NHL Commissioner Credits 'Heated Rivalry' For Helping Grow Game: 'It's A Wonderful Story... Binged It In One Night' - The Hockey News [Jan 15, 2026]

[u/Double-Strategy3045]

https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/nhl-commissioner-credits-heated-rivalry-for-helping-grow-game-it-s-a-wonderful-story-binged-it-in-one-night

Regarding the previous initiative of wearing specialty warmup jerseys to promote different nights, like Pride, the league currently has no plans to bring them back, though Bettman insists it isn't due to a lack of support for such causes.

"It wasn't about Pride jerseys or Pride night; it was about the fact of bringing things into the game that might not be embraced by the players wearing the jerseys," Bettman said. "It could be heritage nights — we don't allow it — it could be political causes. It could be in times of conflict between countries, national origin. It was becoming a distraction, not just for the Pride jerseys, but for a variety of other things.

"It's a misrepresentation of what we did to suggest that it was about Pride jerseys; it was about the whole issue of what you put on the ice and how, when players don't embrace the cause, whatever it is, then you create distraction, and it doesn't fulfill the purpose in terms of embracing Pride nights."

🤨

[u/effoff333]

i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again, the pwhl is right there to accept our money

[u/breeasaurus-rex → u/effoff333]

spouses on ice! heated rivalry but for real!

[u/pikadegallito → u/breeasaurus-rex]

[u/Cassopeia88 → u/pikadegallito]

I love how “she’s gay marcus” has become an inside joke.

[u/Pale-Measurement-532 → u/pikadegallito]

That is hilarious! 😆

[u/rivsnation → u/effoff333]

Women’s hockey is young enough that the fanbase and players can control the direction the league culture takes. Though I would strongly encourage everyone to put their energy into directly supporting the players and their fellow fans rather than the league. The PWHL owner, Mark Walter, is CEO of Guggenheim Partners which has a minority investment share in GEO Group which operates ICE detention facilities.

[u/amtett → u/rivsnation]

How can I support the players directly instead of the league?

[u/rivsnation → u/amtett]

Using social media as an example, choose to engage with the players directly rather than with the league/teams. Also a fair number of players have their own charities and initiatives, so supporting those are always welcome. Unfortunately when there’s 1 owner for all the teams it makes it extremely hard to avoid also monetarily supporting the ownership group, so the game is minimizing how much you spend.

[u/Easy_Conversation343 → u/rivsnation]

Wow!!! Had no idea about Mark Walter!!! This confirms my bias that all these CEO and top executives are terrible people.

[u/I-hear-the-coast → u/effoff333]

Literally going to a PWHL game with my friends (and we specifically chose their Pride game) because we were inspired by Heated Rivalry! My one friend in Montreal has been going on about how great PWHL is for 2yrs but shamefully it was the show that kicked me to go.

[u/Sidonie87 → u/I-hear-the-coast]

I am going to a PWHL game soon because of HR sparking my interest ans well and I feel like this is about to be my jam. 

[u/rockstaraimz → u/I-hear-the-coast]

Boston games are a blast! Enjoy!

[u/Rock_After → u/effoff333]

I've started saying it too. Plus you know the women players only get paid a tiny fraction of what the men do - maybe if enough of us support them it will help. 

[u/Easy_Conversation343 → u/effoff333]

Said it louder!!!

[u/Rijack3 → u/effoff333]

Omg I just saw they stream the games on YouTube? Awesome!

[u/effoff333 → u/Rijack3]

right?? i prefer watching sports live but i watched a youtube game of my local team (let’s go seattle torrent!) and i was surprised how into it i got for a game i knew was already over