The NHL has announced they will postpone the four Stanley Cup playoff games — involving all eight remaining teams — scheduled for Thursday and Friday night. The NHL will join the other sports leagues in protesting social injustices that are happening in the country. The Stanley Cup playoffs will resume Saturday.
Players being told to prepare for cancellations tonight
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) August 27, 2020
NHL Postpones Games
The NHL was facing backlash over the decision to play the two later games on Wednesday night. Prior to puck drop between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins several sports leagues including the NBA, WNBA, MLS, boycotted their games. One of the biggest critics was Matt Dumba, one of the heads of the Hockey Diversity Alliance said, “The NHL is always last to the party,” during an interview with Sportsnet.
The pressure was mounting today as members of the Hockey Diversity Alliance including Evander Kane, Akim Aliu, and Dumba called for the boycotting of games.
We the @TheOfficialHDA have formally requested the @NHL to suspend all playoff games today. We strongly feel this sends a clear message that human rights take priority over sports.
— Matt Dumba (@matt_dumba) August 27, 2020
Not only were members of this Alliance calling for the boycotting of games but so to were the NHL’s media outlets including Sportsnet. Analyst Kelly Hrudey, Christine Simpson, David Amber, Chris Stewart, and others expressed their feelings on why the NHL missed the boat on such a historic night. Though some expressed their feelings like Anson Carter of NBC Sports Network, that playing was the right thing to do.
The Decision Not to Play
According to several reports, there had been some talk amongst the players in both Edmonton and Toronto to sit this one out. In fact, more than 100 players were on the phone with Dumba and Kane throughout Thursday to talk about the issues going on.
It’s unknown which teams led the charge as the NHL postpones these games, but the fact that they were talking was a step in the right direction for some. Ultimately if the players decide they do not want to play, the league has to listen to them. The NHL is falling in line with other sports leagues. Not to mention with the call coming from several prominent players to postpone games, the NHL had to been listening.
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