The National Hockey League (NHL) has decided to abandon mandatory use of jerseys by clubs in support of LGBT people. America is already grateful for this Russian defender Ivan Provorov, who was the first to not agree to wear rainbow gear. Our hockey player was even called a hero.
Ivan was supported by Tucker Carlson and Elon MuskProvorov became the main character in North American hockey in early 2023. Ivan, who was still playing for Philadelphia at the time, refused to take part in the action in support of the LGBT movement. He did not come out for a workout before the match with Anaheim in a rainbow-colored sweater, explaining this by his commitment to Orthodox values. A number of American journalists immediately attacked the Russian, trying to get him to repent and apologize.
Provorov once again calmly explained and became for some time the most popular hockey player in the NHL. In social networks, most of the fans expressed respect for our athlete, and the sweater with his name was simply swept away from the shelves of club stores and in online orders. Ivan was supported by the head coach of the Flyers, John Tortorella, and even the leadership of the NHL, which issued a statement with the message that the players themselves have the right to decide what to do and why. The story with the Russian even reached one of the most popular American presenters, Tucker Carlson, who at that time was still working at Fox News.
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"Hero, what can I say. It is sad that it took a foreigner. There are a lot of Americans in hockey, but we see that none of them said a word about it. What happened to their self-respect? Carlson was indignant.
What can I say, even Elon Musk himself expressed a lack of understanding why Ivan is being criticized. Nevertheless, there were doubts that a certain part of American society would not leave Provorov alone and could harm his career. Roughly expressed, in particular, the former player of the US national team Ryan Whitney. Fortunately, this did not affect anything globally.
“Provorov proved that we must stand up for what you believe in” Moreover, Ivan's actions set a precedent in the NHL. Soon, the hockey players of the New York Rangers refused to wear LGBT sweaters for the match with Vegas, and individual players of San Jose, Florida and other clubs did not agree to participate in such a match. The NHL saw the trend and came to the conclusion that it was time to remove the mandatory requirements for LGBT support.
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“I suggested that it would be appropriate for the clubs not to change jerseys during the warm-up because it detracts from the fact that all of our clubs in one form or another hold evenings in honor of various groups. Ultimately, all the emphasis and efforts to explain the importance of the various reasons were undermined by the distraction of which teams, which players decided not to wear jerseys. So we will focus on hockey, on these special nights we will be focused on business,” said NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, quoted by sportsnet.ca.
Amazingly wise words from the head of the National Hockey League. The news was received with great enthusiasm by hockey fans in North America, who did not forget to thank Provorov, who launched the change.
«Ivan is our hero,» announced PistolPete2506.
«Thank you for reminding me, that it's time to buy a sweater with the name of Provorov,» wrote Chris Bertman.
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«However, the packaging of steel eggs made a difference,» Palmer noted.
«Provorov proved that one must always defend what you believe in,» says Justin Childers.
«Maybe it's time to start watching the NHL instead of the NBA,» hinted Phil Lashio.