The NHL has, as of last year, changed policies related to jersey messaging - but was recently shown up by Mark Andre Fleury who chose to ignore league directions and wear his custom indigenous pride mask. That and more on today's NHL hockey video!
The NHL has, as of last year, changed policies related to jersey messaging - but was recently shown up by Mark Andre Fleury who chose to ignore league directions and wear his custom indigenous pride mask. That and more on today's NHL hockey video!
New basketball video: kzhead.info/sun/ZsydoLyPgmmsZ5E/bejne.html
I agree Freedom of choice should be allowed. Only thing is we have the same people complaining about this while during the pride nights, individuals who have legitimate religious reasons on why they did not want to wear pride equipment get absolutely slandered in the media. You are apart of the problem @Eck. I remember your video on it and you could care less if that individual had religious reasons. Let the people choose what they want to wear and what they DO NOT want to wear. Simple as that. I’m not even religious but I respect my Christian, Jewish and Muslim neighbours.
Do you think Wayne Gretzky should replace Bettman for commissioner?
"legitimate" There is nothing respectable about any religion that claims a moral superiority over someone else's personal sexual preferences. Full stop. @@michealstefanomafia
No...absolutely not he has no qualifications. He doesn't even have a high school diploma let alone a law degree. In case you haven't noticed jobs today have criteria. He has no qualifications for such a position. He was a hockey player ...key word was....not an executive...that's the path he chose.@@JoeBine77
Gary Bettman needs to retire... NOW!!!
I’m glad he wore it anyway, absolutely no reason he shouldn’t be able to wear that beautiful mask
Please don’t let that be his wife
Peaceful protest for stupid rules should be celebrated! If we don't resist when policies or procedures don't make sense, then we let ourselves slip further into a mind-controlled, numbed and oppressed state. We need more than just Fleury's mask, though! We need community support for system change. Like One Small Town Contributionism. Everybody valued for their contributions, every member rewarded and benefits, as the community as a whole does too! Brilliant book to read is: Ubuntu Contributionism by Michael Tellinger.
@@TOCC50 ?
@@TOCC50it's not
@@TOCC50 Why? You jealous?
I'm starting to think the NHL is doing this because custom goalie masks don't have ad space. it's a ridiculous theory, but honestly the NHL's Tone deafness is more ridiculous
It’s always money.
It's a spot on theory.
I’m so fucking sick of all this native/hindu shit!!! Keep it out of the game!! Just play the game!!
Plausible
These stupid mega corporation leagues, they all do dumb stuff for money. Money and profit maximization has ruined so many institutions and sectors from gaming to film and TV to clothing and electronics, and sports leagues, for sure! This sh*ts got to go. Something better is on the horizon. We can have our sports leagues, but let's not wait for them to improve on their own, let's create a better system that supports better everything else! One Small Town Contributionism is a way. Voluntary and free, why not check it out?
Fleury got away with it because he's got influence in the league and with it's fans. It's important that these bigger name players stand up when stuff like this happens because it sets a precedent that allows lesser known players to not get rolled over by the league and its dumb rules.
it's what to me makes Travis Dermott's action even more impressive - he wasn't a player too big for the NHL to make an example of, but he stuck to his principles and taped up anyway.
They should name a certain commissioner the ambassador of breast cancer because he bears such a resemblance to a certain body part.....
Got away with it? What is bettman going to do? Fly to Minnesota and tell him to take it off? There will ve a fine coming
Provorov made a name for himself by not participating in the pride event. That might also be a reason contributing to why he was traded …
He got away with it cause he married a non white woman,they ONLY PUNISH WHITE PLAYERS
I bet the NHL wouldn't have a problem if players promoted gambling on their equipment. Just a great inspiration to kids...
Ohhhh my god yes! I love this comment!! The vast majority of content sponsors are all sports betting and it’s gotten completely out of hand across all leagues. Now it’s to the point in my broadcast area that sports book adds are run almost back to back with gambling addiction psas. Don’t get me wrong I love hitting the casino, but damn.
