Eat It, NHL Boneheads

The man to the left is Travis Dermott. Travis Dermott may be my new unofficial favorite player thanks to his defiance of the NHL's Pride Tape ban. I was never a big Travis Dermott fan before tonight simply because he started his career with the Toronto Maple Leafs before moving to the Vancouver Canucks - strikes one, two, and three in two transactions. However, after his struggles in Vancouver, Dermott was looking to kickstart his career again in Arizona with the Coyotes this season before the NHL decided to ban everything for which people stood. Dermott, though, has stood for the LGBTQ+ community in the past, though, and seeing him defying the NHL's ignorant rule on Pride Tape this season should be celebrated since he's continuing to stand for something he believes in as much as those who spoke out against the displays of support.

It's harder to see when the picture above is small, but you can see the singular bands of Pride Tape right near the bottom of the tape job at the top of his stick by his right hand. By NHL standards this season, Dermott is guilty of altering his on-ice equipment that apparently may cause some sort of safety issue according to the NHL, so he'll be eligible for a fine, a suspension, death by waterboarding, or some combination of the three for using brightly-coloured tape on his stick despite every other player taping their sticks as well.

What makes me admire Dermott's defiance is that this isn't the first time he's been an ally for the LGBTQ+ community on his own without any league or team encouragement. On October 22, 2021, Dermott told ESPN's Kristen Shilton, "I have some family that is involved in the LGBTQ community. So I'd like to step forward and in the future take part in supporting them more vigorously." A small act like that has a such a huge impact for people who feel unwelcome, so Dermott deserves some kudos for him stepping forward and making those in the LGBTQ+ community feel welcome.

He's been taping his sticks with Pride Tape since 2019 when he still played with the Maple Leafs, so this isn't some fly-by-night idea Dermott has cooked up to stand out from the rest of his peers just to be defiant. He's been an ally for the better part of four years - five if the NHL lets him wear it in 2024 - and his recognition of making the sport more welcoming to both his family and others in the LGBTQ+ community is something the NHL needs to embrace, not push away.

Perhaps more directly-related to the NHL was Dermott's support of Luke Prokop when he posted his announcement about his sexuality on social media. Dermott retweeted Nick Foligno's supportive message to Prokop, and it's pretty awesome to see guys who try to drive each other through the boards coming together to support one of their own when he's faced the homophobic comments and toxic masculinity towards the LGBTQ+ community for so long.

Look, no one is saying that the hockey players of faith can't practice their faith in any way. The NHL was resepctful of Jeff Halpern who sat out a game in 2005 as it coincided with Yom Kippur without banning Halpern from speaking about being Jewish or his Jewish faith. There was strong pushback from NHL players over the abuse that Nazem Kadri faced after receiving media attention about becoming the first Muslim player to win the Stanley Cup. The NHL didn't ban Kadri from talking about his faith or beliefs in that case either. Yet when nine outspoken players impose their religious beliefs over another a group, the NHL folds like a cheap tent in the wind?

Let's go one step further and ask how the NHL feels about tattoos on players when reporter scrums take place in locker rooms. Current Coyotes forward Jason Zucker has a Hebrew message tattooed on his left arm. Does he need to cover that up so there's no controversy? Or what about Carolina Hurricanes defender Jaccob Slavin doing work, along with other religious NHLers, for Hockey Ministries International? Why isn't Slavin being told to tone down his involvement with that organization when he speaks to others about it?

I want all players of all walks of life to be able to play if they're good enough to reach the NHL level. That means they likely are one of the 700 best players skating in North America at any given time, and none of faith, beliefs, sexuality, or ethnicity should hold them back from skatng under the bright lights of the NHL. If the NHL is planning on fining or suspending Dermott for demonstrating his beliefs via his hockey stick, there are bigger problems the NHL could be tackling rather than wasting their efforts on reviewing what colour tape Travis Dermott is using and has used for some time.

As stated, there's a demonstrated belief by Dermott to welcome the LGBTQ+ community, including members of his family, to the game through the use of Pride Tape. It affects no one on the ice in any way other than people who hate rainbows, but the prolonged use of Pride Tape by Dermott shows a dedication to his beliefs much in the same way that Eric Staal, Marc Staal, James Reimer, Ivan Provorov, and others demonstrated their dedication to their respective faiths when they spoke out against Pride Night events.

This is one case where the NHL would do itself a world of good by simply ignoring Dermott's use of Pride Tape and attributing the colourful display to a "creative tape job by the player". Fining or suspending a player for displaying his beliefs as Dermott did creates a very slippery slope that the NHL would be wise to avoid, but we'll see how they handle Dermott's tape in the coming days.

I have no crystal ball on which I can predict Travis Dermott's future this season, but my guess is that his small gesture of defying the NHL with his Pride Tape will likely have a lot of players quietly patting him on the back for his courage in being an ally for the LGBTQ+ community. I can assure you, though, that he has a fan in this writer, and I commend Dermott for steadfastly sticking to his beliefs.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!