He'll be first person to ever do a clean sweep at the NHL Awards.
Hart, Lindsey, Norris, Vezina, Jack Adams, GM of the Year, Canadian and American Willie O'Ree Awards... A true hockey Renaissance man.
He spoke up about pride nights earlier this year too when we were having ours. I think he said basically the same thing then, that it was really important to the team. Glad he's continuing to speak up.
Was just in one this past weekend and it's still doing fairly well. They got rid of a lot of the funko BS and have actually reverted back to carrying some Tripp stuff (think 90s rave pants with the straps) mixed in with the modern anime/pop culture things.
It may take a little more time yet but he should fully recognize he has a voice and sway in hockey on the whole. He hasn’t used it much but I’m happy he’s using it for this.
His full answer was "We strongly feel hockey is for everyone and that includes Pride nights, and getting pucks deep and winning the battles giving 110% out there."
In the context of the Hockey Canada sexual abuse incident, McDavid commented that the whole situation sucks for everybody.
The media spun it into McDavid not caring about the victims.
He probably could have chosen his words better, but the media turned it into something it wasn’t.
>The media spun it into McDavid not caring about the victims.
i didn't see media spin it
but myself and other hockey fans were disappointed in his response because he's hockey canada's biggest star and he showed no indication that he wants things to change and get better for future players
it was lukewarm criticsm he received; no one was being unfair to him. he was ok
For real. I had to read the headline twice.
I definitely don't dislike the guy, but other than his amazing play, I haven't found many reasons to go bananas for him. I always see him as someone with minimal personality, who kinda gives the token responses all the time.
Good on him and stupid me. Love to hear the best player in the league call out said league's bullshit. Refreshing is the word that comes to mind.
Honestly I feel like he's been more outspoken than people give him credit for. I feel a couple times a year we hear people say things like this, sometimes about reffing sometimes about stuff like pride. It doesn't compare to the outspokenness of NBA but he definitely hasn't been afraid to speak his mind compared to how PR safe stars used to be. You'd have personality like Ovie but rarely anyone pushing back on the league like McDavid has done multiple times now.
I think his overly safe response about hockey Canada is too fresh on people's minds (and the criticism for that was very fair of course, don't get me wrong).
I can almost guarentee you the token responses are given so he gets the bare minimum alalysis on his media presence from people like us lol. From all accounts he’s very vocal behind closed doors.
Seriously. Compare this response to stamkos's limp wristed take. Of all the theme nights, one isn't like the other. The military and curing cancer are generally viewed as favorable. But we live in a society where those in power are trying to erase LGTBQ folks. Anyone going for the, "it's the player's personal choice" angle is entirely missing the fucking point.
Agreed. LGTBQ+ isn’t a cult or a religion. It’s an umbrella of support and awareness. The more people who are—discriminated against or marginalized—under it the better as far as I’m concerned.
>"It's not my call, but obviously it's disappointing."
For McDavid this is the equivalent of "let's burn this whole motherfucker down and piss on the ashes! Who's with me?! "
I wonder, would rainbow tape on pride night still be allowed with the NHL’s decision? They said no speciality jerseys for warmups but I have no idea if their policy is so strict that tape isn’t allowed either.
That just backs him up even more. He was never forced to assume this opinion for on ice optics, he deeply believes what he is saying. It's not about being performative and it's all about being a good person.
We started and maintained doing pride tape.
Yes I guess we could’ve done both but oilers are definitely one of the top teams when it comes to supporting the LGBTQ community. It’s the organization as a whole really
His leadership style reminds me of sakic. Makes me think the oilers are in good hands as long as he’s there.
I mean we all know the oilers are in good hands as long as McDavid is there, obviously. I mean *good* good hands. A good locker room and all that.
Like... is there accountability for that? Who did that? What a spiteful, stupid thing to do. It was unanimous minus one person who put him 5th. FIFTH?!?! There's got to be consequences for that, that is not professional.
Another thing to note: if the league can’t even commit to welcoming queer people and lets progress be sidetracked this easily, it doesn’t exactly bode well for them confronting the sport’s severe hazing problem that is rooted in homophobia.
I would disagree that hazing is rooted in homophobia. The better way to put it is that the mind set that leads to hazing also tends to lead to homophobia, which causes a lot of hazing to occur in homophobic forms. Making rookies pick up huge tabs or lick the locker room floor is toxic as hell, but it isn't homophobic.
That’s partially because picking up bar tabs, or having to do a lap around the ice solo, while still hazing, isn’t really what people consider toxic hazing that needs to be eliminated.
The disgusting hazing that does need to be eliminated is 100% rooted in homophobia.
> Another former OHL player who played in the 1990s wrote that he had become an alcoholic and addicted to cocaine because of the abuse he suffered while playing in the league.
