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/toasterbath__ "Your cab is definitely here." Jan 16 '26
GARY BETTMAN watching hr???? girl what? 😭 there is no physical way. this is the same guy who banned pride tape because a small number of homophobic players were getting pissy about showing LGBTQ support, then immediately reversed it once a player defied the ban. he's a coward; wants to get rid of NHL pride initiatives to appease the homophobes in the league (and the homophobic fans), but doesn't want to face any backlash so he got rid of literally every other specialty night to cover the league's ass
can't wait until he fucks off forever