As the country "confronts social issues with a new intensity following the killing of George Floyd," the NHL, which features just 16 black players among its 31 rosters, is "grappling with its own accountability," according to Ryan McFadden of the WASHINGTON POST. Racism has "been a part of the sport since before Canadian Willie O’Ree broke the NHL’s color barrier." Hockey still is "visibly trying to shake it." The sport's diversity problem "begins at the grass-roots level." NBC Sports analyst Anson Carter said, "The more work we do in the grass-roots level and the easier we make it for kids that want to play hockey and the harder we work at eradicating the racial insults with parents and players, we can make hockey easier to black kids to be players and fans." McFadden writes, "If the first step to fixing a problem is admitting one exists, professional hockey at least appears to be achieving that part." Since Floyd’s death May 25, "prominent, nonblack players in the NHL have been more vocal about the importance of inclusion." These public statements are "crucial to the cause" (WASHINGTON POST, 6/12).
TIME TO GROW: NHL Senior Exec VP/Social Impact, Growth Initiatives & Legislative Affairs Kim Davis said as a league, "we're at a pivot point" because "we have history both past and more recent history of being very focused and intentional on a number of initiatives, particularly those focused in black and brown communities." Davis: "For the past six months we've been working on putting the structures in place so that we can make the work of inclusion much more meaningful and sustainable across our sport." Davis said the NHL has "seen it with how our players have shown up during this moment, we're going to see a new willingness and openness among our players -- our black players, our brown players, our white players -- to understand that allyship is critical to the success of our sport." She added, "We have to say the words out loud and stand in them, hockey is a white sport. It is made up of white leaders and so in order for us to make the experiences and to create the fandom with new audiences, we are going to have to have these white allies be part of the solution and to help in many ways to lead the solution" (“NHL Tonight,” NHL Network, 6/11).
SPREADING THE MESSAGE: THE ATHLETIC's Rick Carpiniello noted Carter produced a video, titled “In Union There Is Strength” featuring 33 faces and voices, "some of the biggest and most prominent in hockey, from multiple continents, representing different genders, and of course, races." The video's message was simple: “You don’t have to look like George Floyd ... to understand that what happened to him was wrong." The video was done 'virtually from the homes and offices of the participants." Carter said, "It’s not just hearsay anymore and I wanted to put out a video. I didn’t want to put out a text statement or tweet. I wanted people to see my face. I wanted them to hear my voice." The first person Carter "reached out to was Sidney Crosby, who immediately said, 'I’m in.'" Carter got NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA Exec Dir Donald Fehr, and he "kept going, diversifying the field as he went" (THEATHLETIC.com, 6/11).