Or wore pride flags 😂
Gambling is out of hand in this sport
Great job Fleury!...a good example of what true hockey players are...
exactly
I agree. Now all us need to start calling the NHL headquarters and say we support this movement. The more calls, the more influence we can make!!
The prairie island native community probably loves seeing fluery wear it regardless of the circumstances it might put him in with the NHL... and the fact it's in honour to his wife's family is beautiful. NHL needs to chill
They don't want to upset the rainbow twitter warriors.
@@MrGamman3ytgo back to church buddy :)
❤❤❤❤❤❤
It wouldn't have been a thing if it weren't for the religious stall brother's, apparently they are afraid of rainbows.
Imagine that just acknowledging the existence of a nation of people is considered too political. Next up: Zach Whitecloud and Ethan Bear only allowed to wear their names during warmups.
I absolutely love custom masks the goalies use. The art and creativity is a great touch to the league.
💯% 🎯
The jerseys fot auction designs were so cool too. Everything is do political these days
Ed Belfour's custom eagle masks are iconic. Legendary. The NHL is so dumb.
Flower is in a perfect position Well respected, on the last miles of his career and has thr influence to affect change Good for him
Loves and Respects his family
*effect change
@@samuelluria4744 Nobody asked
Good for flower. Loved him before, love him even more now
I've said it once, I'll say it again - I miss Fleury with the Pens. :(
Damn straight!
@@jimb.7523 I think you guys coulda had one more cup if ya hadn't let Fleury walk before his Vezina season. It was a decision I understood- yeah it's a business- but I disagreed with even then.
ALWAYS liked him...BIG (kiss my a$$) smile,had a Chevelle done up by Counts Customs when he landed in Vegas
This.
Fleury is a legend.. Bettman needs to move out of the way
I don't understand who this is even trying to protect? I doubt anyone in north america would be offended by someone giving homage to their ancestry. Especially when no one would even notice until we all talked about it for some reason.
@@bvyup2112in the words of Gordon freeman, “Racism doesn’t exist until we talk about it.” It wasn’t a problem until Bettman had one, and he blew it out of proportion for no reason at all. This whole situation is a joke.
Not that this has to do with racism, but the idea of the quote still applies.
You totally covered both my points! Good job!
The game would be better for it, we need new innovative leadership, no more old-school boomers.
Fluery is one hell of a guy, he even did this back in Chicago with his mask. Glad to see these teams support their players personal decisions!
Agreed.
The NHL is so embarrassing. It almost an insult to call it a real league. Good on MAF for standing up to them. And for the NHL to basically call indigenous people a 'charitable cause' is such a joke. Bettman needs to go.
*NHL:* You better not wear that mask or prepare to face MY WRATH!!!! *MAF:* Screw you. I'm gonna wear it anyways. *NHL:* How dare you wear it! I'm gonna let this slide....this time.
Called their bluff lol, love it
reminds me of a scene in Big Bang Theory. Sheldon is talking to some Indian girl, who Raj's Indian (as in they live in the country of India) fixed him up with: Raj: "Stopping hitting on my woman, Sheldon, or you will face my wrath! Sheldon: "I'm not hitting on her" girl: "and I am not your woman!" Howard : "And you have no wrath"
This time.. again
I think I speak for everyone when I say... at this stage of such a glittering career... Fleury can do what he wants. Great player, class act 😎
even a fool of himself
The NHL embarrassed itself. Fleury was a class act, right here.
If the NHL would just take the opposite stance, they would grow the game. So simple.
Gretzky should replace Bettman
@@ooh.big.stretchIt's obvious this would've never been an issue until the gay gangsters blew everything up when that Russian player refused to wear their rainbow jerseys. The league couldn't just say no more gay crap to negate the issue, so he said no more specialty crap, period. It's all you gay loving Canadians that did this and now y'all wanna complain like it isn't your fault. What a joke.
The NHL never seems to miss an opportunity to mess up a good thing. Flower should've been allowed to wear that mask regardless.
Agreed! But the players are employees. They are owned by the NHL.. so to speak
If players really want to do that kind of thing it should be added to the collective bargaining agreement.
@@smacdonald5142 Right, must get the bureaucracy involved in common sense, because they've been doing great thus far.
