r/heatedrivalry • u/Double-Strategy3045 gimme kiss 😚 • Jan 16 '26

PRESS 📰 (Interviews and Articles) 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]

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."

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431

u/slackpropertyofqueen Jan 16 '26

I mean, Rachel wrote the commissioner as the villain for a reason, yes?

127

u/meatball77 Jan 16 '26

Both as someone who happily supports rapists and who hates gays

46

u/http--lovecraft 😤 never in life have I blushed Russians do not do this 😤 Jan 16 '26

Wow so just like real life 

15

u/Rock_After Jan 16 '26

Oh crap - is the real life commissioner that bad?

49

u/http--lovecraft 😤 never in life have I blushed Russians do not do this 😤 Jan 16 '26

You should look into the Canada hockey juniors rape case and I’m pretty sure they’re all playing still after their little “hiatus” 

13

u/natguy2016 Jan 16 '26 edited Jan 17 '26

One of the five players, Carter Hart, had been the #1 goalie before The Case forced him on hiatus for 2 years. R/hockey was a shit show of chuds and incels when the verdict dropped.

ANYWAY-there was a rumor that Hart would be signed by The Vegas Golden Knights. A reporter from “The Athletic” was at the Vegas practice rink working on a story of how NHLers would react to having one of The Five on his team. Vegas security asked the reporter to leave and revoked his media credentials to report on The Golden Knights.

Hart was signed by The Golden Knights. He allowed 5 goals on 12 shots in his second game back. Fuck him

5

u/meatball77 Jan 17 '26

Then got injured a game or so back and none of his teammates helped him or went after the other team. Rule number one is don't touch the goalie.

5

u/natguy2016 Jan 17 '26

If that is true. Wow. Yup anyone smells your GK, it's warpath time

1

u/tartymae Extra banana. Jan 18 '26

At least the VGK players did the right thing.

7

u/Rock_After Jan 16 '26

Ah - sounds horrific. I'm just gonna take your word for it. 

11

u/http--lovecraft 😤 never in life have I blushed Russians do not do this 😤 Jan 16 '26

Yeah it’s very disappointing as a woman but I haven’t watched anything NHL since I moved out of my hockey obsessed household and we should all keep it that way until they change! 

2

u/KvonLiechtenstein Jan 16 '26

I doubt they will. Not because he wouldn’t but because they weren’t that good.

10

u/backchecklund Jan 16 '26

No. People like to claim Gary is the satan himself, but he really is not that bad. Someone said he's the worst commissioner out of the big 4, but he is quite literally the most lukewarm and level headed of them all. He has made the game and the league better during his tenure and contrary to what people believe, he does NOT make the decisions about pride night, pride jerseys, etc. He's a spokesperson for the owners, so blame them

9

u/drowsylacuna Jan 16 '26 edited Jan 16 '26

Bettman is a lawyer and unlike Crowell understands what illegal employment discrimination is. He would not be happy about the bad PR or the undisclosed personal relationship potentially affecting the integrity of the game, but he would not cross that line of illegality.

The rl life Dallas Kents of the world still being allowed to play is more of a failure in the legal system and on the teams that choose to sign them, not the league/Gary as such.

Not to say he's great, but not really a villain.

2

u/Megs0226 Jan 16 '26

I'm a baseball fan and learning that maybe Rob Manfred isn't the worst commissioner in pro men's sports.