Pride nights were once a fun event that promoted inclusivity within the NHL, but a season ago, they turned controversial, with several players opting to not participate, drawing plenty of criticism.
A quiet boycott
A year ago, the majority of the attention from fans was directed towards James Reimer and Ivan Provorov, but quietly, Ovechkin boycotted the Capitals pride night which consisted purely of pride tape, rather than the typical jersey.
This received very little backlash at the time, and now, The Great 8 has opened up on his feelings towards the NHL leadership for their handling of the entire situation.
Ovi's official comment
After his boycott, Ovechkin has done a recent interview, and a big feature of that has been on the controversial issues in the NHL, namely, their official cancellation of all themed nights going forward.
The Washington captain was also praising NHL leadership for not imposing any sanctions on players like Ivan Provorov of the Philadelphia Flyers and current Red Wings goalie James Reimer over their refusal to participate in NHL-sanctioned Pride Night events in support of the LGBTQ community.
"Well, what can I say here?" Ovechkin asked "Well done. It would be like this everywhere."
It's safe to say that while there are players with this stance in the NHL, there's very little likelihood that the NHL brings pride nights back, and while it's hard to agree with Ovechkin's stance, he remains consistent in his belief.