@@smacdonald5142 When it comes to goalie masks specifically, where does it end? Is the league eventually gonna start having all goalie masks follow certain rules for any and all games based on what triggers the league?
I love that fleury stuck up for what he supports but the NHL is being so spineless right now
they thought he would back down, he called their bluff, and they know following through on the bluff would be bad for business.
The reason for their spinelessness is probably as to not piss off the Maga fascists
Do they still have that diversity hire VP of Operations?
@@bohba13I agree. He called it. In no way could they justify calling MAF out for this. It would be horrible PR, and goalies are wearing personally-important masks in every game. A way better policy would be to make it every players' choice, but if they choose to promote hate, then fine them.
Funny little trick, calling them exactly the opposite of what they are. It's you dweebs that go along with the crowd and call it courage that are spineless.
Just went to a Stars game where every intermission had a 5 minute commercial featuring every player on the roster and who they are fighting cancer for as they all wore pink/purple jerseys but yeah, let's go after a future hall of famer for wearing a mask someone made for him that is in no way offensive to anyone.
Keep all that nonsense out of the league. It accomplishes nothing
@@himhim3344 Or just not give a shit like most claim they don't if it doesn't have anything to do with you?
@@himhim3344 someone made the guy a helmet and he chose to wear it. What nonsense do you want out of the league? Custom goalie helmets?
It probably offended one guy somewhere for some inane reason. That guy is probably offended by everything and best ignored anyway😅
@@himhim3344 Nah, gotten at least 5 people into hockey in the last 2 years because of pride nights, heart nights have given me a ton of comfort as a heart dad and that's just me. it accomplishes plenty.
Another ridiculous NHL “rule” I’m glad Fleury wore the mask. It makes me that much more proud as a fan to wear his jersey on game days. I hope more players push back.
Fluery should worry about stopping the puck not a nonsense paint job on his helmet
The design is unique for a goalie mask. That community did a good job, it deserved to be worn.
Who Loves Fleury 👇
I do
The NHL desperately needs a change in leadership. It's absolutely ridiculous that the same guy who's been running this league since before Google existed is still in charge. And we wonder why it's still so out of touch. Just look at how much a change in commissioners has helped the NBA and MLS. The NHL needs a young mind to take over.
Adam Silver has not helped the NBA at all, he's the same as Stern was. The MLS is just smart period, there's a reason they are the #3 sport in the US now, only behind the NBA and NFL and are rapidly gaining on the NBA.
MLS draws nowhere near what the NHL does in terms of revenue. Stop saying it's the the number 3 sport.
@@Dexter037S4 How has he not helped the NBA? Silver is much more on the players side than Stern was and it has helped the NBA a lot and I dont know what the stats are but I feel like NBA has grown in popularity a lot over last few years
Completely agree. I've been saying this for years. Get Bettman out.
Wayne Gretzky should be commissioner.
One of the nicest masks I’ve seen, good for him. He should wear it for every game
When I first heard about this I was so upset, I was so happy to see him wear it, and boy does it look good
The comical thing is that with the CBA allowing for such minimal fines and the players all making millions of dollars, the league actually thinks a fine is anyting other than a minor inconvenience.
Flowers with the giant middle finger LOL I love it!
That mask is gorgeous and the nhl should be absolutely ashamed of themselves. I’m so proud of 🌸, what an absolute goat move! The nhl is tripping over themselves trying to build a bigger fan base but absolutely alienating the causes they pretend to champion. I’m so disgusted with them. If you’d like to see another of his native heritage masks check out the one he had made by a native artist for the blackhawks. Beautiful.
You go flower, you’ve earned this much at the very least.
If the mask is an issue, I expect the NHL to rename and have a new logo for the Blackhawks tomorrow
Haha, great point
I’m really sorry to be this guy but the Blackhawks aren’t like a name like the redskins, it’s named after a person chief Blackhawk. But fleury is a beauty for this
@@No-zh1cg Sorry to be even more that guy be its not named after Chief Blackhawk its named after a military unit (Black Hawk division" that was named after chief Blackhawk. But yeah it still isnt like the redskins.
