Colin Kaepernick’s quiet protest has spread to every major sports league in North America, save one—the NHL.
For the last week, NFL players en masse have been taking the knee to protest police brutality and inequality in the United States. On the weekend, Bruce Maxwell, a rookie catcher for the Oakland A’s, took the knee—becoming the first MLB player to do so. Maxwell repeated the protest Sunday, both times Maxwell knelt to the ground was supported by outfielder Mark Canha who put a hand on his shoulder.
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The National Basketball League isn’t in season at the moment but basketball legend Bill Russell—one of the most winningest athletes in North American history—tweeted out a photo of him taking a knee with the presidential medal of freedom around his neck. The caption paired with the tweet read: “Proud to take a knee, and to stand tall against social injustice.” Last years champs, the Golden State Warriors, said that they won’t be going to the ceremonial White House visit to which Trump, with the grace of a spurned 12-year-old, rescinded the invitation after they had already declined. In response to Trump calling out Steph Curry, the Warriors star player, Lebron James—in one of the most retweeted tweets of all time—called Trump a “bum” and left the president as a smoldering pile of trash.
The NHL, which is currently playing preseason games, has been relatively quiet on the issue. The league is predominately white, with roughly 30 black players, including superstars like PK Subban—who said he would never protest during the anthem—and soon-to-be Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla. (Iginla is currently looking for a team this season.)
Last year’s Stanley Cup champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins, after much hullabaloo announced they would be visiting the White House, setting off a firestorm of criticism, mostly aimed at team captain Sidney Crosby. Georges Laraque, a black man who happens to be one of the toughest men in the history of hockey prior to his retirement after the 2009-2010 season, called the Penguins decision cowardly.
“I’m surprised the NHL didn’t make a stand,” Laraque told the CBC. “To me, it’s an embarrassment that they’re going.”
The silence in the NHL may change, however. Joel Ward, a veteran player on the San Jose Sharks, stated in conversation with the Mercury News that he might become the first professional hockey player to join Kaepernick’s protest.
“It’s definitely something I wouldn’t cross out,” Ward told Mercury News reporter Paul Gackle on Monday.
“I’ve experienced a lot of racism myself in hockey and on a day-to-day occurrence. I haven’t really sat down to think about it too much yet, but I definitely wouldn’t say no to it.”
The Sharks next preseason game is Thursday when they take on the Anaheim Ducks. The game will be played it in a league dominated by white players who are predominantly not American. Ward himself is one of about 30 black players in a league of around 700 and while the majority of the teams exist in the States only about a quarter of the players are American. The 36-year-old Ward, who is from Toronto, said that he experienced racism on the ice as early as ten when other players would throw slurs towards him—his experience hasn’t changed as he’s gotten older.
“It’s just been part of life that you always have to deal with, so when people get into Kaepernick and some of these other guys, saying that they’re disrespecting the flag, it’s not about just that,” he told the Mercury News.
“It’s about creating awareness about what people, like myself, go through on a day-to-day basis, whether it’s going to the mall or whatever.”
The NHL is no stranger to racial incidents. In 2011, a fan at a preseason game in London threw a banana at Wayne Simmonds, a player for the Philadelphia Flyers. A similar attack happened in Montreal in 2002, this time directed at Kevin Weekes, a goaltender for the Carolina Hurricanes. Georges Laraque claimed that he has been called slurs on the ice—most prominently by the perpetual agitator Sean Avery, who denied that he did so. Evander Kane, a forward with the Buffalo Sabres (formerly the Winnipeg Jets) cited frequent racism as one of the reasons he wanted to leave Winnipeg. In 2011, PK Subban, one of the best players in hockey, was asked if he slipped on a banana peel by Florida Panthers player Krys Barch. Barch said that he didn’t mean the insult in a racist way but the linesman who heard him disagreed and threw him out of the game.
The above list could be much longer.
If Ward does become the first player in the NHL to take a knee, he will do so with the support of his coach, Pete DeBoer, who called himself a “big freedom of speech guy” and, according to Ward, the team’s general manager Doug Wilson. Joe Pavelski, the Sharks captain and former Team USA captain, said he respects the rights of players to protest. A few other athletes in the league have also expressed support—this includes Blake Wheeler and Jacob Trouba of the Winnipeg Jets.
“It’s something that’s pretty serious,” Ward told the Mercury News. “The topic of race is always the elephant in the room. For those guys to use their platform on that stage is uplifting.”
“The country as whole has got to rally behind it.”
Follow Mack Lamoureux on Twitter.
