In the midst of the recent controversy surrounding several NHL teams and players’ decisions not to participate in their respective Pride Night events, former three-time All-Star defenseman P.K. Subban spoke out against the “push” to make everyone an “activist.”
Subban, who announced his retirement in 2022 after 13 seasons in the NHL, told Reuters on Friday that he does not believe that a player “need to be activist,” adding that there are other ways to show support “without having to wear a hat, a T-shirt or a jersey.”
ESPN analyst/sportscaster P.K. Subban covers the Hurricanes practice at Carter-Finley Stadium on Feb. 17, 2023, in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Jaylynn Nash/NHLI via Getty Images)
“We cannot push everyone to be an activist, we need to be very careful,” said Subban, who joined ESPN as a studio analyst in November. “I feel people pick and choose what they want to talk about and I don’t like it when we put the onus on athletes to be activists.”
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“They don’t need to be activists,” he continued. “I’m not saying it is right or wrong to wear the (Pride) jersey, we have just got to be very careful how we push players to do things.”
“You can support the LGBTQ community without having to wear a hat, a T-shirt or a jersey.”
P.K. Subban of the New Jersey Devils handles the puck against the Stars at the American Airlines Center on April 9, 2022, in Dallas, Texas. (Glenn James/NHLI via Getty Images)
Commissioner Gary Bettman addressed the backlash last week after a growing number of players and teams opted out of participating in planned Pride Night events.
“This is the first time we’ve experienced that, and I think it’s something that we’re going to have to evaluate in the offseason,” Bettman told CTV News.
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Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov, San Jose Sharks goalie James Reimer and NHL veterans Eric and Marc Staal, who play for the Florida Panthers, each cited religious reasons as why they were opposed to wearing a jersey.
Buffalo Sabres defenseman Ilya Lyubishkin said he would opt out over fear of reprisal in Russia. The Chicago Blackhawks also used the same line last week.
Ilya Lyubushkin of the Buffalo Sabres skates against the Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on March 13, 2023, in Toronto, Canada. (Getty Images)
On Friday, Vancouver Canucks winger Andrei Kuzmenko, who is also from Russia, became the latest player to opt out.
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“I’m not going to get into it because we don’t know the deals that happen over there,” coach Rick Tocchet explained. “So I respect his decision.”
Subban argued that the problem lies with the media, adding that there are “positive” stories in the NHL that aren’t being highlighted.
“The people that write the articles, the people that push certain narratives in the media, they have to be held accountable,” he told Reuters. “We have to be very, very careful about the way we perceive a moment.”
“There’s many players in the league that have started programs – why aren’t the media talking about that?”
Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.
