NHL Will ‘Touch’ On Black Lives Matter, Social Justice During Opening Night Ceremony Of Postseason Games
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
National Hockey League players are known for being congenial, polite and respectful. They don’t, however, have a track record of being outspoken on social and racial justice issues.
Will they kneel before national anthems are played at the pandemic bubbles in Edmonton and Toronto like Major League Baseball players on Opening Day last week to shine a light on racial inequality issues?
Black Lives Matter appears on WNBA and NBA courts and on the pitcher’s mounds at Major League Baseball ballparks.
Will Black Lives Matter appear at the host city bubble rinks and arenas in Edmonton and Toronto? A NHL executive said, “We will certainly look at social justice as part of the opening, and Black Lives Matter will be a part of that.”
Last week, NHL Chief Content Officer Steve Mayer was asked by a reporter, “the NBA has done the Black Lives Matter on the court. Major League Baseball did that. Do you have any plans for Black Lives Matter either for individual players or on the ice itself?”
Mayer responded by saying: “So I think we touched on in our presentation how we’re going to open up in both hubs with a significant and a powerful opening evening. I think we’ll provide more details as the week goes on, but there will be moments within that where we’ll obviously honor what happened on the front line with those who worked so hard during the pandemic, but also we will certainly look at social justice as part of this opening, and Black Lives Matter will be a part of that.
“I think as we pointed out, we’ll see how our players react naturally to what we will present opening night, but there will be some moments within the opening night ceremony that will touch on Black Lives Matter and social justice. I think more to come on that, but it is significant that of course we’re talking about incorporating.”
we’ll see how our players react naturally to what we will present opening night, but there will be some moments within the opening night ceremony that will touch on Black Lives Matter and social justice — NHL executive Steve Mayer
It’s expected that when the NHL postseason games begin Aug. 1, players can decide for themselves if they want to take a knee or any action to show support for racial and social justice issues after a white Minneapolis police officer killed a black man in Minneapolis by applying a knee to his neck for more than eight minutes on Memorial Day.
In June, LVSportsBiz.com reported a story on the differences between the Golden Knights and the Las Vegas Raiders in how each team responded to Floyd’s death. Here was the Knights’ statement:
Some Golden Knights fans do not want any mention of Black Lives Matter or players taking a knee as part of the Stanley Cup playoffs games. Others believe racial inequality issues need to be addressed at all major sports platforms. There is hardly any consensus on the matter,
The Golden Knights’ first postseason game is Aug. 3 vs. Dallas in the first of three of round-robin games to determine playoff seeding in the Western Conference. The good news for the NHL is that not a single player has tested positive for the novel coronavirus that has claimed the lives of 150,000 Americans.
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