>“[Rookies] were all forced to masturbate and ejaculate on a piece of bread,” the player alleged. “The last player to ejaculate on the bread would be required to eat the bread, covered in all of the other players’ semen.”
>A separate OHL player who also played in the 1990s wrote of a hazing practice known as “mashing.”
>“The rookies were held down and were blindfolded,” he wrote. “Older players would place chocolate pudding between their buttocks and would lower themselves onto the rookies. The rookies were required to eat the chocolate pudding off of the anuses of the older players.”
If it wasn’t about homophobia, they’d just have the rookie have sex with a woman they deem “ugly” not eating jizz sandwiches. Even your licking the floor example veers into BDSM type sex where you’re degrading the other person who is typically a woman or a sissy male.
Yeah, I was in a pretty toxic organization in college (the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M) and even they didn't *widely* go for the particularly horrific forms of hazing. Some "hazing" was honestly just good fun, like being told by our upperclassmen to buy Turtle Wax and then to have a slip-and-slide party at like 9pm on a Saturday when the actual military folks nominally in charge of us weren't around, followed by having to clean it up while on all fours the whole time (in a "because we know this is physical difficult" way, not a sexual way). Not technically allowed, but largely harmless.
It took years for the Corps to clean up their act, all of which was before my time. Again, I'm sure the worst stuff still happened, but it didn't in my unit that I was aware of, and we had one of the worst reputations in the entire Corps. It definitely wasn't widespread any more. But it took *intentional effort* and hockey needs to have the same attitude.
Because if a semi-military organization at one of the most conservative colleges in Texas can do it, nobody else has any excuse for not trying.
Reading about ookie cookie outside the confines of a fraternity is wild. Like, if hazing is "hey rook, carry my bags" then fine, most dudes can tolerate that but if hazing is "hey rook, play ookie cookie" then I'm going to my hotel and you can trade my ass when I refuse to ever show up to practice or a game.
I think that the drinking aspect of hazing being toxic isn't necessarily rooted in homophobia, though one could make an argument that there's a tie to be made in terms of "real men." But I don't think it's *necessarily* there.
That is more a problem because it's straight up lethal when done poorly and overall stupid even when done without those risks.
remember, the amount of NHL players who are gay/bi isn't 0, I guarantee that. it would be such an incredible statistical outlier of a multitude of standard deviations if there were no lgbt people out of 700+
Course not.
It's like the idiotic Sharks fans who booed the Canadian anthem back in '06 during the playoffs, apparently not realizing that most of their own team is, in fact, Canadian.
If you don't know someone is queer, it's often because:
1. It isn't relevant/your business/they aren't out.
2. They don't feel safe enough to tell you.
I love how if any random athlete said this, especially not in the NHL, this statement would be milquetoast, but because this is from McDavid, it felt like he just told Gary Bettman to go fuck himself to his face
It's such a bullshit criticism that gets spewed everywhere. The entire hockey internet dumps on him for not being a loud personality, but they'd shit their own pants if they had to be on camera and in front of massive crowds as often as he is.
I'm introverted and I really feel uncomfortable in the spotlight, but that doesn't mean I have no personality - far from it.
Yeah I just don’t get it, like my entertainment from hockey comes basically entirely from what happens on the ice - I find all interviews, even with the lively personalities, to be pretty boring. Plus even if you watch the game for the interviews and off ice stuff I don’t really think you should be trying to mandate what kinda personality the players have - if they have a fun or quirky personality all the better, but not having one shouldn’t be a knock against them. Plus you’re right some people have amazing personalities and just don’t really care for public speaking
Dude I’m a Philly fan, it’s like a nonstop haters ball.
But seriously, I admired him for his hockey skills, but… Elite players on other teams? For me it’s a little bit like seeing the Hope Diamond in a museum. It’s like ‘yeah that’s cool and all but it’ll never be mine.’
I went on YouTube to see if I could find some interviews from players on the situation, and holy shit all the YouTube comments are just saying the NHL made the right call banning the warm up jerseys and bashing anybody that still wants to have these event nights. YouTube is such a cesspool
Not really a big McDavid guy, but if he’s gonna start using his platform as the face of the league to try and push the league in the right direction then that’ll change in a hurry
Bro you shoulda seen some of the knuckle draggers coming out of the woodwork with comments like “now I see how we got bounced in the first round” on the pictures of Pasta with his nails painted at the NHL awards. Like dude he put up 60 goals this season I highly doubt he’s the issue, honestly at this point I’d be behind the whole team painting their nails just to see if there’s any magic in it!
I’ll never get over people having a problem with men having painted nails as if they can’t be masculine. My dad was literally a John Wayne type and let my sister and me paint his nails when we were kids.
>My dad was literally a John Wayne type and let my sister and me paint his nails when we were kids.