@@No-zh1cg That isn't the point, though. This mask was doing nothing more than paying homage to his wife/children's culture and people during a night meant to celebrate and acknowledge their community, and the Blackhawk's logo (at least according to the team) is doing the same. Arguably, their logo is *more* of an issue since it's only tangentially related to the actual person, and the logo was not actually designed by anyone from their community, but the hypocrisy is there regardless. The NHL is drawing lines for individuals but not for teams as a whole.
If Im correct, I remember reading the Chicago Blackhawks have the most purchased merchandise of any hockey team…and are also high on the list amongst all US sports.
It’s funny how when flurry gave betman the big F U and he backed down cause the public backlash woulda been insane.
Those Vancouver jerseys are some of the nicest I’ve ever seen. If anything, the NHL should do more of that!
So much for the league and their mantra of embracing all for the game of hockey. They let their hypocrisy show for all to see. Well done. 🙄
I’m not sure if people agree with me but people should be allowed to decide for themself if they want to do something with such little effect on the game as well as decline doing something that has such little effect on the game. By this I mean warmup jerseys, goalie helmets, jersey badges etc… no one should be forced to nor not to do something this tiny.
I agree with you. Ecks point was similar and seems reasonable. Not sure what will happen when a player decides to support Hamas though....
I'm pretty sure (at least from what I've seen online) everyone agrees with you. If players want to they can, and if they don't want to they should be able to decide for themselves with no reprecussions. It would make the most sense, but of course since when has the NHL taken the route that makes the most sense
@@m____w____6981 It would be pretty easy to put a ban on any items that show support for any organization that is classified as a terrorist organization by the united states government.
Fleurys mask in no way could offend anyone, I can see that it seems stupid to ban that. What if he wore a pro Trump or pro Biden mask? Would that still be ok? No effect on the game, his choice to wear it, but I’m sure you see how it could become a problem. Then it becomes, if we can support one thing, it’s not fair if we can’t support another.
@@deanmalkewich2366if he wore a trump mask he’d be the #1 villain of professional sports. If he wore a Biden mask he’d be propped up by all media…but to most of us he’d look like an absolute fool. Only one of those options would actually be likely to have an impact on his job, though.
They specifically stated in their rule change "players can choose on their own accord what to support" (paraphrasing). He chose this bc he is passionate about it - so glad he did. Good for him.
What if a player is pro KKK? Should he be allowed to promote it?
@@gooddognigel9992 No because that's promoting hate speech and is an entirely different thing you cant compare Indigenous people to the fucking KKK Use your brain.
@@gooddognigel9992are you high? The Wild were already celebrating native American heritage month. He was just told he couldn't wear his own custom helmet. Pretty sure there won't be a KKK hockey night...why are you so against this? Do you hate native Americans and want a KKK night?
@@themonsterunderyourbed9408 nfw Republican all the way
Thank you for covering this and for your comments. As a Native, I respect Fluery so much for this. The NHL has gone way too far. Players should not be forced to wear special jerseys and such, but those that do, should be able to. It's an easy fix instead of their "ban all the things" BS. They haven't fined Fluery, because they know the optics of someone for showing pride in his Native wife would result in a lot of uproar. The suits don't actually care unless they can monetize it.
Your last sentence sums up the vast majority of people's views on this topic. "Dont force players to support a cause, but allow them to do it if they want." Only the most extreme on each side of the political spectrum would disagree.
Exactly right
This is so weird man... The stick tape thing kinda made sense since outlandish stick tape has always been sort of unofficially banned in the NHL. But I don't see a single thing wrong with Fleury's mask... It's not bright neon colors that are offensive to the eyes or anything that seems worthy of a fine... Should goalies who have their countries flag on their on their helmet also be fined?
The worst part about this too? The NHL social media team has also posted about player’s heritage recently; What the hell is the league thinking? There isn’t even the argument that the native communities don’t want their image/likeness used in a degrading manner (such as the Commanders/Gaurduans in their past,) or that there’s an argument that the players are being forced to wear gear they don’t necessarily support.
