Arizona Coyotes defenseman Travis Dermott became the first NHL player to openly defy the league’s ban on gay pride tape during games when he hit the ice with the rainbow-colored tape on his stick on Saturday.
League officials told the media that they are reviewing Dermott’s defiance for a possible violation of league policy and will address the issue “in due course,” Fox News reported.
The league should take notice, though, after “Pride Tape” co-founder Jeff McLean said Dermott ordered more rainbow stick tape and plans to use it throughout the 2023-2024 season.
The goal stick of Anders Nilsson #31 of the Vancouver Canucks is covered in Pride tape as it sits in the Canucks dressing room before their NHL game against the Colorado Avalanche at Rogers Arena on February 20, 2018, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images)
Early this month, the National Hockey League quietly informed its teams that players would no longer be allowed to place “pride tape” on their sticks supporting gay pride. This came on the heels of the league’s decision to end the use of special gay pride jerseys during warmup time at games.
In a letter to the teams, the league reiterated that teams may hold any specialty night they like and added that players are “encouraged to express themselves off the ice.” But all displays of themed tapes, uniforms, shirts, equipment, or jerseys will no longer be allowed on the ice.
Commissioner Gary Bettman told Sportsnet following a Board of Governors meeting in New York in June that themed jerseys had become “a distraction from really the essence of what the purpose of these nights are.”
National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman speaks with the media at a press conference announcing the start of the NHL season at the Westin Times Square on January 9, 2013, in New York City. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Still, some players have expressed disagreement with the new policy banning “pride” displays, including Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid, who said he was “disappointed” in the ban.
“Whether that’s Pride Night or Military Night or Indigenous Night, all the various nights that we’ve had and had a chance to celebrate. I’ve always enjoyed them,” McDavid said. “I can’t speak for everybody else or the league or anything like that, but it’s something that I’ve always enjoyed.”
Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand quixotically insisted that players should not be used to “push political agendas” but still supported being used as a pawn to push the left’s radical gay political agenda with “pride” jerseys and tape.
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