A completely absurd scenario unfolded in the NHL yesterday. Before I describe it, it’s worth recapping the sequence of events that led to it. So:
- Last January, a Flyers player refused to wear the team’s pregame Pride jersey, citing his Russian Orthodox religious beliefs.
- That led to some NHL teams deciding to scrap their pregame Pride jerseys, leading to a league-wide controversy.
- The NHL, clearly wanting the issue to just go away, “solved” the problem in by banning all pregame promotional theme jerseys — Pride, military, St. Paddy’s Day, Native American, you name it. Teams could still run promotions based on those themes, and could even produce and sell themed jerseys, but the jerseys could not be worn on the ice during pregame activites. (NHL teams have never worn these themed jerseys during actual games.)
- The league then said it was banning the use of rainbow-patterned Pride stick tape — even during practices.
- After several players and teams said they would defy the Pride tape ban, the league said, “Never mind” and rescinded the ban on the tape.
It was against this backdrop that the Minnesota Wild planned their Native American Heritage Night promotion for last night. In keeping with the new rules, the team planned to auction off a bunch of player-autographed Native-themed jerseys, but the jerseys would not be worn on the ice.
In addition, the team planned to auction off a Native-themed mask made for goalie Marc-André Fleury, whose wife is Native Canadian. Here’s a video clip showing the mask’s designer, Cole Redhorse Taylor, describing the approach she took with the design:
La Fleur but make it
Thanks to our friends at @PrairieIsland_ for designing this one-of-a-kind mask for Flower on our Native American Heritage Night. #mnwild pic.twitter.com/0Tlt11BSok
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) November 24, 2023
The mask was featured in some of the team’s advance promotion for the event:
Yesterday afternoon, reports began circulating that Fleury wanted to wear the mask during the team’s pregame skate but was being told by the league not to do so. Fleury’s agent, Allan Walsh, said Fleury was willing to pay whatever fine the league levied on him but that the league was also threatening the Wild “with an additional significant fine.”
As it turned out, Fleury wore the mask anyway:
Marc-Andre Fleury is wearing his Native American Heritage mask in warmups. pic.twitter.com/WPSITbHz5U
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 25, 2023
The Athletic’s Michael Russo and ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski both reported that there will likely be no fine after all. Wyshynski is also reporting that the team got mixed signals from the league:
NEWS: Noah Ennis, who made Marc-Andre Fleury’s Native American Heritage mask, said the Wild were told a month ago by NHL that Fleury “couldn’t wear it in the game, but that he could probably wear it in warmups.”
Wild asked the NHL this week and “it was a firm no on all of that.”
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) November 25, 2023
The kicker is that Fleury didn’t even play last night, so there was no issue about him wearing the mask in the game. It was strictly a pregame thing.
This is all so asinine. The NHL has long been in favor of custom goalie mask designs — it’s one of the few corners of the uni-verse where personal expression is not just permitted but encouraged. So why get uptight about Fleury’s mask, especially when his wife is Native? What if an Irish-American goalie had a shamrock as part of his mask design, or if an American goalie just had an American flag decal on his mask’s backplate — would those now be off-limits as well?
Also: Doesn’t Chicago’s entire team brand supposedly honor and support Native Americans? I mean, that’s not how I view it, but that’s the party line from the team and league, right? So if a whole team supposedly honoring Native Americans is okay, why would one goalie’s pregame mask be a problem?
Let’s be clear: This whole mess is due to Gary Bettman being too cowardly and lazy to address the Pride issue head-on when it arose last winter. Instead, he took an overly broad “one size fits all” approach that pleased no one, and now teams and players are openly defying his authority and essentially calling his bluff — first with the Pride tape and now with Fleury’s mask.
I think it’s time for Bettman to have a cage match against Rob Manfred. They could both wear singlets plastered with crypto and casino ads, and the loser would have to take a job in a Fanatics sweatshop. (Also the winner.)
Also Chicago went through a huge sexual assault scandal where the coach and gm were fired as scapegoats, the owner got a slap on the wrist and didn’t even claim any responsibility. Then he dies and the team is wearing that same owners name on a jersey patch all season, glorifying him.
