Will the NHL boycott games? Should it?

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

When the NBA players walked off the court, they were essentially saying that playing basketball is not important, we have more important issues to solve. Okay, that's a fine stance to take, but then when was playing basketball ever important? Will not playing yesterday alienate fans? And will those fans come back when you come back? When will basketball be important again?

Are the NHL and/or NHL players willing to deem their jobs unimportant? If you deem your product unimportant, your supporters may agree with you and walk away.

And let's be quite honest. Some of the most cash rich and visibly iconic people in the world can certainly offer much more to the situation than taking knees and walking out on games if they truly want to promote change given how bad things have gotten.

Walk away, but if you do it, you better do a heck of a lot more than simply not play games. Get organized and do something that will benefit people in a legitimate way for once. Do nothing more than not play and this will achieve very little if nothing in the long run.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

One thing I’m curious about.

Are there any NHLers, regardless of race, passionate about this subject that they want to walk out as protest and hold the league/owners hostage as a negotiating tactic to get the rich white owners to help the cause?

Can’t help but wonder if there are some guys who want to walk out but the NHL promotes bland personalities and, in general, NHL athletes seem to share their private views less frequently than other sports.

[Igottago]

Originally Posted by AC

https://twitter.com/user/status/1298834413854355460

Harsh words from Aliu for what amounts to an empty gesture regardless IMO. Does cancelling NHL games send a message that lands for anyone? I obviously get the outrage to the injustices, but I guess I don't get what cancelling professional sports actually accomplishes. To me, regardless of what is done these all come across as the current version of posting "thoughts and prayers" as a social media status.

Interesting that pretty much everyone glossed over Akim Aliu's response to Carter. Completely idiotic and unfair. And the type of vitriol that derails movements that initially start with good intentions. There's definitely an aspect of the messaging that seems to be spilling over into zealotry. I can't believe he even pulled out the old "with us or against us" line. No room for independent and carefully considered thought, and people like Aliu thinking they get to claim ownership of the right way of looking at things.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

where does its stop? If NBA players need to sop working why do News reporters keep on working as though there is no problem?

How about TV camera men? Truck drivers? Farmers? Police? Doctors and Nurses. Are they not upset about police shootings? What sort of callousness enables them to keep doing their jobs?

Based on the salaries NBA players are far more important to society than basically 99% of the population.

“Where does it stop”? Is my favourite retort for comedic relief. So thanks for that.

[ricardodw]

If Hockey continues to play is it forever branded as a racist league that supports police shooting of Black People.

If we watch the NHL play are we bad people?

[btimbit]

I'm asbolutely a fence sitter when it comes to this stuff. One one hand, if the NHL does something and it feels genuine, I'm all for it. If they continue to keep on trucking, I'm fine with that too

[ricardodw]

Please explain the end game of the NBA players walking out? What are their goals and what are the chances of success? Why would they ever go back to work?

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

How does one decide, in a conversation such as this, what is on topic and off topic?
So no.

Okay then.

Pretty easy to separate out between posts about the NHL boycotting games, versus a discussion about ongoing riots in the US.

But I guess not.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

One thing I’m curious about.

Are there any NHLers, regardless of race, passionate about this subject that they want to walk out as protest and hold the league/owners hostage as a negotiating tactic to get the rich white owners to help the cause?

Can’t help but wonder if there are some guys who want to walk out but the NHL promotes bland personalities and, in general, NHL athletes seem to share their private views less frequently than other sports.

I think this is where the issue of culture plays a big role in the response from hockey players when compared to other athletes. Hockey has become a sport where participation is increasingly limited to the wealthy and privileged. Most NHL players grew up in households that could afford the prohibitive costs of amateur hockey programmes, and I think it is fair to assume that most of these guys have also been raised in these bubbles of isolation which have also insulated them from systemic racism. So, is the response dictated by League mandates which encourage the blandness of player public personae? Or is this a product of a more deeply engrained mindset that goes all the way back to childhood?

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Igottago

Interesting that pretty much everyone glossed over Akim Aliu's response to Carter. Completely idiotic and unfair. And the type of vitriol that derails movements that initially start with good intentions. There's definitely an aspect of the messaging that seems to be spilling over into zealotry. I can't believe he even pulled out the old "with us or against us" line. No room for independent and carefully considered thought, and people like Aliu thinking they get to claim ownership of the right way of looking at things.

Why does Carter get his opinion, but Aliu doesn't get his?

I think people who believe that this situation should only allow opinions of sunshine and kindness need to wake up. I don't see Aliu's or Carter's comments as being definitive or one more worthy of than the other, so I'm not sure why it's not ok to call Carter's comments embarrassing and question them with harshness, while calling Aliu's comments "idiotic and unfair."

[Azure]

Originally Posted by CalgaryFan1988

They aren't deeming their jobs and salaries unimportant, they are saying that their careers, which they love, are second to the way blacks are being treated by the police.

But of course not second to how China treats the Uyghur's.

Or how Nike, who has multi billion dollar endorsement deals with many of the NBA players boycotting, including Lebron James, the most outspoken NBA player, has the Uyghur's making their apparel and shoes.

