Will the NHL boycott games? Should it?

[GirlySports]

I think it's up to the players. The league itself should not postpone games.

But like I said in the NBA thread, If you're not going to play tonight, be prepared to not play forever. This isn't a one day thing. Remember most citizens think it millionaires playing a game.

[Royle9]

Originally Posted by speede5

I don't think who does and doesn't choose to boycott is the real story. Good on you if that is the path you choose, and if not I won't judge.

What concerns me most is that all the negative comments I see about the boycott are coming from the same people upset about the violence, burning and looting, that is happening in the BLM protests.

People lose their #### and scream why cant these people protest peacefully, then when someone chooses a peaceful protest, a knee or a boycott, they throw them under the bus!

It's just insane. The fact is there is a good portion of the population who just does not want to hear about the issue and doesn't want to do anything about it. Or worse, as I am seeing by the reactions to a 17 yr old armed with an AR and shooting people at a protest, they actually want this chaos and they are ok with people being shot by police on a regular basis.

We need to dig deep and see that this is a messed up situation and the solutions are way below the surface and are going to take a generation or two to change.

Let's tackle this correctly because this isn't the whole truth to what I've read about some of these situations.

The whole BLM narrative is starting to get out of hand, what it stands for and what it's about I totally understand and sympathize for. It's terrible and it needs to change, I think we can all agree. However the actions as a result of these protests is out of control.

People can protest this, its their right and it gives them "power" to make their own decisions on the matter. Again you can understand that this hits home to a large majority of the population so its understandable people are upset.

Now this brings me to the next part and the part that touches on your quote above: Rioting & Looting

There's no reason that BLM = Rioting and burning down cities, looting business's and making a profit every time something like this happens. There have been ample videos online of thousands of people hoarding loot caches of things stolen during these protests. Business owners already struggling due to the pandemic now losing their property and livelihood because some of the population feel it's their right to act violently because of the BLM? He wasn't randomly shooting protesters, he was shooting people destroying a car lot and business of his friend. Again this is crazy, but if nobody else will protect it (Police) what the hell do you do?

At what point do we hold these people accountable? If you were a business owner or home owner in the area and people were burning down your house or destroying your property would you still feel its unwarranted to protect yourself?

From everything I read there were armed shooters on the roof of the dealership/car lot where a few of these instances took place and they were protecting the business of their friend. If the police are protecting anything, at what point do you start having to worry about doing it yourself?

I have a few friends down in the mess here and they've all been very frank in saying that they will stop at nothing to protect their homes/families.

The BLM movement is one thing, but the fact that its turned into "what can we vandalize/loot next" does not bode well for what it stands for, and this is happening in unprecedented numbers in the U.S and its major cities.

Its absolute anarchy, and I have no idea how they stop this but to sit here and condemn people protecting their property to me seems weird.

[Toonage]

I believe if you have a platform that attracts eyeballs and gives you the opportunity to make a statement, you should leverage it and not abandon it.

If leveraging it by sitting out, collectively, draws eyeballs to sports and its athletes and brings attention to why they are doing it then its sound reasoning in the short term.

Sitting out long term and saying nothing, to me, would be abandoning that platform. My concern would be if sports stops playing altogether, you lose the platform to make a statement.

[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.

However, I think empathy fatigue is setting in. I see it in everyday people who feel they have enough of their own problems, and the USA is a "they" problem. I think a staged boycott or postponing of NHL games in Canada would have the exact *opposite* effect they would hope, unfortunately. People would get angry that this American problem is now ruining our pastime, especially during the pandemic.

Anyway. If cops could just smarten the #### up, that would be great. It's staggering that even in this era of massive global scrutiny, the continue to murder black people.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Poe969

What a year....

There is no right answer to this. People are going to be mad either way. The league has to do what is best for the league, and that's to keep playing. Its either possible people off and make money or just piss people off. The league will make some gesture like they already did, people will cringe and critique, then they'll keep playing hockey.

This sucks because its creating even more of a divide.

Why can't the NHL keep playing, and then use that platform to initiate some conversation among the players.

They are available throughout the day for that....

At the end of the day, everyone will criticize the NHL for not doing something, and not a single person will talk about the YEARS of outreach the NHL and its teams has had in communities across the USA to help develop the sport and get millions of kids who would not otherwise have an opportunity to play. Most of them under privileged kids.

Seriously, go look at the work teams like the Sharks, Kings and Ducks have done in California alone. Generational change.

That is why I have a problem with everyone sitting in their armchair criticizing the league for supposedly not doing something. NHL players are some of the most generous and kind people in professional sports. Most of them are involved in outreach programs and donate a LOT of their time and money to help under privileged youth for many, many years. From a Canadian perspective, what are NHL players supposed to do? Teams like Calgary & Edmonton build on what they have started, and support the outreach and programs that have made a big difference.

[GirlySports]

Agreed it hits home for NBA players. They feel uncomfortable playing in bubble while their friends and family are facing social injustices back home. An NBA player will know that while they made it, and they try to pull as many people out of those neighborhoods as they can, they can't get everyone. Some players feel that playing basketball is pointless right now and they need to be home with their families. That's a fine position to take but be prepared to never play again. The players had a long meeting last night and I'm sure many of these issues were discussed. The Lakers and Clippers voted to cancel the season, the others not yet.


The NHL players have none of these problems so boycotting would not make sense. Keep playing and keep talking about these issues and bring awareness to it.

