Leafs double down on Pride Night amidst silent protests across NHL

The Toronto Maple Leafs will celebrate the LGBTQ+ community this evening when they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets for their annual Pride Night.

Incidentally, the Leafs will NOT wear a special Pride themed warmup jersey for the evening, but this isn't a change in their protocol as they've never worn anything other than their usual warmup jerseys. They will however be sporting special helmet decals for the entirety of the game and will feature special messages on the arena video screen during stoppages in play. The organization has held Pride Night celebrations since 2017. Head coach Sheldon Keefe and defeneman Morgan Rielly both donned a rainbow-themed t-shirt during media availability this morning.

“I believe actions speak louder than words,” Rielly said Tuesday. “And especially speak louder than attire.”

Yesterday, the St. Louis Blues announced that they had changed their plans for Pride Night and had ditched the rainbow-themed warmup jerseys that the team was scheduled to wear. The Minnesota Wild and Chicago Blackhawks also elected to drop their own jerseys after concerns that their Russian born players would face legal problems in Russia for "supporting non-normal lifestyles". The Russian government recently instituted new laws regarding LGBTQ rights and the promotion of what they call "alternative sexualities". Philadelphia Flyers defenceman Ivan Provorov, San Jose Sharks goalie James Reimer, Eric and Marc Staal of the Florida Panthers, Buffalo Sabres blue-liner Ilya Lyubushkin and Vancouver Canucks forward Andrei Kuzmenko have all opted out of Pride celebrations citing religious and political reasons.

My thoughts on this matter have been well stated on this website. I believe that the NHL should do away with every 'special interest' evening, including Pride Night. That means Military Appreciation Night and Law Enforcement Appreciation night too. These causes, along with LGBTQ+ causes, have become too politicized and are just dripping with drama. To me, hockey is just hockey. Nothing more. I don't tune into a hockey game or buy tickets so that I can be part of Pride celebrations or to witness the glorification of war. Just drop the puck and let's smash some teeth already. Anyone else with me?