Sorry, but all this stuff about picking sides, and giving up what you love, lets not kid ourselves.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

What the NBA players did was an emotional response to continued police brutality. They were disgusted, and they did something about it. For many of them, it hits home. It was authentic.

If the NHL corporation postponed games in solidarity, it would be nothing but a corporate PR stunt. If the NHL players all decided together that the real injustices we see made them so angry they couldn't play, I would stand by them.

This.

Racial inequality is a real issue. I'm not telling NHL players what needs to be important to them and maybe a Canadian hockey player from the prairies doesn't feel the need to protest the police shooting and murdering blacks in the US.

Although perhaps while they are in Edmonton they could take a walk through downtown and notice the racial makeup of the white collar workers and then take a tour of the Edmonton remand centre and see if they notice a difference. Racial inequality divides all of us.

I 100% believe the actions of the NBA players were genuine and an emotional response to what they are seeing. Let's give them some time to figure out how best to use their power to help change things.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Azure

Okay then.

Pretty easy to separate out between posts about the NHL boycotting games, versus a discussion about ongoing riots in the US.

But I guess not.

Gee, I wonder why the NHL would be boycotting games. Better not talk about the context!

[Corral]

Kind of easy to boycott games in this bubble setup. Not nearly the impact as it would be in normal times.

Also - Colin kaepernick. Now there is someone taking a stand. Where were all these players then?

[The Big Chill]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

Please explain the end game of the NBA players walking out? What are their goals and what are the chances of success? Why would they ever go back to work?

Well the end game is equality, but nobody knows the long term plan with the walkouts, probably not even the players.

They are hurt and angry with the ongoing situation, and they are frustrated that no changes are happening, or at least not happening fast enough. Their actions are saying that they are willing to risk their careers to support a cause that is more important then basketball.

It has been very successful in the short term. Hard to say what the long term effectiveness will be, but that really depends on their next moves.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by btimbit

I'm asbolutely a fence sitter when it comes to this stuff. One one hand, if the NHL does something and it feels genuine, I'm all for it. If they continue to keep on trucking, I'm fine with that too

Genuine action is not constituted by a bunch of millionares walking out from playing one game.

Genuine action is constituted by outreach programs to help people affected by racism. Or under privileged youth, or people in need.

Genuine action is being willing to stand up against genocide even though it affects your billion dollar endorsement deal. It is organizing community support across all cities across America with NBA teams, and developing programs, schools and community outreach that actually makes generational change.

[JohnnyB]

I had no idea these boycotts were even happening in other leagues until reading this thread, so I guess the action has made me aware of something I was ignorant of before, that leagues are boycotting play.

I don't really understand why games would be boycotted though. I fully support protests like Kaepernick's. I would fully support players being allowed and encouraged to use their roles to protest and the league management and owners joining them in that. I would support the league or teams implementing policies requiring players to spend so many hours a year engaged in social-justice or education and awareness-raising activities. I don't understand boycotting play as a way to communicate about the issues though.

The NHL has had a lot of my attention over the last weeks purely because they came back and started playing again. They could use that to the push important messages in front of me, but if games are boycotted they won't even have that channel to reach me effectively. It's not like I'll be seeking out the NHL for news and racial justice commentary if they don't have the actual sport to draw my attention to the league. People work so hard to get the attention of others to be able to reach them with a message. Stopping the thing that draws attention seems so counterproductive.

How long is the proposal to boycott play for?

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

If Hockey continues to play is it forever branded as a racist league that supports police shooting of Black People.

If we watch the NHL play are we bad people?

Go away.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I think this is where the issue of culture plays a big role in the response from hockey players when compared to other athletes. Hockey has become a sport where participation is increasingly limited to the wealthy and privileged. Most NHL players grew up in households that could afford the prohibitive costs of amateur hockey programmes, and I think it is fair to assume that most of these guys have also been raised in these bubbles of isolation which have also insulated them from systemic racism. So, is the response dictated by League mandates which encourage the blandness of player public personae? Or is this a product of a more deeply engrained mindset that goes all the way back to childhood?

What percentage of NHL players come from Canada or Europe where these issues aren't as prevalent?

Why don't we expect the NHL to stand up for fair & democratic elections in Belarus? There are NHL players from Belarus, and it is part of the European hockey community.

The NHL is trying to expand it's presence in China. Why don't we expect the NHL to stand up against the genocide against the Uyghur's?

[buyakasha]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

Please explain the end game of the NBA players walking out? What are their goals and what are the chances of success? Why would they ever go back to work?

When the NBA players strike, it leads to Owners (with powerful connections in politics) making 0 dollars from the team. Which then forces owners to make calls to those powerful connections to finally make real, tangible actions that will hopefully change the system of police training and funding.

This isn't about you, this isn't about the fans, none of that matters. It is ONLY about equality. That's it. There is no "I'm all for equality but.." in this scenario.

I get it's hard to connect to these situations sometimes especially if you're not black or a person of colour, but please if you find yourself always fighting or arguing what the black community is doing, really take yourself out of the equation and listen. Listen to what people in the communities are saying and not put your own bull**** into the issues.