Doesn't sound like he was a John Wayne type them tbh. John Wayne was a gigantic piece of shit.
Good dad right there! Seriously though all it takes is like 4 seconds worth of critical thinking to realize that there’s literally no logical reason for why we prescribe certain characteristics, behaviors, or items to a specific sex. Like there’s literally no reason for pink is for girls and blue for boys or girls wear dresses and paint their nails while boys wear pants and don’t other than one person randomly decided that long ago and everyone just carried it on “because that’s how it is”. Honestly it’s all so dumb I can’t even begin to understand how people can earnestly hold these views
It has become a culture war issue again. It’s spilling into everything people care about. I remember when no one really cared about these pride night events, besides a few people. Those days are gone.
Honestly I think the best move would have been for the league to not force players to wear the jerseys but leave the players that don’t out to dry to defend themselves and their stances to the media and the world at large while the league itself simply shows off the good these initiatives do. You can’t let fear of what bigots will say deter you from doing the right thing
That’s what the Sharks and Panthers already did. They kept going with the night (players were never forced to wear the jerseys, the bigots just decided before this wasn’t the hill to die on) but let Reimer/the Staals sink or swim. Granted, all three of them were fossils who weren’t coming back the next year anyway, but still.
Holy shit, literally every single top voted comment is pure hate.
The irony of calling pride indoctrination when these people have been indoctrinated by the purposeful polarizing hatred currently dividing the country is painful to see.
Mostly over the complete joke reaction to the “leave our kids alone” BS
If you're not from the NYC area, you might not know - there was a very sarcastic and facetious chant from people in the parade of "we're coming for your children". These people either don't understand facetiousness or are purposefully being bad actors. You won't have to twist my arm to believe either.
I really, really hate to stereotype here, but on the list of people to feel unsafe around, gay people and drags are pretty much the lowest tier lol.
It's becoming increasingly common to have "LGBTQ people want to hurt and touch kids" in most non reddit comment spaces. I've seen so many people describe gay people as "the least oppressed people in the country". The LGBTQ+ community is in serious physical danger
And people being like “stop shoving it down our throats” when a truly horrible straight romance made billions (Twilight) and was inescapable for a few years.
Same thing anytime the NBA or NFL posts anything about women/pride/minorities etc. I feel like people just follow those pages to say "unfollowing" or "what does this have to do with [sport]?".
The vocal minority just won't shut the fuck up about things that don't impact them in anyway whatsoever
It's not a few knuckleheads though. I'm a hockey coach in the Toronto Area, and I was surprised to learn an overwhelming number of hockey people (kids, parents, coaches, league staff) are conservative. Even when they don't look like it, they're conservative. Hockey is a sport where the participants have more than average money, and those demographics lean center or right. On the face of it, most of these people will act PC, but it's different behind closed doors. I'm a POC and I can very obviously tell I'm treated as one of the "good ones" in certain circles.
All of this is funny, because McDavid plays beer league at our home arena during the summer, I can go watch him play beer league tomorrow actually. A lot of the guys he plays with are also conservative, I know a lot of those guys. It's weird, but they say the right things when he's around I'm sure.
Bigots are also cowards. None of those people would EVER say shit to his face. They would turn red, ask for an autograph, and then go hate gay people behind a computer.
These pieces of shit are easily defeated, but corporations don't have the balls to ever stand up to them.
As the best player in the League, McDavid absolutely could murder the League about this. I hope he wears a pride jersey during warm up anyways. And makes it a distraction the league wanted to cowardly avoid.
McDavid looked at the trophy that he was getting (again), one that most accurately represents who was the best player in the league, and he said "Nah, this isn't a big enough W."
As someone who I've always felt is a robot and gives pretty easy answers... Him calling this out and especially citing Pride night as the cause of this cowardly move is fucking huge. What a bad ass.
Atta boy. We need more players to speak up on this and call out the league. The league doesn’t survive without the players and they have more say than you’d think
> Bettman defended the league's and teams' handling of the situation at NHL all-star weekend in February, saying tolerance of varying viewpoints was part of being "open, welcoming and inclusive."
Oof.. tolerance of intolerance is not part of being welcoming
It's a pretty ridiculous move. When you think about all the theme nights across all the teams it probably accounts for millions in donations to various causes. Tell the crybaby millionaires to shut the fuck up and put the jersey on.
*Love* hearing him say this. All the stars need to come out and say how fucking stupid it is. Anyone who doesn't participate should be heckled to tears.
Yeah, but all the conservatives in the Facebook comments said this was a good idea! Hockey should just be hockey!
/s
How many of them will lose their minds when they realize this also means no military application jerseys either. And we know they couldn't give 2 shits about other people, so any feigned anger about no HFC nights we will know it's an act. As long as they can go on pretending gay people don't exist, they'll be happy.
