Wild’s Jon Merrill on NHL’s Pride Night directive: ‘I don’t understand it’
Count Jon Merrill among those disappointed by the NHL’s decision to prohibit players from visibly expressing “cause messaging” anywhere on the ice before or during a game or during practice.
The guidance, sent by the NHL to its 32 teams last week, follows a July decision to ban teams from wearing Pride Night jerseys during games or in warmups. Most players just learned of it because of press coverage this week.
“It’s just disappointing that there has to be a situation like this,” Wild defenseman Jon Merrill said Wednesday after a 35-minute practice at TRIA Rink. “I don’t know why it’s been a thing. It doesn’t seem like it’s a problem. I don’t understand it.”
The move by the NHL applies to all specialty nights, including those supporting the military and the fight against cancer. But the inclusion initiatives, such as Pride Night and Hockey is for Everybody Night, have been controversial — mostly because a handful of players, such as former Wild center Eric Staal, have refused to wear the team’s pride jersey.
“I don’t know if it’s an effort by the league to protect those guys or what,” said Merrill, who has been a visible proponent for inclusion during his time in Minnesota. “I can’t understand it.”
Brian Burke, a former president and general manager for several NHL teams who is now executive director of the PWHL Players Association, blasted the league Tuesday in a social media post.
“Fans look to teams and the league to show they are welcome, and this directive closes a door that’s been open for the last decade,” he said via the X platform formerly known as Twitter. “Make no mistake, this is a surprising and serious setback.”
On the Wild’s Pride Night last March, Merrill was among several teammates who taped their sticks in rainbow tape for warmups after the team made the decision not to wear pride jerseys during warmups. Others included Connor Dewar, Marc-Andre Fleury, Freddie Gaudreau, Filip Gustavsson, Ryan Hartman, Jake Middleton and team captain Jared Spurgeon.
Merrill wondered Wednesday how the league would respond if he did that before this season’s Pride Night, scheduled for March 12.
“You don’t want to be a distraction for the team, but I don’t see how that would be a distraction for anyone if you wear the tape for 15 minutes of warmups,” he said. “It just doesn’t make sense to me.”
Backup coming
Wild coach Dean Evason noted after practice Wednesday that he didn’t have to tell any of his players they won’t be playing in Thursday’s regular-season opener against the Florida Panthers at Xcel Energy Center.
That’s because the roster has been pared to 12 skaters, six defensemen and two goalies — the minimum for a team without having to double-shift players. But Evason said the team will call a player up from their AHL team in Iowa before the team leaves Friday for games in Toronto on Saturday and Montreal on Tuesday.
“We have to, obviously, protect ourselves from something that could happen prior to a game,” he said. “It’s more of a sickness thing, somebody gets sick in the afternoon and comes to the game and can’t play. We don’t want to be left short.
“As close as Iowa is, it still takes a while for them to get here. So, we’ll have somebody here by (Thursday).”
Briefly
Evason said goaltenders Gustavsson and Fleury have been informed which one will start Thursday night but declined to share the information with reporters Wednesday. “I’ll tell you tomorrow,” he said.
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