Rangers respond to their 'Pride jersey' controversy.

The New York Rangers have responded to the latest controversy, one that appears to be of their own making.

Earlier today we reported news that indicated the Rangers had abruptly canceled some of their plans for a planned 'Pride Night' that an email sent out by the Rangers indicated would include 'Pride jerseys' during warmups as well as Pride-themed stick tape for the Rangers players.

For one reason or another that would not come to pass and I speculated earlier that I suspected it was to avoid a controversy similar to the one the Philadelphia Flyers experienced earlier this month with defenseman Ivan Provorov. That is of course only speculation on my part, but the Rangers have now responded and their official statement leads me to believe that my speculation isn't too far off the mark.

From the Rangers:

"Our organization respects the LGBTQ+ community and we are proud to bring attention to important local community organizations as part of another great Pride Night. In keeping with our organization's core values, we support everyone's individual right to respectfully express their beliefs."

This certainly reads like there were players in the Rangers locker room that would have taken a stance similar to the one expressed by Provorov although, unlike the Flyers, it appears the Rangers have avoided much of the potential controversy by canceling the planned event in warmups altogether.

I suspect that there won't be much more forthcoming from the Rangers on this matter, so fans will have to make up their own minds about what transpired to make the Rangers change their minds on Friday night.