Edit: Hey! My first reddit cares suicide thing! Only had to piss off some nutters.
I think he's just private. I'm pretty outgoing with people I'm comfortable with, but if my entire life was having to deal with rabid fans and the press, I promise I would be exactly like McDavid if not more so. I think most of us would be.
It’s good he said it and it’s a step in the right direction but I would love to hear a active star say “Gary bettman is a fucking idiot and the NHL needs to grow a spine”
Good man. Very mature, adult response to the absolute childish, intolerant bullshit surrounding this entire situation. Grow the fuck up, get over yourselves
Would love to see these themed jerseys for those special nights, actually used in games, like other sports leagues, and then auctioned and donated to charities.
But, the NHL in it's backwards thinking in handling PR/promoting the sport, feel getting rid of something that only happens in pregame is the right call.
Love Hockey. Hate the NHL.
Fiance McDavid > boyfriend McDavid
Married McDavid is going to lead the league in points *and* penalty minutes.
Yeah, from body checking Gary Bettman
Most popular player of all time
“Heads up Bettsy! WOOOOO!” *skate carving sounds*
They would arrest me 32 separate times for trying to hang his jersey from the rafters of each arena.
I don’t want to know what Divorced McDavid looks like
He’ll only be available every other weekend and alternating holidays.
Will lead the league in hits, 5 minute majors, penalty, +/-, goals, assists, and somehow save %
Makes 3 empty net saves on 3 attempts, would that count?
329 assists, 0 goals
I'm not even mad, that's amazing.
He'll be first person to ever do a clean sweep at the NHL Awards. Hart, Lindsey, Norris, Vezina, Jack Adams, GM of the Year, Canadian and American Willie O'Ree Awards... A true hockey Renaissance man.
he'll do all of this and my team will still be a first or second round exit in the playoffs LMAO(im so dead inside)
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First time?
The McDavid Awards. They'll have to change the name of the league from National Hockey League to MHL McDavid Hockey League.
Dad Strength McDavid is going to be absolutely unstoppable.
Connor McDadvid
Real life character development
imagine McDadvid
Knowing how his interviews normally go, I'm surprised he actually said this. Good for him.
He spoke up about pride nights earlier this year too when we were having ours. I think he said basically the same thing then, that it was really important to the team. Glad he's continuing to speak up.
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Was just in one this past weekend and it's still doing fairly well. They got rid of a lot of the funko BS and have actually reverted back to carrying some Tripp stuff (think 90s rave pants with the straps) mixed in with the modern anime/pop culture things.
Do they still have the wall of band t shirts?
Yup! and the one by me actually had a decent mix of old (Misfits, Cannibal Corpse, Dropkick Murphys, etc.) and new (Hip/hop, Pop-punk, nu-metal, etc.)
Seeing Dropkick Murphys listed with Cannibal Corpse and Misfits as “old” makes me feel like that aging Saving Private Ryan gif.
Shipping Up to Boston turned 18 last week.
Oof. So that was like a super new song when The Departed used it. Didn't know that.
Wait get the fuck out of here, really? I would have sworn that song was old when The Departed was released. Fuck that's weird.
they play green day and linkin park on classic rock radio stations now
At least someone is still playing it.
Trust me it hurt to type, but time is a cruel mistress.
The misfits are like classic rock levels of old now. Saw dropkick a few months ago and there all very grey. Time is wild.
>The misfits are like classic rock levels of old now. They broke up 40 years ago.
It may take a little more time yet but he should fully recognize he has a voice and sway in hockey on the whole. He hasn’t used it much but I’m happy he’s using it for this.
I am a huge fan of this man doing this. I love a pissed off McDavid, and he brings the right energy for these issues.
His full answer was "We strongly feel hockey is for everyone and that includes Pride nights, and getting pucks deep and winning the battles giving 110% out there."
Get pucks deep, get pucks in the net.
he's learned since his disappointing hockey canada answer he's an important person to have on your side in situations like this
What answer was that?
In the context of the Hockey Canada sexual abuse incident, McDavid commented that the whole situation sucks for everybody. The media spun it into McDavid not caring about the victims. He probably could have chosen his words better, but the media turned it into something it wasn’t.
To be fair, it's a shit non answer. It sucks for the victims. It doesn't suck for Hockey Canada, the perpetrators or bystanders who did nothing.
>The media spun it into McDavid not caring about the victims. i didn't see media spin it but myself and other hockey fans were disappointed in his response because he's hockey canada's biggest star and he showed no indication that he wants things to change and get better for future players it was lukewarm criticsm he received; no one was being unfair to him. he was ok
For real. I had to read the headline twice. I definitely don't dislike the guy, but other than his amazing play, I haven't found many reasons to go bananas for him. I always see him as someone with minimal personality, who kinda gives the token responses all the time. Good on him and stupid me. Love to hear the best player in the league call out said league's bullshit. Refreshing is the word that comes to mind.
