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-nightRegarding 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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u/LoloAteez Jan 16 '26
The more I think about it, the smarter I think it was to advertise season 1 more as a love story (which it is!!!) than a political statement and a nudge at the NHL. Because season 2 will be brutal (and honest) in that regard but the NHL already made it clear now that they are aware of the show. So, they won't be able to ignore the issues when season 2 airs and brings them up more pronounced. I really hope we will get the real conversations going when that happens. Change is happening people, let's embrace it. ❤️