By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
The Vegas Golden Knights vs. Vancouver Canucks playoff game scheduled for Thursday has been postponed in the aftermath of the Jacob Blake police shooting in Wisconsin Sunday.
All NHL games and Thursday and Friday are postponed. Here is the NHL-NHLPA joint statement:
After much discussion, NHL Players believe that the best course of action would be to take a step back and not play tonight’s and tomorrow’s games as scheduled. The NHL supports the Players’ decision and will reschedule those four games beginning Saturday and adjust the remainder of the Second Round schedule accordingly.
Black and Brown communities continue to face real, painful experiences. 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.
The NHLPA and NHL are committed to working to foster more inclusive and welcoming environments within our arenas, offices and beyond.
All the teams’ players in the Edmonton bubble held a media conference at 3:30 p.m. Vegas time Thursday. The Golden Knights’ Ryan Reaves, the only Black player in the VGK starting lineup, explained the spark that brought the players coming together: “The conversation started with white players from other teams.”
Golden Knights coach Pete DeBoer said, “It’s player-driven, but team-supported.”
The National Hockey League staging three playoff games Wednesday while the NBA players decided not to play their playoff games in the Orlando NBA Bubble. That drew criticism from Black NHL players like Evander Kane of San Jose and Matt Dumba of Minnesota, who criticized the NHL for its lack of a response to the shooting of Blake, a Black man in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Police shot Blake multiple times, leaving the 29-year-old man paralyzed.
The Golden Knights also released a statement:
The Las Vegas Aces game with the Seattle Storm and two other WNBA games have also been scrubbed from today’s schedule in light of the protests against the police shooting of Blake.
The Aces released this statement.
Aces star player A’ja Wilson is also urging fans to vote.
The NFL and the players union also weighed in with this joint statement:
The NFL community is united more than ever to support one another in these challenging times. We share anger and frustration, most recently as a result of the shooting of Jacob Blake.
While our passions continue to run high, we are proud that our players and clubs, League and Union, are taking time to have the difficult conversations about these issues that affect the Black community and other communities of color in America. We are especially encouraged that these conversations are about how we can come together to make the necessary and long overdue changes in our country.
We will continue to not only use our collective platform to call out racism and injustice whenever and wherever it occurs in our country, but also fight together to eradicate it.