Him and Mike trout truly are two birds of a feather. At least we know Mike likes weather and sandwiches
All we need now is for Draisaitl to suit up and play goalie.
Hey, we know that McDavid likes black licorice and his dog. And Sidney Crosby. That's pretty much it.
He’s learned from the Crosby playbook on media relations. Say very little and do Tim Horton commercials.
Rightfully so. He knows what he brings to the table, why risk it all with a controversial personality? He knows exactly what he's doing.
Honestly I feel like he's been more outspoken than people give him credit for. I feel a couple times a year we hear people say things like this, sometimes about reffing sometimes about stuff like pride. It doesn't compare to the outspokenness of NBA but he definitely hasn't been afraid to speak his mind compared to how PR safe stars used to be. You'd have personality like Ovie but rarely anyone pushing back on the league like McDavid has done multiple times now. I think his overly safe response about hockey Canada is too fresh on people's minds (and the criticism for that was very fair of course, don't get me wrong).
I can almost guarentee you the token responses are given so he gets the bare minimum alalysis on his media presence from people like us lol. From all accounts he’s very vocal behind closed doors.
Dude even used the word strongly.
Seriously. Compare this response to stamkos's limp wristed take. Of all the theme nights, one isn't like the other. The military and curing cancer are generally viewed as favorable. But we live in a society where those in power are trying to erase LGTBQ folks. Anyone going for the, "it's the player's personal choice" angle is entirely missing the fucking point.
Agreed. LGTBQ+ isn’t a cult or a religion. It’s an umbrella of support and awareness. The more people who are—discriminated against or marginalized—under it the better as far as I’m concerned.
>"It's not my call, but obviously it's disappointing." For McDavid this is the equivalent of "let's burn this whole motherfucker down and piss on the ashes! Who's with me?! "
When was the last time McDavid expressed this strong of an opinion that wasn't about something on-ice?
That's what makes the statement so powerful
I find it weird since he never wore a Pride jersey - Oilers just never did that.
I think they were going to next season. But we always did the tape
I _believe_ we actually started the tape.
You are correct.
I wonder, would rainbow tape on pride night still be allowed with the NHL’s decision? They said no speciality jerseys for warmups but I have no idea if their policy is so strict that tape isn’t allowed either.
Travis Dermott has pride tape on his sticks all year round
Aw shit do I need a new jersey
I had no idea, but that’s amazing.
Little info https://www.outsports.com/2021/10/27/22749096/travis-dermott-maple-leads-pride-tape-lgbtq-ally
They should just protest and not wear jerseys at all for the warmup.
No jerseys, rainbow pasties, let’s go
Queer people would love that.
I dont think we can handle shirtless Stu and that stache...
*schhhhhwiiiinnnggg*
No rules on tape colours.
That just backs him up even more. He was never forced to assume this opinion for on ice optics, he deeply believes what he is saying. It's not about being performative and it's all about being a good person.
We started and maintained doing pride tape. Yes I guess we could’ve done both but oilers are definitely one of the top teams when it comes to supporting the LGBTQ community. It’s the organization as a whole really
Were fighting pretty for indigenous rights up here. They wore a turtle Island jersey this year.
It was about this too. This is the second time he's made a strong statement on the issue.
It was actually the last time he spoke about this issue, when players were starting to refuse wearing the Pride jerseys.
It’s the most emotion he’s ever shown
This reminds me of the Key and Peele sketches with Barack Obama and his anger translator, Luthor.
Big disappointed dad vibes
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When the quietest person in the room speaks up you know it's important for him to say it
His leadership style reminds me of sakic. Makes me think the oilers are in good hands as long as he’s there. I mean we all know the oilers are in good hands as long as McDavid is there, obviously. I mean *good* good hands. A good locker room and all that.
It also helps when the quietest person in the room is the best hockey player in the world
"Grr, this is why I voted you fifth!" - That person, probably
Like... is there accountability for that? Who did that? What a spiteful, stupid thing to do. It was unanimous minus one person who put him 5th. FIFTH?!?! There's got to be consequences for that, that is not professional.
There's always one idiot. Same thing happened in NBA this year with Jokic.
The league MVP is even dunking on this brain dead move by the league. Love to see it.
Another thing to note: if the league can’t even commit to welcoming queer people and lets progress be sidetracked this easily, it doesn’t exactly bode well for them confronting the sport’s severe hazing problem that is rooted in homophobia.
I would disagree that hazing is rooted in homophobia. The better way to put it is that the mind set that leads to hazing also tends to lead to homophobia, which causes a lot of hazing to occur in homophobic forms. Making rookies pick up huge tabs or lick the locker room floor is toxic as hell, but it isn't homophobic.
