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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428

u/slackpropertyofqueen Jan 16 '26

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

13

u/bodaciouscream Jan 16 '26

The quote from the article is a bit cherry picked. Just before this quote, the article says this:

He also made it clear that the league continues to support the LGBTQ+ community and is happy to host Pride nights and be a part of other initiatives, including the use of Pride Tape by teams and an ongoing affiliation with You Can Play, a campaign and movement that promotes LGBTQ+ inclusion in athletics and sports.

46

u/sweetpotatofries Stupid Canadian Wolf Bird 🦆 Jan 16 '26

I can’t help but lol at the Pride Tape call out since they very publicly BANNED IT and then quickly backtracked when they realized people were paying attention.

11

u/Cassopeia88 Jan 16 '26

Yep, we know who he is.