The Rangers and Islanders, who played in the New York area, scrapped the idea of wearing rainbow-colored jerseys during their respective LGBTQ+ awareness nights.
• Also read: Ivan Provorov: “The players are free to decide”
• Also read: Case of Ivan Provorov: “It will unite the team” – John Tortorella
As the New York Post reported on Wednesday, the two National Hockey League (NHL) organizations were scheduled to perform this week: Thursday for the Islanders, who will host the Vancouver Canucks, and Friday for the Blueshirts, a date with the Seattle Kraken. Possibly scalded by the fall of Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov, however, they decided to leave those special bibs behind without giving too many explanations. There will be no jerseys and rainbow ribbons for the Islanders during the warm up.
Provorov refused to don the LGBTQ+ uniform before the Jan. 17 game against the Anaheim Ducks. The Russian justified everything with his religious beliefs and the story didn’t seem to bother his head coach John Tortorella, who said the next day that it would bind his team’s ranks together.
“Provy did nothing wrong. If you don’t agree with him, that doesn’t mean he did anything wrong,” the pilot said at a news conference.
Lots of reactions
Openly gay player agent Bayne Pettinger was unimpressed by Provorov and the Flyers. “We’re making progress with all of these initiatives and we’re starting to show some good signs of improvement within the game and then people are using their platform to attack that and say you’re not welcome here,” he said in an interview on Sportsnet’s “Jeff Marek Show.”
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman also commented on the controversy, saying it must not overshadow his organization’s initiatives.
“They know our goals and our values and our intentions, whether at the league or team level. However, we must respect some individual choices. And some are more willing than others to volunteer for a good cause. Contributing to diversity and openness means understanding those differences,” he said.