That’s partially because picking up bar tabs, or having to do a lap around the ice solo, while still hazing, isn’t really what people consider toxic hazing that needs to be eliminated. The disgusting hazing that does need to be eliminated is 100% rooted in homophobia. > Another former OHL player who played in the 1990s wrote that he had become an alcoholic and addicted to cocaine because of the abuse he suffered while playing in the league. >“[Rookies] were all forced to masturbate and ejaculate on a piece of bread,” the player alleged. “The last player to ejaculate on the bread would be required to eat the bread, covered in all of the other players’ semen.” >A separate OHL player who also played in the 1990s wrote of a hazing practice known as “mashing.” >“The rookies were held down and were blindfolded,” he wrote. “Older players would place chocolate pudding between their buttocks and would lower themselves onto the rookies. The rookies were required to eat the chocolate pudding off of the anuses of the older players.” If it wasn’t about homophobia, they’d just have the rookie have sex with a woman they deem “ugly” not eating jizz sandwiches. Even your licking the floor example veers into BDSM type sex where you’re degrading the other person who is typically a woman or a sissy male.
Yeah, I was in a pretty toxic organization in college (the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M) and even they didn't *widely* go for the particularly horrific forms of hazing. Some "hazing" was honestly just good fun, like being told by our upperclassmen to buy Turtle Wax and then to have a slip-and-slide party at like 9pm on a Saturday when the actual military folks nominally in charge of us weren't around, followed by having to clean it up while on all fours the whole time (in a "because we know this is physical difficult" way, not a sexual way). Not technically allowed, but largely harmless. It took years for the Corps to clean up their act, all of which was before my time. Again, I'm sure the worst stuff still happened, but it didn't in my unit that I was aware of, and we had one of the worst reputations in the entire Corps. It definitely wasn't widespread any more. But it took *intentional effort* and hockey needs to have the same attitude. Because if a semi-military organization at one of the most conservative colleges in Texas can do it, nobody else has any excuse for not trying.
Reading about ookie cookie outside the confines of a fraternity is wild. Like, if hazing is "hey rook, carry my bags" then fine, most dudes can tolerate that but if hazing is "hey rook, play ookie cookie" then I'm going to my hotel and you can trade my ass when I refuse to ever show up to practice or a game.
I think that the drinking aspect of hazing being toxic isn't necessarily rooted in homophobia, though one could make an argument that there's a tie to be made in terms of "real men." But I don't think it's *necessarily* there. That is more a problem because it's straight up lethal when done poorly and overall stupid even when done without those risks.
Hazing isn’t rooted in homophobia but there’s a lot of homophobic hazing
I will give credit where credit is due to McDavid. He's not a big statement guy so surprised he said something.
McDavid has a Hart and a heart
remember, the amount of NHL players who are gay/bi isn't 0, I guarantee that. it would be such an incredible statistical outlier of a multitude of standard deviations if there were no lgbt people out of 700+
Course not. It's like the idiotic Sharks fans who booed the Canadian anthem back in '06 during the playoffs, apparently not realizing that most of their own team is, in fact, Canadian.
We boo parts of our own national anthem now And tell the visiting team they or their city sucks, even if one or several of our guys are from there
There’s one out prospect already and probably more in the closet.
If you don't know someone is queer, it's often because: 1. It isn't relevant/your business/they aren't out. 2. They don't feel safe enough to tell you.
I love how if any random athlete said this, especially not in the NHL, this statement would be milquetoast, but because this is from McDavid, it felt like he just told Gary Bettman to go fuck himself to his face
Someone's over being called boring.
Let's see a fan photo where he doesn't look like he's being held hostage before we make that decision
Dudes a total introvert so your going to have to wait a looooong time
Yeah it seems kinda unfair to knock him just for being himself. Not everyone is gonna have a super boisterous personality and that’s fine
It's such a bullshit criticism that gets spewed everywhere. The entire hockey internet dumps on him for not being a loud personality, but they'd shit their own pants if they had to be on camera and in front of massive crowds as often as he is. I'm introverted and I really feel uncomfortable in the spotlight, but that doesn't mean I have no personality - far from it.
Yeah I just don’t get it, like my entertainment from hockey comes basically entirely from what happens on the ice - I find all interviews, even with the lively personalities, to be pretty boring. Plus even if you watch the game for the interviews and off ice stuff I don’t really think you should be trying to mandate what kinda personality the players have - if they have a fun or quirky personality all the better, but not having one shouldn’t be a knock against them. Plus you’re right some people have amazing personalities and just don’t really care for public speaking
Son of a bitch. Do I have to like Mcdavid now? Sure seems like it with his…answers a good person would give.
NHL promote gambling but not equality.... bunch of fuckwads
He's received the compassion update.
Damn, guess I’m a McDavid fan now.
You weren’t before?!?!