I agree with the NHL about not putting anything on the jerseys so if a player degrees with something he isn’t forced to represent something he doesn’t believe in. Although I think the players should be able to represent a cause on their own personal equipment. Fleury’s a badass I love him lol
"The NHL needs to get its act together..." Good thing this is the first time anyone's ever had to say that. I'm sure we can expect it to happen right away. Looking forward to the reffing not becoming completely arbitrary in the playoffs.
The NHL can say “mask bad” all they want, even threaten disciplinary action. But when the whole hockey community supports you, there’s nothing the NHL can do about it, lest they find themselves in hotter water with a fanbase that already hates them. And don’t even get me started on Bettman.
“Hold my beer.” Fleury ❤
I love Fleury, he's never been a back down kind of person
Gary B : "DONT YOU DEAR WEAR THAT NATIVE PRIDE MASK..." Blackhawks look on with much confusion...
I disagree with the headline. Fleury didn’t embarrass Gary and the league; they did that on their own!
YEAHHHHHHH!!!! FLEURY! I LOVE YOU! YA SEE..IT TAKES A GOALIE WITH STEEL BALLS TO STAND UP TO THESE BULLIES!!!!! SO PROUD OF HIM! 🇨🇦♥️🇨🇦
I can hardly tell what's on the mask..😂 but by them making it a big deal, a lot of people want to see it.👀
When he was with the Blackhawks, Fleury wore a mask designed by an Ojibway artist from the Chicago Native community. I seem to remember him wearing that mask for the entire time he was with the Hawks.
but that was before this year
@@carlstieren5437 Yes I know, I just don't understand why it is a big deal now.
Your final comment was bang on. "I understand not wanting to force players to support a cause, but let them." Unfortunately the NHL can't fix this issue anyways because they can't force the media (mostly) to let players not support causes they don't support without demonizing them. The ban everything approach is just lazy.
Great job fleury. Reppin the first nations. Awesome mask
As a goalie can someone explain to me why the league would fine/penalize a goalie for their paint job if they played with it? It doesn’t give an unfair advantage and you run the risk of having to fine every goalie because of having “paint” on helmet then goalies just wearing blanks in protest sort of like when NFL players did the no celebration celebration
This is exactly the issue that they’d running into is that they are banning some causes but not others, some art on the helmet is okay, every goalie in the league has a decorative helmet, but they don’t like all the art like you see here and that’s where they’re shooting themselves in the foot. Of course lots of racists and stuff would then say that they should be able to wear KKK and confederate flags on their helmets and it should be fine.
They definitely nail the Streisand effect 👌
NHL: Players have to wear rainbow jerseys. Don’t inconvenience us by not wearing them Also the NHL: Don’t support anything we didn’t tell you to
You have that completely backwards. It is BECAUSE of the Pride jerseys, and the subsequent blowback, that the NHL listened to the couple of extremely vocal d-bags and banned all expressions of political or personal "causes" on the ice. This is literally what was asked for. No more pride night. However, as a result, that included everything else. No more military night. No more cancer night. And, apparently, no more native American heritage night. If they banned just one but not the rest, it would make an awful statement that no business in the 21st century would dare to make. It is BS that we let and extremely thin and vocal minority ruin all this stuff for us.
Stupid take. The whole reason this is an issue is because the NHL banned specialty jerseys because of all the bitching about Pride jerseys. They aren’t telling players they have to wear rainbow jerseys at all, it’s the exact opposite. Travis Dermott almost got punished just for putting tape on the end of his stick. It’s all heavy handed bullshit. But people like you can’t comprehend how your bigoted attitudes drag everyone else down around you.
Just play hockey. Leave the nonsense at home.
You just said it and that's exactly what its all about right there.. 100% bang on!
Brobrovsky continues to wear that HFC mask and I think it's great he does because he probably wears it in honour of someone close to him who is fighting or fought off cancer. Exactly the same reason why Marc-Andre Fleury is wearing this mask to represent a part of his own family. It's a beautiful mask and he should wear it with pride in anyway he wants. And to hammer in a buried nail further down, Bettman and his crones need to take their snowflake thoughts and sit on them where they belong.
He's not pushing a political agenda, he's respecting his family.
