CRANBERRY, Pa. -- The NHL issued a memo to its 32 teams last week, providing new guidance on how teams are to handle special initiatives like nights recognizing the military, Hockey Fights Cancer, Indigenous peoples, Black history, and Pride Night.
"Players shall not be put in the position of having to demonstrate (or where they may be appearing to demonstrate) personal support for any Special Initiatives," read part of the memo, as reported by ESPN. "A factor that may be considered in this regard includes, for example, whether a Player (or Players) is required to be in close proximity to any groups or individuals visibly or otherwise clearly associated with such Special Initiative(s)."
The first part of that paragraph ties into the league's ban on specialty warmup jerseys in June. Teams used to wear unique warmup jerseys like camouflage jerseys on Military Appreciation Night, or purple jerseys on Hockey Fights Cancer Night, or rainbow jerseys on Pride Nights, and those jerseys would then be auctioned off for charities benefitting those causes. Even St. Patrick's Day green warmup jerseys are banned under that rule from June.
The rule change regarding those specialty jerseys came after seven players chose to not participate in warmups last season on Pride Nights across the league, in order to avoid wearing the jerseys -- reflecting roughly just 1% of the league, after over 700 of the league's players wore the special jerseys.
The new, even more restrictive directive from the NHL is the second half of that portion of the memo above, ensuring that players don't have to be near individuals who are openly supporting any initiative. This could restrict teams from involving outside groups or individuals as part of those specialty nights, and effectively bans players from showing support for those groups on their own during those nights.
ESPN's report detailed questions that teams had for the league as a result of the memo -- could players still hold the "I Fight For ..." signs for photographs during Hockey Fights Cancer Night? Could coaches wear poppy pins on their suit jackets for Canada's Remembrance Day, or green ribbons in memory of those lost in the 2018 Humboldt Broncos bus crash?
One significant implication as a result of the ban is that players are banned from using Pride Tape, the rainbow-colored stick tape company that uses a portion of proceeds to "support LGBTQ+ youth outreach and educational initiatives."
A number of NHL players have spoken out in the days since to express disappointment in the ban, including Edmonton's Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman, Toronto's Morgan Reilly, Calgary's Rasmus Andersson.
Penguins players shared their own disappointment over the news after Thursday's practice.
"It's unfortunate," Sidney Crosby told me. "Those nights are good opportunities to show our support for different initiatives and organizations. We'll have to find other ways, whether it be players or teams to be able to do that."
"I don't think it's great," Rickard Rakell said. "I think we've done a good job of supporting everything in the past. It would be something that a lot of us would be comfortable continuing doing. So it's tough when the focus is kind of shifted toward the ones that have not chosen to support it. I guess we just have to find a different way to show our support."
"It's disappointing that it's come to this point," Jake Guentzel said. "We're still having a Pride Night. I'm glad we're having that."
"It's kind of unfortunate that we can't use the tape, use the jerseys to show our support for things," said Bryan Rust. "I believe our team's still going to have the nights to recognize those various groups, wherever it may be. I think for us, I think we're going to still continue to try and show our support any way we can. I think our team and organization are doing a really good job of still recognizing those groups, whoever they may be."
"I was kind of surprised," Marcus Pettersson said of the memo. "But you know, I think we're still doing as a team a Pride Night. We're going to have to find other ways to support the cause, because I think it's important that we do just find find other ways to support. I think it's good that Pittsburgh is doing a Pride Night and that we still have that."
"It's kind of sad," said P.O Joseph. "You want to support all causes. There's so many nice movements that we try to create in the NHL. And I feel like we kind of kind of show that we're not supporting it as much (with the ban). It's kind of hard to speak about it but I mean, I really like to support those things like the Cancer game, Black History Month and all the stuff."
The use of extra shows of support with things like Pride Tape was always optional. Even when players would wear the jerseys in warmups, there were always several who wouldn't use the tape, whether it be due to a personal belief or simply not wanting to change up their pre-game routines to un-tape and then re-tape a stick with their usual tape color after warmups. Some players would go above and beyond and keep the colored tape on the knob of their stick during the actual game. There wasn't much attention drawn to what a player did or didn't do with the tape.
Most Penguins players -- but not all -- did make the choice to use the Pride Tape over the years, even the most routine-focused player on the team.
"Just to show my support," Crosby said of why he made that decision in years past. "That's basically it. I mean, everyone had the option. I chose to do that."
"I mean, why not?" Rakell said when I asked why he used the tape. "It's such an easy thing for us to do. You just throw on some tape for warmups. I even used it in a game when we were allowed to. It's just a simple thing."
"Hockey is for everyone," Guentzel said of his decision to use the tape in the past. "We've always done it here. It's disappointing that it's come to that point."
"It's just a cause," Rust said. "I have family members, friends and a few other people who are part of that community. So, I'm just trying to show my support for them and tell them that I'm hooked by their side and with them."
A Pride Tape spokesperson told Sportsnet that "a number of NHL players" have placed orders for Pride Tape since the memo was issued, and that there could be defiance of the ban from some players across the league. Penguins players weren't aware of any plans to break the ban in Pittsburgh -- some of them had only heard about the memo Thursday morning -- but they wouldn't rule it out.
"I don't know," Rakell said. "The more players stand united, we'll see what's going to happen."
"I'll probably start to think about that more when it gets a little bit closer here," Rust said. "It's something that I wouldn't be surprised if it happens a fair amount around the league."