That’s worse than what Fleury did. It’s all backwards.
And Bettman wonders why the fans have booed him for the best part of the last 30 years
Call me cynical, but most of the Bettman booing seems to be coming from protectionist Canadians who simply don’t want anyone else enjoying “their” sport. There’s a very common belief among fans in Canadian and “traditional” US markets that the sport will be healthiest if it’s played only in cold-weather climates, completely ignoring more fundamental economic issues like market size and ownership stability.
Yes on all counts. Bettmann deserves all the booing and vitriol thrown his way; it’s not just his decision making, but the fact that he is thoroughly tone-deaf when making them. Classic example is the Shane Pinto issue; the guy has been turned into a skating billboard for online gambling, yet he’s been suspended half the season…. for online gambling. Not on his own team, or against it, but a completely different sport. High hypocrisy.
Fleury’s mask not only fit the tenor of the evening’s game, but the team uses it in publicity, and the league is going to say no? Has the league EVER disqualified use of a mask for the paint job? May not have been Bettmann’s call, but like it or not, he’s the face of the head office. Remember, Time had a cover-page article that stated how the NHL had begun to pull away from the NBA as the more popular sport in the US just before Bettmann took over. Now, they trail the NBA, and arguably MLS in American popularity.
The story should also be about those amazing North Stars throwbacks.
Agreed.
…and how inappropriate it is for the Wild to wear those colors and that design ; )
Love this, especially “Also the winner.”
“I think it’s time for Bettman to have a cage match against Rob Manfred. They could both wear singlets plastered with crypto and casino ads, and the loser would have to take a job in a Fanatics sweatshop. (Also the winner.)”
You need to add Goddell to that match after the photo from last week of him posing with a porn star…
This situation with the mask ridiculous as there have been other regular everyday NHL masks with Indigenous art and theme worn by goalies.
The Vancouver Canucks primary logo features a Haida style orca.
Will be interesting to see the NHL try to talk their way around this but they probably won’t comment.
Start with Murray Bannerman; how many Blackhawk goalies have worn masks that mimicked the logo on the sweaters?
Right. Was thinking about recently Braden Holtby’s everyday mask with the Canucks.
link
Can we just talk about how gorgeous that mask is, whether it stands for something or not? The design has a lot of flow and energy, and the colors are spot on with the Wild and especially North Stars.
Let’s just stop with the jerseys, or other uniform nonsense. If a team wants to show support to a certain group or cause, fine, that’s what their community outreach division is for. Let’s keep the politics out of the rink, and have EVERYONE enjoy the game.
Yeah! And stop playing the US and Canadian national anthems Those are political, too. We gotta rename the Columbus Bluejackets while we’re at it. There is nothing more political than war.
Just because some politicians and news commentators have made certain issues political—the environment, basic human rights—doesn’t mean that they are politics.
+1
+2…it seems that there are many who want “things” to be political instead of paying attention to what unites us….at least, start with common ground and then disagreements are likely to be cordial rather than divisive…
This might be controversial, but I’d rather players express themselves in their play over their uniforms. Keep the uniforms standard and these issues wouldn’t exist. I feel this way for all sports as well.
What if an Irish-American goalie had a shamrock as part of his mask design, or if an American goalie just had an American flag decal on his mask’s backplate — would those now be off-limits as well?
What if a goalie wanted to honor Israel? Or Palestine? Or, specifically, Hamas?
I have no problem with what Fleury did, but the league is better off with a general ban than trying to draw fine lines.
I think Bettman is slightly better than Manfred because he just seems clueless, while Manfred seems to be trying to actively destroy baseball
Hey Paul, I know this is pretty late so not sure if you’ll see it, but Cole Redhorse Taylor’s pronouns are he/him. You wrote: “Here’s a video clip showing the mask’s designer, Cole Redhorse Taylor, describing the approach she took with the design.”
Cool mask, lame commisioner. NHL is running behind modern society and wonders why they are overhauled by other leagues. This is not 1960 anymore.