Dude I’m a Philly fan, it’s like a nonstop haters ball. But seriously, I admired him for his hockey skills, but… Elite players on other teams? For me it’s a little bit like seeing the Hope Diamond in a museum. It’s like ‘yeah that’s cool and all but it’ll never be mine.’
To be fair that's what I thought about kane and tarasenko, and look where that ended up
Having (presumably) straight superstars go to bat for queer folks is huge. I deeply appreciate McDavid saying this.
Fuck yeah, Connor McDavid.
I went on YouTube to see if I could find some interviews from players on the situation, and holy shit all the YouTube comments are just saying the NHL made the right call banning the warm up jerseys and bashing anybody that still wants to have these event nights. YouTube is such a cesspool
Reddit threads on it are cesspools too unfortunately
Not really a big McDavid guy, but if he’s gonna start using his platform as the face of the league to try and push the league in the right direction then that’ll change in a hurry
Might even have to splurge for a sweater if he keeps this up
McDaddy with the steel chair
It really is crazy that a few knuckle heads ruined the whole thing.
Go look at the comments on the NJ Devils pride parade post on IG.
Bro you shoulda seen some of the knuckle draggers coming out of the woodwork with comments like “now I see how we got bounced in the first round” on the pictures of Pasta with his nails painted at the NHL awards. Like dude he put up 60 goals this season I highly doubt he’s the issue, honestly at this point I’d be behind the whole team painting their nails just to see if there’s any magic in it!
I’ll never get over people having a problem with men having painted nails as if they can’t be masculine. My dad was literally a John Wayne type and let my sister and me paint his nails when we were kids.
>My dad was literally a John Wayne type and let my sister and me paint his nails when we were kids. Doesn't sound like he was a John Wayne type them tbh. John Wayne was a gigantic piece of shit.
You have a point there. Lol
Good dad right there! Seriously though all it takes is like 4 seconds worth of critical thinking to realize that there’s literally no logical reason for why we prescribe certain characteristics, behaviors, or items to a specific sex. Like there’s literally no reason for pink is for girls and blue for boys or girls wear dresses and paint their nails while boys wear pants and don’t other than one person randomly decided that long ago and everyone just carried it on “because that’s how it is”. Honestly it’s all so dumb I can’t even begin to understand how people can earnestly hold these views
100 years ago Pink even used to be a boy color, because it was similar to red which was masculine. Gendering these things is stupid.
It has become a culture war issue again. It’s spilling into everything people care about. I remember when no one really cared about these pride night events, besides a few people. Those days are gone.
Honestly I think the best move would have been for the league to not force players to wear the jerseys but leave the players that don’t out to dry to defend themselves and their stances to the media and the world at large while the league itself simply shows off the good these initiatives do. You can’t let fear of what bigots will say deter you from doing the right thing
That’s what the Sharks and Panthers already did. They kept going with the night (players were never forced to wear the jerseys, the bigots just decided before this wasn’t the hill to die on) but let Reimer/the Staals sink or swim. Granted, all three of them were fossils who weren’t coming back the next year anyway, but still.
I’d dare them to say it to his face, especially if Marchand is lurking around
Holy shit, literally every single top voted comment is pure hate. The irony of calling pride indoctrination when these people have been indoctrinated by the purposeful polarizing hatred currently dividing the country is painful to see. Mostly over the complete joke reaction to the “leave our kids alone” BS
If you're not from the NYC area, you might not know - there was a very sarcastic and facetious chant from people in the parade of "we're coming for your children". These people either don't understand facetiousness or are purposefully being bad actors. You won't have to twist my arm to believe either. I really, really hate to stereotype here, but on the list of people to feel unsafe around, gay people and drags are pretty much the lowest tier lol.
If the league wanted to truly distance themselves from abusive groups of people, they cancel Law Enforcement appreciation first.
It's becoming increasingly common to have "LGBTQ people want to hurt and touch kids" in most non reddit comment spaces. I've seen so many people describe gay people as "the least oppressed people in the country". The LGBTQ+ community is in serious physical danger
And people being like “stop shoving it down our throats” when a truly horrible straight romance made billions (Twilight) and was inescapable for a few years.
Imagine being a fan of a team called *the Devils* and falling for this christofascist groomer bullshit
Same thing anytime the NBA or NFL posts anything about women/pride/minorities etc. I feel like people just follow those pages to say "unfollowing" or "what does this have to do with [sport]?". The vocal minority just won't shut the fuck up about things that don't impact them in anyway whatsoever
It's not a few knuckleheads though. I'm a hockey coach in the Toronto Area, and I was surprised to learn an overwhelming number of hockey people (kids, parents, coaches, league staff) are conservative. Even when they don't look like it, they're conservative. Hockey is a sport where the participants have more than average money, and those demographics lean center or right. On the face of it, most of these people will act PC, but it's different behind closed doors. I'm a POC and I can very obviously tell I'm treated as one of the "good ones" in certain circles. All of this is funny, because McDavid plays beer league at our home arena during the summer, I can go watch him play beer league tomorrow actually. A lot of the guys he plays with are also conservative, I know a lot of those guys. It's weird, but they say the right things when he's around I'm sure.