Good on you for talking about this Eck! Last slide however with Bob and Grubauer got covered up by another video, maybe that's youtubes fault, idk.
I’m so glad Fleury did this, this just makes me love him even more. Veterans and popular players like him doing this really tells the NHL how stupid of a decision banning all this was.
No excellent decision to ban all the extra stuff, I want to watch hockey not some sort of protest!
@andykhar1269 Some sort of protest???? Like a “protest” against cancer? Or a “protest” for veterans? You don’t want the NHL to support these things or any other cause and donate money to them because they’re a “protest”?
That mask is gorgeous.
So happy The Flower is our goalie. Love this guy so much. He's been too good to us in Minnesota.
“The NHL is good at a lot of things … the hockey is phenomenal..” 😂😂😂 so ludicrous
I remember when hockey was about playing hockey.
Who would win? Gary Bettman: A commissioner that’s deeply disliked by NHL fans, or, Marc-Andre Fleury: A future hall of famer who is loved by practically every hockey fan 🤔
No contest Like taking a peashooter to a gunfight Flower is the gun😂 That man is beloved everywhere
Fleury is gangsta as fuck in every natives book now
Flower is such a gem, much love as a Tampa fan!
The NHL doesn't want any kind of activism on the ice, it's not complicated.
I agree with the NHL. Keep politics/activism out of sports. Period.
@@hockeyfan7100are you telling me that native americans existing is "politics/activism?" it's not as if he's wearing a "support [some native american charity]" mask. he is not taking some political position.
Bravo! Real change doesn’t happen unless folks stand up for it! Thank you MAF!!!
My opinion is, as you stated near the end of the video, if you want to support these types of things you can, but not be forced to by the league or team.
Just another reason to love Flower. We miss you here in Pittsburgh, buddy.
Good on Flower. The mask is absolutely gorgeous along with those throwback Minnesota uniforms. I hope we see more players refusing to follow Bettman's bullcrap.
It's a cool mask, I hope to see Fleury wear it in games.
When I collected hockey cards I had a special binder for my favourite ones: the goalie masks.The artwork on most is absolutely beautiful. I hope this one makes it on to a card. And yes, what an idiotic reaction by mr. Bettman.
Flower knows what's up. Great player, great individual, love his "screw the rules" approach to this obviously stupid policy that isn't even being enforced. And these themed nights that deal with "sensitive topics" should be on a club by club basis, like baseball does. How hard can it be?
I miss the warmup jerseys, celebration, and creativity. I wish they’d bring all of it back then allow fans to buy them outside of only player worn ones. Looking at it now, the league feels really bland as Gary intended.
Remember: The initial issue was not with peoples' intolerance to the Pride Night or other special nights... it was peoples' intolerance of a few players that wanted to mind their own business. Too bad most people refuse to understand that.
Again, you all really like to talk over us in the LGBTQ community instead of keeping your mouth closed and letting us explain to you the issues. I used to be like you when I was younger. When I was in my late teens early twenties, I'd defend problematic people all the time. I'd speak over people actually affected by stuff too. A funny thing happened, though: I grew up. I realized my internet persona being protected in exchange for being noticed by a big name that would never know I exist was not worth looking like a terrible person to people in my real life. I hope you one day find that out yourself.
@Jrodsly Your response has very little to do with what I stated, and it also has some ridiculous assumptions. Try reading my comment again, especially the last part - you're proving my point.
@@Jrodsly so you defend evil now
@@talonmckendree2984 if you're going to cheapen the word evil to mean anyone who doesn't want homosexuality shoved down their throats, then I guess we are evil. You and your cronies continue to cheapen words attempting to insult us to the point where we'll cower and beg for your fickle forgiveness. Instead, you've cheapened words like "fascist" "racist" and "sexist" and just haphazardly throw your labels on anyone who disagrees with you. Your words mean absolutely nothing to us.
Actually, most people are fine with letting players opt out of the pride jerseys. It was the league that would not allow an individual to do it because of rules that all players must wear identical jerseys. So some teams (Blackhawks for example) opted out as a team. Which caused rifts amongst that (already fractious) locker room. And as a result the league ended the programs entirely.
i hate to be one of those people but what are your thoughts on the kraken game last night? more specifically when the kraken had a huge meltdown after myers hit bjorkstrand in his head area.