[OutOfTheCube]

These protests have been ongoing for months and will continue to be ongoing for more months. I'm pretty everyone on earth is very well aware of it, there's not much more awareness to raise. What exactly what a postponement protest be bringing attention to? That kid murdered who someone in Kenosha during a protest? Who has been arrested and charged with first degree murder?

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Poe969

That's a really slanted way to look at things. Maybe some people use sports as an escape and that is their way of dealing with things. Maybe people do everything they can to help and at the end of the day they want to find some kind of joy in what has been a craptastic year and they find that joy in watching hockey or other sports. Because people don't share your view, they're ignorant?

By saying there is only one way deal with things is wrong. "Only a Sith deals in absolutes"

Even worse, by not canceling the games, the NHL is accused of being racist.

Crazy world we live in.

[I_H8_Crawford]

Originally Posted by Weitz

It’s a curious case. If you don’t play does anyone care what you say? Do you have a platform? Is boycotting going to change anything quicker?

I believe the thinking is 2 things:

1) Playing provides a distraction - as has been mentioned here, sports are a distraction from the poop show that is politics, race relations, etc. By not playing, that is putting the focus SOLELY on the poop show.

2) Players are then hurting their owners' pockets, and the pockets of the mass media outlets that generate revenue from televising games. Some millionaire players aren't going to change anything. BILLIONAIRES complaining (likely directly to the elected officials) to make changes? That will carry a bit more weight (not saying that is right, but it's the way the world works).

[868904]

Stopping the NHL playoffs does nothing for BLM. They stop it and no one down south will care, it will just simply dissappear. They aren’t going to seek Crosby or McDavid for interviews and ask them what the movement means to them. The NHL will simply fall off the radar. The hockey diversity alliance will lose its platform.

I think they should be more creative and do other things rather just doing what big brother does.

Maybe they should keep playing but teams only wear either a black or a grey jersey and the only thing on the jersey is BLM on the front and their number on the back. Every road team wears the grey and every home team wears black. It’s like Johnny Cash and the man in black who wears black for the downtrodden.

Maybe every time a goal is scored, they kneel at centre ice?

[Azure]

Originally Posted by 868904

Stopping the NHL playoffs does nothing for BLM. They stop it and no one down south will care, it will just simply dissappear. They aren’t going to seek Crosby or McDavid for interviews and ask them what the movement means to them. The NHL will simply fall off the radar. The hockey diversity alliance will lose its platform.

I think they should be more creative and do other things rather just doing what big brother does.

Maybe they should keep playing but teams only wear either a black or a grey jersey and the only thing on the jersey is BLM on the front and their number on the back. Every road team wears the grey and every home team wears black. It’s like Johnny Cash and the man in black who wears black for the downtrodden.

Maybe every time a goal is scored, they kneel at centre ice?

Why do we think the NHL is not doing enough? Who decides what is enough? Why do we target 'sports' as 'not doing enough' every single time something happens that is completely out of their control?

Why are we ignoring the outreach programs that the NHL has in place, or what each team does?

Like, I don't get what people expect here.

More change is enacted by supporting an under privileged kid by helping him play the sport than kneeling at center ice everytime you score a goal.

[Boreal]

Originally Posted by Royle9

The whole BLM narrative is starting to get out of hand, what it stands for and what it's about I totally understand and sympathize for. It's terrible and it needs to change,

Do you?

There's no reason that BLM = Rioting and burning down cities

Probably because there is no equivalency. You claim to understand the situation by then make FALSE equivalency like this. Rioting and looting are done by people with nothing who have nothing to lose under the cover of protest.

Business owners already struggling due to the pandemic

Struggling economically is one thing. People who are losing family members to the virus makes them could care less about a business struggling.

When something like Coronavirus exposes just how rigged the system is to exploit and destroy communities for no other reason than their race and economic status, they realize the game is rigged against them and they flip over the table again and again and again. It isn't surprising.


https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019...ethnicity.html

They are now losing their property and livelihood because some of the population feel it's their right to act violently because of the BLM?

Lose the toxic false equivalency. BLM does not equate violence, just because you think it does.

He wasn't randomly shooting protesters, he was shooting people destroying a car lot and business of his friend. Again this is crazy, but if nobody else will protect it (Police) what the hell do you do?

WOW. Are you seriously defending him? Maybe the realization that human life is more important that property could be a basic comprehension. It's why we have things like insurance, so we leave our house in a fire because we have systems to pay for a new TV set.

At what point do we hold these people accountable?

What do you even mean by this? People looting or people who gain egregious benefit from a rigged system?

The BLM movement is one thing, but the fact that its turned into "what can we vandalize/loot next" does not bode well for what it stands for, and this is happening in unprecedented numbers in the U.S and its major cities.

Any facts or evidence for your false equivalency? Nah... just your opinon. Saying BLM has turned into "what can we vandalize next?" is like saying policing has turned in to "which person of color can we shoot next?" It's a toxic and insidious thing to say.

[Azure]

Can we move the off-topic posts to the off-topic forum?

And keep this about the NHL?

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Azure

Can we move the off-topic posts to the off-topic forum?

And keep this about the NHL?

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

[ricardodw]

We will see if the riots are stopped tonight by the action of the NBA players.

[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.

[CalgaryFan1988]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

We will see if the riots are stopped tonight by the action of the NBA players.

Is this really how small your vision is?

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by CalgaryFan1988

Is this really how small your vision is?

I will hazard to guess "yes." Years of activity on CP suggests that ricardodw is experiencing a completely different reality than the rest of us.

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

[CalgaryFan1988]

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.

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.

[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.