makeup call

After the NHL’s Pride debacle last season, the Philadelphia Flyers do right by their LGBTQ+ fans

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Philadelphia Flyers mascot Gritty holding the Progress Flag on the ice.

The Philadelphia Flyers ignited the NHL’s Pride disaster nearly one year ago, when a dramatic defenseman refused to wear a rainbow jersey during warmups.

Players on four other teams followed Ivan Provorov’s lead, and some clubs, such as the New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild, abandoned their jersey initiatives altogether.

Those homophobic acts prompted NHL commissioner Gary Bettman to ban speciality jerseys and rainbow tape this season, though the league quickly reversed course on the second misguided edict.

So what a refreshing scene it was Wednesday in South Philly, when the Flyers took the ice for their Pride Night this season. The team went all-out, honoring special guests throughout the affair and selling special merchandise and cocktails.

Various LGBTQ+-themed items were up for auction, too, including rainbow jerseys that players wore to a site visit.

The vibes were so good, Flyers mascot (and icon) Gritty pulled off an aerial performance to “YMCA” draped in a giant rainbow skirt.

Go off, our furry king!

Following last year’s debacle, it’s apparent LGBTQ+ Flyers fans were ecstatic with the team’s effort.

As it turns out, supporting your gay fans is good business. Who knew?!

The contrasts between this year’s event and last season’s were stark. At least eight players wrapped rainbow tape around their sticks, including alternate captain Scott Laughton, who’s one of the NHL’s most visible allies.

Laughton is a longtime ambassador of You Can Play, an advocacy group fighting against homophobia in sports.

Laughton was one of multiple NHL stars who spoke out against the Pride tape ban last summer. He said he was going to brandish rainbow tape, anyway, regardless of the rules.

“You’ll probably see me with the Pride tape on [Pride night],” he told reporters. “I don’t know, I didn’t read really what it said, if it’s a ban or something, but I’ll probably have [the tape] on [my stick].

“We’ll see what they say, but it’s not going to affect the way I go about it. If they want to say something, they can.”

Laughton lived up to his word.

The Flyers traded Provorov in a three-team deal last June. He wore No. 9, and that’s important, because in an ultimate form of symbolism, Flyers rookie Jamie Drysdale made his debut wearing No. 9 Wednesday.

He did not protest Pride, unlike Provorov.

While the NHL still has a lot of work ahead, it’s been heartening to see players and teams fully embrace Pride this season. The New Jersey Devils even found a clever workaround to the NHL’s jersey ban, encouraging players to wear special Pride jerseys as they arrived to the arena.

That was one nice, rainbow-colored middle finger to the league office.

The Edmonton Oilers, who were the Devils’ opponents that night, participated in the festivities as well.

Throughout the Pride controversies last season, it was important to remember the vast majority of NHL players support LGBTQ+ initiatives. This year, they’re showing the majority rules.

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