Bettman has overstayed his welcome.
The NHL better be careful who the pick on. Fleury seems to be one of the most well-liked players in the NHL that I have ever seen, and not just by fans but by other players. He is just a likeable person. The NHL is going to face overwhelming opposition if they go after him, I think. Keep it up Flower!
As someone who was glad they backed off from some of the forced jerseys and let players choose to not take part, it would stand to reason that the simplest and fairest option would also be to allow players to show their support for causes themselves. Choose for or against but the operative word is "choose."
Problem becomes when you don't support something that not everyone supports, but the SJW will hammer you for not doing so, and your teammates who are "forced" to wear it because they don't want to become a target themselves see you as something less than a team player (misery loves company). So, "choice" is tough when there are 2 sides to the "cause". Hockey Fights Cancer? Not much drama. Pride night? Drama.
Have you watched Justin accuse anyone who didn't agree with him get called an ist or a phobe? This is socialism rewording words. They literally have zero ability to allow any deviation from the narrative.
Or the league could just avoid topics that obviously have implications to a player's religious beliefs. No one is going to complain about cancer awareness. Gay pride, on the other hand... Otherwise, yes, I agree with you. Let them choose.
So what if a player chose racism , pedofilia, terrorism ? Is that the fairest option ? Extreme cases, sure. But you simply cannot allow one player to express and support their beliefs , and another not to.
@@TankTheFrank- I don't think he means players choosing their own pet causes. He means choosing whether or not to join in the programmed event for that game.
This just points out how the NHL needs M.A. Fleury so much more than they need Beletteman.
It's weird I've watched the news in Canada fairly regularly I remember hearing about his they never mentioned the hockey fights cancer,the indigenous nights or the veteran night the only thing they mentioned pride tape and the Jerseys and the players who didn't wear them. Weird news me but a joke of a league and Canadian media.
Players should be able to do whatever they want when it comes to supporting causes.
What if one of them supported Hamas?
To an extent, which is what ruins it for everyone
@@BillC-64 there’s a limit to that. They should be able to support what they wanted but if Fleury came out with a swastika on his mask or said pedophiles weren’t that big of a deal it shouldn’t be allowed.
Keep causes out of the league. It's pointless and accomplishes nothing.
exactly, and people aren't understanding this. You can't let players decide which causes to publicly support and which one not to, even if they are innocent enough. There is not a single other sport where players get to alter their uniform however they want. One player could support hamas, one could support Isreal, and now you have pissed off thousands of fans. It's way easier to say no alternations to uniforms for any player, for any cause whatsoever. Either you have to allow it for everyone, or you have to allow it for none @@IamKingSleezy
THE NHL IS A BUSINESS, NOT A HUMAN WITH MORALS.
I love seeing the goalie mask art. To do this to Fluery of all tenders is just stupid. Good for him. That's cool mask art. Favorite gotta be Mike Smith in Arizona with the Tasmanian Devil goalie mask.
I think what’s wild is that the NHL seems to want to make “special nights” against the rules except for certain ones. So then it boils down the the NHL basically having to own that they don’t like Pride nights or Indigenous Peoples Nights specifically. What a joke
This is why the NHL needs new leadership 10 years ago. So many kneejerk decisions that get undone from the slightest bit of pushback from players. This is a big reason (imo) for attendance being down league wide. Too many self inflicted wounds that make the NHL 6th choice at best in this country. Either we need a new voice at the top or a new league at the top of hockey.
Wayne Gretzky should be commissioner
The league is making record profits. Bettman doesn't care that you hate him, he works for the owners.
@@FaustoTheBoozehound Just because something makes money doesn't mean it isn't falling short in other ways. Pretty soon, falling short in other ways is gonna cost the league those "record profits" that you seem to be using to excuse Bettman's decisions. Maybe one day you'll be mature enough to understand that excusing someone like him isn't beneficial. Good luck with life until then.
