Players forced the National Hockey League to cancel Thursday’s playoff games as a protest against racial injustice.
The NHL had been hit with backlash from radical leftists for playing hockey games as scheduled on Wednesday, the same day that the NBA, MLB, MLS, and WNBA cancelled all of their games. The cancellations were meant to be a protest of the police-involved shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Sunday, according to CBS Sports.
The NHL made the decision to postpone Thursday’s games after the Hockey Diversity Alliance requested that the league suspend all playoff games. The Hockey Diversity Alliance, which was created just two months ago, has a mission that involves “eradicating systemic racism and intolerance in hockey.”
“Earlier today, the HDA formally requested that Commissioner Bettman and the NHL suspend all playoff games today to allow players and fans to reflect on what happened and to send a message that human rights must take priority over sport,” the Hockey Diversity Alliance said in a lengthy statement.
[STATEMENT]
Our response to the NHL’s response to the radical injustice and violence. pic.twitter.com/c9vfcwOJ7t
— Hockey Diversity Alliance (@TheOfficialHDA) August 27, 2020
TSN hockey analyst Pierre Lebrun stated that San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane and Minnesota Wild defenseman Matt Dumba led a call with over 100 players who were in the playoff cities of Toronto and Edmonton, laying out for them the plans to postpone the games.
Over 100 NHL players joined a call with Evander Kane and Matt Dumba this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/mv0XA0Tiul
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) August 27, 2020
“The PLAYERS took a stand today, they stepped up,” Kane tweeted. “Proud of my fellow nhl PLAYERS for their action.”
“The NHL is always late to the party, especially on these topics, so it’s sorta sad and disheartening for me and other members of the Hockey Diversity Alliance, and I’m sure other guys across the league,” Dumba said on Wednesday during an interview. “But if no one stands up and does anything, it’s the same thing — it’s just that silence that you’re just outside looking in on actually being leaders and invoking real change when you have such an opportunity to do so.”
On Wednesday night, the Tampa Bay Lightning joined the Boston Bruins for a “moment of reflection” in respect to Jacob Blake.
Here’s the NHL moment of reflection for Jacob Blake before playing tonight’s playoff game between Boston and Tampa Bay. @hockeynight @cbcsports pic.twitter.com/xswBBjDate
— Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) August 27, 2020
“We should not stay silent towards systemic racism and any racial inequalities in our society,” tweeted Ottawa Senators forward Anthony Duclair.
It continues to be disheartening that sports are being politicized to this degree.
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