NHL's About-Face On Wokeness Is Too Little Too Late And Now They're Feeling It: Matt Reigle

The 2023-24 NHL season is underway and with it comes a slew of new storylines.

The debut of Blackhawks rookie sensation Connor Bedard. Alex Ovechkin's hunt to eclipse Wayne Gretzky's goal-scoring record. Whether or not teams like the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs can finally make it over the hump.

But don't think for a second that some of the storylines from last season have been written off completely.

In fact, even one the NHL has been actively trying to toss into the dumpster bin of history continues to plague it, despite the league's attempt to distance itself from its own head-first dive into the waters of wokeness.

Yup. Pride Night festivities are still causing a headache for the NHL.

The league probably knew it was coming and so did you, because the truth of the matter is that once you bend the knee to progressive ideologies, good luck ever trying to do anything else.

NHL Attempted To Play To Progressives

Over the last few years, the NHL — like so many other leagues, companies and organizations — decided for some reason that the best course of action for the league from a business standpoint was to inject itself into politics. Specifically politics with a left-wing bent.

Now, think of every sports fan you know. How many of them are bleeding-heart liberals? People who would welcome being batted over the head with progressive talking points while trying to enjoy a game?

Of course, there are some with a real glutton for punishment. But the vast majority of sports fans would be put off by this kind of thing.

But, alas, the NHL went ahead and did it.

Diversity initiatives including a job fair that was heavily criticized by Florida governor Ron DeSantis.

Public backing of a hockey tournament for transgender athletes that resulted in a biological man injuring a biological woman on a routine play.

Then, of course, there were the Pride Night jerseys.

Ivan Provorov — now with the Columbus Blue Jackets — was one of the first players to choose not to wear a rainbow warm-up jersey. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

Woke Mob Made Pride Night A Headache For NHL

Oddly enough, wearing the rainbow-colored warm-up sweaters — likely the most benign of any of these attempts at scoring progressive brownie points — was the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back.

The nights had been held for years with no issues or complaints aside from the occasional, "Well, this seems a bit ridiculous and unnecessary," from some.

However, last season, Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov (who has since been dealt to the Columbus Blue Jackets) opted not to take warm-ups in one of the jerseys.

His reason? His Russian Orthodox beliefs.

Some — we'll call them "rational people" — had no problem with this, but others, specifically certain media members were irate that Provorov would put his religious convictions above wearing a rainbow jersey.

Their obsessing over the handful of players who didn't wear rainbow jerseys instead of focusing on the hundreds who did became a major distraction for the league.

It wasn't conservative or moderates decrying the jerseys that was the problem. Most didn't really care, even if they thought it was a bit unnecessary.

But the woke fans, writers, and talking heads? They wanted 100% compliance.

Hockey Is For Everyone... But It's Not Here To Validate You

It was at this point that the cat was out of the bag. The NHL is in the hockey business. Sure, the NHL wants as many fans as it can get from all walks of life, and that's a good thing.

Everyone should be able to become a fan of hockey regardless of who they are or where they come from.

Not having rainbow jerseys does not change that, and thinking it does is a wild stance.

Provorov and several other players who chose not to participate in the Pride Night festivities for personal, religious, or — in the case of some Russian players — safety reasons were accused of outright bigoty for not wearing one of the jerseys. Some argued that their decision not to wear them made LGBTQ fans feel invalidated.

Never mind the 20-some other guys on the ice who were wearing them...

Well, first of all, remember the NHL is in the hockey business, not the personal validation business. If seeing every hockey player in a rainbow jersey is what someone needs to feel personally validated, that's not good. There are some underlying issues at play that no hockey sweater will ever be able to fix.

Rainbow tape won't do it either.

The NHL looks to be reversing course, but they've gone too deep toward catering to the woke mob to get out. The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Detroit Red Wings 6-1. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

NHL Changes Are Too Little Too Late To Avoid Progressive Rage

Over the offseason, the NHL announced a ban on specialty warm-up jerseys like the Pride Night sweaters. Now, the league never said teams couldn't produce or sell them, it just said players couldn't wear them on the ice. Additionally, there's now some woke rage over a ban on rainbow-colored tape. This was often part of Pride Night festivities as well.

Personally, I don't see the harm in letting players who want to use rainbow tape for warm-ups do it. As long as other players aren't forced to, I don't think it's a huge deal.

That said, I can see why the league has decided it wants out of this kind of thing.

When you progressives an inch, they'll take a mile. Now the NHL is dealing with the fallout. From core fans who wanted nothing to do with any of this, and progressives who are mad that the league isn't bending to their every whim.

It sure doesn't seem like a coincidence that we're seeing the NHL reeling things in after a spring that was headlined by the seismic collapse of Bud Light and Target. Both of which were brought on by consumer boycotts that started after both companies attempted to foist radical woke ideologies on consumers.

If they needed another example of what not to do that hits closer to home, look no further than the Los Angeles Dodgers' debacle earlier this year with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

Clearly, the league doesn't want any of that. Now, the NHL appears to want to get out of this before it gets in so deep that it's got Dylan Mulvaney dropping the puck at the All-Star Game or a team gives out tuck-friendly swimsuits to the first 10,000 fans.

While facing the woke rage is never fun for company, the one point of solace is that you're only hearing from a loud cadre of progressive lunatics with megaphones.

They're not representative of the overwhelming majority of fans who just want to sit and watch some hockey.

Follow on X: @Matt_Reigle