The NHL Joins The Party And The Players Have Decided To Postpone Tonight's Games After A Call With Evander Kane And Matt Dumba
Andy Devlin. Getty Images.Okay so I'll start off by saying that the NHL and their players were put in a really difficult spot last night. When the Bucks players announced that they were boycotting game 5 last night, the first NHL game of the day was already being played. And by the time the news came in, the Bruins and Lightning were already so close to game time that there's no way you could have gotten all of those guys together to come up with a unified decision on how to handle the rest of the night. Maybe there was a chance they could have done literally anything else besides putting a sign up on the jumbotron that read "End Racism" for the late game, but I get that all of this developed so quickly. So while the rest of the sports world came to a halt, the NHL kept playing.
While I don't think it's fair to completely rip the league for how they handled everything, you could definitely be disappointed. And especially the players of color in the league. Guys who heard their teammates talk a couple months ago about wanting to listen and be a part of tough discussions, but then missed out on joining a historic movement last night. They were disappointed and they felt insulted.
So while I don't think it's totally fair to completely rip the NHL for going on as usual last night, it would have been such an awful look for them to continue playing tonight. If these games were played tonight then the guys in this league are saying that Matt Dumba's opinion doesn't matter. If these games were played tonight then the guys in this league are saying that Wayne Simmonds' opinion doesn't matter. If these games were played tonight then the guys in this league are saying that Evander Kane's opinion doesn't matter etc. etc. And there's no way that the players in this league were going to completely turn their backs on those guys.
And it's not just guys like Dumba, Evander Kane and Simmonds either. You also have to think about youth hockey in America. Especially here in Philly, you have the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation. Mr. Snider did so much to try to grow and promote the sport in the city here and use it as a way to help these kids. I know that Ed Snider isn't with us anymore but this is still his team and it always will be. So not only would the players be turning their back on a guy they shared a locker room with for years like Wayne Simmonds, but they'd also be turning their back on everything that Ed Snider had built up here in the city.
Sure seems like this is a good time to serve as role models and make thoughtful choices. It's the right move. And no, boycotting these games isn't going to magically fix all the racial and human rights issues in this country. But does it send a strong message that the players in this league are actually standing behind their guys instead of just saying a bunch of empty words? Absolutely. Which I think is a little more important than watching a hockey game on a Thursday night as opposed to a Saturday afternoon.