Russian laws already affect the NHL, writes Iltalehti’s sports editor Otto Leinonen.
Gary Bettman is only interested in money. AOP / USA TODAY Sports
NHL club Chicago Blackhawks is the latest team to refuse to wear pride warm-up jerseys this coming weekend.
The Blackhawks join the ranks of the New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild, who have previously refused to wear jerseys.
According to the AP news agency, the Blackhawks are concerned about the safety of the Russian players playing for the club when they return to their home country after the season. The sports publication The Athletic has also said that security concerns are the reason.
The background is a law signed by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, which practically bans all activities in the country that promote homosexuality or spread LGBT awareness. Violation of it will result in fines.
In this way, Putin’s actions affect even the NHL.
Appealing to security just doesn’t stand the light of day.
Putin signed his censorship law in December, but since then, numerous Russian players have worn pride shirts in the NHL.
A list by The Athletic reporter Mark Lazerus by pride shirts have been worn by Yevgeni Malkin, Vladislav Gavrikov, Nikolai Knyžov, Aleksandr Barabanov, Yevgeni Dadonov, Kirill Marchenko and Sergei Bobrovski.
Malkin’s participation in particular dilutes the clubs’ security concerns and makes the clubs’ excuse look weak.
Malkin is a well-known member of Team Putin and has himself publicly said that he supports Putin. If he was at all worried about his own or his family’s safety because of the pride shirt, he wouldn’t have worn it.
Philadelphia Flyers Russian defenseman Ivan Provorov was the first player to refuse to wear a pride jersey. He appealed to his religion, it is Russian Orthodox, whose patriarch is Kirill. Kirill is anti-gay and staunch Putin supporter.
Provorov was not penalized for refusing, which has opened the door for others as well.
Since then, non-Russian players have also been refused to wear pride shirts. Staal’s brothers Eric and Marc and San Jose Sharks goaltender James Reimer refused to wear pride shirts and appealed to their religions.
Religion has also been used as a scapegoat to explain why you don’t want to wear pride shirts. No sanctions when there are no refusals.
Appealing to religion just doesn’t stand the light of day, because for example in the 2020-2021 season, Eric Staal didn’t seem to remember his religion when he put on the Montreal Canadiens pride jersey above.
It seems that the NHL has created an opportunity for players to invoke religion without anyone questioning it or any punishment for the players.
This is also how the NHL says that it wants far-right and politically conservative spectators in the stands. The series communicates that hockey is for everyone, but at the same time tells us that it is not.
At the same time, the clubs, the NHL and its commissioner Gary Bettman want to keep the Russians happy. Besides that, the most important thing is the income, not the war in Ukraine and the innocent civilians who died in it, or the LGBTQ community.
The naysayers also show by example that hockey is still not for everyone – despite what they say.
The local NHL journalists, on the other hand, continue the same rally as before regarding Russia issues.
Reporters ask lazy questions and don’t bother asking follow-up questions. They only repeat the reasons leaked from inside the clubs, and don’t even seem to try to look for the root causes of club refusals.
Lazeruskin previously said that the Blackhawks made their decision as an organization. Neither the Russian players nor the other players of the club asked for it.
This raises questions, why is this the case and what are the reasons behind the clubs’ decisions?