As the puck dropped last Tuesday in the NHL’s opening week, the league also dropped some very disappointing news proving that hockey culture is still fractured.
The NHL recently sent issued a memo to teams with updated regulations preventing players from wearing altered gear during games, warmups, and official team practices.
These regulations prohibit players from wearing Pride tape, Hockey Fights Cancer, and military appreciation celebrations on their sticks during warmup.
This came a few months after the NHL decided to stop using special warmup jerseys from earlier in the summer after a small handful of players refused to wear Pride jerseys during the 2022-23 season.
While the special jerseys were usually considered mandatory to wear to participate in the warmup, stick tape has always been an optional way for players to show their support to a larger audience.
Given there is still a problem with LGBTQ+ acceptance in hockey, this new rule fully eliminates players’ capacity to support causes close to their hearts, especially Pride.
The NHL has chosen to protect the reputation of less than a dozen holdouts by alienating an entire community, yet still attempts to push a “Hockey is for Everyone” stance.
Players have already begun to come out against these new regulations.
“You’ll probably see me with the Pride tape on that night anyway,” said Philadelphia Flyers forward Scott Laughton.
“If [the NHL] want to say something, they can,” he said.
Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly is also disappointed with the new guidelines.
“It’s unfortunate,” he told reporters on Oct. 10. “But I think as players and as people, we’re going to continue to support those causes that we think need it or are worthy and very deserving of it.”
But hockey’s fractured culture goes beyond just the removal of specialty jerseys and tape.
The Spittin’ Chiclets podcast initially reported on Sept. 12 that former Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Mike Babcock had been going through players’ phones and using AirPlay to show their photos on his office TV.
According to the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast, Mike Babcock, the former Columbus Blue Jackets head coach, had been taking photos of players and showing them on his office TV using AirPlay.
After about a week of investigation by the NHL and its players’ association, Babcock resigned on Sept. 17 just two months after being hired.
The investigations proved many young players were uncomfortable with the coach’s actions, according to reports.
Babcock had previously been mentally abusive to players, including asking a rookie Mitch Marner to make a list of his teammates’ effort level and then showing the list to veteran players during his stint with the Maple Leafs.
The incident reportedly drove Marner to tears, according to a report by Ian Tulloch.
Mike Babcock has allegedly been asking various Blue Jackets to see their phones then AirPlaying their photos on his office TV.
📺: https://t.co/sFJxtm8Pp2 pic.twitter.com/zsiql2uJ5x
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) September 12, 2023
However, the Blue Jackets still gave Babcock another chance this summer, and it failed miserably.
Hockey’s culture is broken far deeper than just at the NHL level. The Western Hockey League (WHL) and NCAA hockey have both shown their problems over the last month.
https://theleafsnation.com/news/tulloch-why-the-leafs-needed-to-fire-mike-babcock
Mike Babcock has allegedly been asking various Blue Jackets to see their phones then AirPlaying their photos on his office TV.
📺: https://t.co/sFJxtm8Pp2 pic.twitter.com/zsiql2uJ5x
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) September 12, 2023
Bill Peters was hired as the Lethbridge Hurricanes head coach with a multi-year contract on Aug. 30.
Peters was fired from the Calgary Flames job in 2019 after Akim Aliu alleged he used the “N-word” several times towards Aliu.
The WHL claimed it spoke to representatives from Shades of Humanity that Peters had gone through anti-racism training.
But can we trust what these leagues say anymore? Babcock was given a second chance and it didn’t work.
Kevin Constantine also received a second chance. His tenure as coach of the Wenatchee Wild of the Western Hockey League was brief because of inappropriate behaviour.
These examples show hockey’s background checks are not strong enough to warrant getting the benefit of the doubt in these situations.
The NCAA is also dealing with its hockey-related issues.
University of Michigan defenceman Johnny Druskinis has been removed from the team’s roster after he was alleged to be involved in homophobic vandalism on the university’s Jewish Resource Centre, according to the Michigan Daily.
Bowling Green State University placed head coach Ty Eigner on administrative leave and suspended three players indefinitely after an alleged off-campus hazing incident.
Both of these incidents, coming from the beginning of their respective school years, show that hockey culture is still in a bad place.
Rather than being proactive and teaching kids at a young age, the values of kindness and respect, teams and leagues are forced to be reactive in their punishments over situations that shouldn’t happen to begin with.
It is not an easy process to change the thinking of a generation of young hockey players.
But hockey has proven it would rather try and avoid issues entirely than teach change.