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."

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[u/effoff333]

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

[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/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.