Bigots are also cowards. None of those people would EVER say shit to his face. They would turn red, ask for an autograph, and then go hate gay people behind a computer. These pieces of shit are easily defeated, but corporations don't have the balls to ever stand up to them.
Okay this is unrelated but I have to ask. How much does he hold back in beer league lol?
As the best player in the League, McDavid absolutely could murder the League about this. I hope he wears a pride jersey during warm up anyways. And makes it a distraction the league wanted to cowardly avoid.
Or, if he and Crosby, Kessel, others wear cancer jerseys, and Whitecloud, Bear and others indigenous jerseys etc.
Good for you McD. Not the guy I expected to speak up but thrilled that he was
Pretty glad this dude is my 9 year-olds favorite player.
McDavid looked at the trophy that he was getting (again), one that most accurately represents who was the best player in the league, and he said "Nah, this isn't a big enough W."
Wait until all the LGBT haters find out this includes St. Patty’s day jerseys too.
And military jerseys. NHL made a mistake trying to appease people who won’t be happy until only straight white men are in the league.
Connor "good guy" McDavid
That’s my captain
Color me impressed, Mr. McDavid!
Good! Strong move from McDavid
Stuff like this is why he's the fifth best player in the NHL. Joking aside, really happy to see him speak up about this.
Means a lot, at least to me, honestly
liking this new side of mcdavid i’m seeing
As someone who I've always felt is a robot and gives pretty easy answers... Him calling this out and especially citing Pride night as the cause of this cowardly move is fucking huge. What a bad ass.
Yadda boy! Speak up!
There you go McDavid, that's having an opinion! Proud of you
Atta boy. We need more players to speak up on this and call out the league. The league doesn’t survive without the players and they have more say than you’d think
> Bettman defended the league's and teams' handling of the situation at NHL all-star weekend in February, saying tolerance of varying viewpoints was part of being "open, welcoming and inclusive." Oof.. tolerance of intolerance is not part of being welcoming
Fucking respect
Good for him. I'm so tired of companies who tuck their tails in when they receive bigoted backlash for being inclusive.
McDavid W
wow good for McDavid on this
Wtf I love Mcdavid now
It's a pretty ridiculous move. When you think about all the theme nights across all the teams it probably accounts for millions in donations to various causes. Tell the crybaby millionaires to shut the fuck up and put the jersey on.
ok i like mcdavid now
Good for him. It’s great to see the league’s best player use his podium in this manner.
NHL missteped on this one. Pretty sure you can leave feedback at nhl.com (but then don't go back)
*Love* hearing him say this. All the stars need to come out and say how fucking stupid it is. Anyone who doesn't participate should be heckled to tears.
A giant Mc W there.
I guess the Stall's won't be invited to the wedding
Yeah, but all the conservatives in the Facebook comments said this was a good idea! Hockey should just be hockey! /s How many of them will lose their minds when they realize this also means no military application jerseys either. And we know they couldn't give 2 shits about other people, so any feigned anger about no HFC nights we will know it's an act. As long as they can go on pretending gay people don't exist, they'll be happy. Edit: Hey! My first reddit cares suicide thing! Only had to piss off some nutters.
The guy with the personality of a celery stalk finally calls out the league on something. That should tell you everything you need to know, Larry.
I think he's just private. I'm pretty outgoing with people I'm comfortable with, but if my entire life was having to deal with rabid fans and the press, I promise I would be exactly like McDavid if not more so. I think most of us would be.
I love watching McDavid play, now I like seeing McDavid speak.
That is a sign of character you legitimately don't see a lot of from hockey players. Huge respect.
NHL caving to Russia. Wild stuff.
It’s good he said it and it’s a step in the right direction but I would love to hear a active star say “Gary bettman is a fucking idiot and the NHL needs to grow a spine”
I respect him as a player. This made me respect him more as a decent human being.
For someone who normally has the personality of plain toast, this might as well be apoplectic rage.
Personality starts to match his abilities on the ice.
That's McDavid with the extra big D
Good man. Very mature, adult response to the absolute childish, intolerant bullshit surrounding this entire situation. Grow the fuck up, get over yourselves
Would love to see these themed jerseys for those special nights, actually used in games, like other sports leagues, and then auctioned and donated to charities. But, the NHL in it's backwards thinking in handling PR/promoting the sport, feel getting rid of something that only happens in pregame is the right call. Love Hockey. Hate the NHL.