarian pledge of allegiance. And those who refuse to wear these jerseys are suffering authoritarian consequences: Character assassination from elite-sponsored media.

Did you know that Communist China engaged in similar tactics during its “Cultural Revolution”?

Here’s a short timeline of what has been happening in the NHL.

Ivan Provorov

The controversies began in January when Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov opted out of participating in warmups with his teammates. The reason: Players had to skate around with rainbow jerseys and rainbow tape on their sticks.

When questioned by journalists, Provorov explained that these celebrations went again his Russian Orthodox beliefs.

“I respect everybody and I respect everybody’s choices. My choice is to stay true to myself and my religion. That’s all I’m going to say. That’s all I’m going to comment on that. If you have any hockey questions, I’ll answer those.”

Instead of, like, ignoring Provorov and respecting his choice, journalists and commentators engaged in all-out character assassination.

While the media attempted to destroy Provorov, people who actually matter showed support. For instance, Flyers’ coach John Tortorella stated that he respected Provorov for staying true to himself. Furthermore, Provorov’s jersey (the real one, not the rainbow one) quickly sold out after the controversy.

In the weeks that followed, some NHL teams such as the New York Rangers and the Minnesota Wild canceled Pride Night, probably because several players did not want to do it. More recently, the Chicago Blackhawks canceled Pride Night by citing a specific reason: It put its Russian players at risk due to Putin’s anti-LGBT propaganda laws.

While media is now attempting to put a political spin on the story (i.e. it’s Putin’s fault), the narrative was cut short when James Reiner – a Canadian player – refused to wear the jersey.

James Reimer

On March 20th, James Reimer of the San Jose Sharks refused to wear the pride jersey and sat out of the game.

Following the game, a statement was posted on the Sharks’ social media accounts.

A statement from Goaltender, James Reimer: pic.twitter.com/GwhWxhbmb4

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) March 18, 2023

Reimer wrote:

“For all 13 years of my NHL career, I have been a Christian — not just in title, but in how I choose to live my life daily.

I have a personal faith in Jesus Christ who died on the cross for my sins and, in response, asks me to love everyone and follow him.

I have no hate in my heart for anyone, and I have always strived to treat everyone that I encounter with respect and kindness. In this specific instance, I am choosing not to endorse something that is counter to my personal convictions which are based on the Bible, the highest authority in my life.”

Immediately after the game, Reimer suffered the same media public shaming as Provorov.

There are literally hundreds of articles attacking Reimer and calling for his cancellation. Why? Because he refused to wear a politically-charged flag on his body. What happened to “my body, my choice”?

Authoritarian

There’s something extremely disturbing about this situation. It is not about “celebrating people”, it is about compliance with a specific ideology. This charade is strangely reminiscent of the Chinese cultural revolution where “enemies of the ideology” were exposed and publically shamed in “struggle sessions”.

Carefully arranged and organized, the mass trials and accusatory meetings followed clear and meticulously prearranged patterns. Dramatic devices such as staging, props, working scripts, agitators, and climactic moments were used to efficiently engage the emotions of the audience—to stir up resentment against the targeted groups and mobilize the audience to support the regime.
– Mühlhahn, Klaus (2009). Criminal Justice in China: A History.

If you think that this comparison is extreme, it is really not. The underlying principle is identical: The shaming of those who do not comply to force the compliance of everyone else.

In Conclusion

Like many other institutions across society, the NHL is being targeted by a clear agenda to root out and expose those who do not comply with the elite’s ideology. As NHL teams successively host Pride Nights, they force every single player to engage in a very personal act: To wear a politically-charged flag on their body. By doing so, they are forcing players to either submit or to suffer through a modern version of “struggle sessions”.

As these Pride Nights keep sweeping across the NHL, other “controversies” are bound to happen. By doing so, the elite managed to turn an institution that valued skill, talent, hard work, and toughness into yet another den of toxicity.