If someone doesn't want to wear a pride jersey because of (insert reason) then they should not be forced too. If they want to wear jerseys/tape etc. They should be allowed too. By trying to broad stroke a solution to a complex nuanced and multi-faceted "issue" they've got this terrible look lmao. Just the audacity to say people can't wear masks or clothing to honour their heritage or in support of a cause they believe in, is wild and tone deaf. Good on Fleury, fuck em and Minnie should have his back 100%.
The answer is obvious and its let teams have these theme nights and special masks/tape, but leave it up to players if they want to participate or not. But it seems someone thinks everything needs a ruling.
Fleury is badass love the guy. I can also translate what the helmet says with my first language and I'm not even from prairie Island. Canadian Sioux here.
This is nothing like the decision to end 'special' jersey nights. As cool as some of those jerseys were, in those cases, ALL players were forced to wear something that may or may not have have contradicted their values. In this case, Fleury has chosen to design/wear a special mask that actually reflects his own personal values and those of his family. But yes, this is a completely braindead move by the NHL.
The players weren't forced to wear them.. a few refused and they were exempt
Consider the ridicule and critique those players brave enough to speak out received. Then consider how many others self-censored (uncomfortably) to spare themselves the hassle. Were they truly exempt? Simply not something professional athletes should have to endure. Let them play the game. And if a goalie like Fleury wants to design/wear something meaningful to him PERSONALLY, it should be no problem. It's completely his choice. @@alfiesmullet1311
The NHL banned pride night jerseys because players were upset about being forced to wear them. Then the league didn't want to take flak for being "anti LGBT" so they banned everything else as an excuse that "it wasn't just because of LGBT stuff, please keep giving us money." The only league where its players have more of a spine than them.
the only league that wasnt poison yet with stupid distractions then the woke took that in their hand to make the NHL a drama filled league which probably brings more clueless fans to the game which is good $$ wise but in the end having woke as target audience or market is a recipe for disaster....
Having the option to choose would be ideal. But let's be honest, the players don't truly have the option to choose if they get lambasted by the media and fans if they opt out of one of these events. The rule may be silly but one of the reasons it's there is to protect the players. Also, some of these events, like it or not, are controversial. So, an even bigger reason for the rule is to protect their revenue.
Yes to Fleury, not to ads on jerseys, helmets, on the ice surface, on the boards, etc. The type of brand on hockey sticks and skates ok.
it's pretty clear that the NHL is now trying to stay away from political and social messaging of any kind. just play hockey. to be honest I'm ok with them going that route as long as they enforce it across the board.
Why did the hockey fights cancer masks not get fined, but Fleury’s Native American mask get fined? Everyone knows the answer….
Two completely different things.
That's a good-looking mask. Good on Flower for doing what he thinks is right.
NHL when someone says the Blackhawks logo is in poor taste: 😴 NHL when someone tries to support an organization or something close to them: 😤
I agree Freedom of choice should be allowed. Only thing is we have the same people complaining about this while during the pride nights, individuals who have legitimate religious reasons on why they did not want to wear pride equipment get absolutely slandered in the media. You are apart of the problem @Eck. I remember your video on it and you could care less if that individual had religious reasons. Let the people choose what they want to wear and what they DO NOT want to wear. Simple as that. I’m not even religious but I respect my Christian, Jewish and Muslim neighbours.
The NHL just needs to pick a side. Either have the nights and let player’s support causes as they so choose, or just scrap the nights. In my opinion some causes are better than others (hockey fights cancer>>>>>>pride night) but players should either get to decide those things for themselves, or the NHL just needs to scrap the nights entirely and just stick to hockey.
You don't get it, it's out of wokety woke NYC, LGBHDTV freaks out, and the uniglobe NHL staff, based out of NY ivy league schools are terrified to act, so they scrap everything. Love it that it's a 1st nation's thing too. Nhl is racist! Hilarious. But sad, to remove rainbow tape, which pisses off 99% of the fan base (?), they have to get rid of camo jerseys, which 75% or more appreciate.
Not to mention, it's the NHL's choice to read it as a choice. This is his wife's community. It's family. If Fleury had a fleur-de-lis (like Jake Allen), there would be no issue.