Kraken will continue inclusivity efforts amid NHL's ban on themed warmup jerseys

NHL ends themed warmup jerseys as commissioner calls discourse a distraction

The NHL has elected to stop wearing themed warmup jerseys on the ice ahead of games moving forward after a handful of players across the league elected not to wear Pride themed jerseys last season. Commissioner Gary Bettman called the discourse around who wasn't choosing to participate a distraction. Teams will still do themed game nights, they just won't include on-ice jersey designs for warmups to represent those nights.

SEATTLE - The Seattle Kraken say they will continue their efforts surrounding 'Hockey is for Everyone' nights at games next season, despite the NHL's decision to ban themed jerseys for warmups, after several players and teams declined to participate for certain themes last season.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet on Thursday that the league would no longer have players skate in separate themed jerseys for warmups. Bettman said the discourse around a small number of players not participating by declining to skate in warmups with Pride jerseys last year was a distraction they were going to eliminate.

"I’ve suggested that it would be appropriate for clubs not to change their jerseys in warmups because it’s become a distraction and taking away from the fact that all of our clubs in some form or another host nights in honor of various groups or causes, and we’d rather them continue to get the appropriate attention that they deserve and not be a distraction," Bettman told Friedman.

Ivan Provorov of the Philadelphia Flyers, James Reimer of the San Jose Sharks, and Marc and Eric Stahl of the Florida Panthers were among a fairly small group of players that declined to participate while citing religious reasons. Afterward, a few teams – including the Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers – elected against wearing the Pride jerseys collectively.

"All of the emphasis and efforts on the importance of these various causes have been undermined by the distraction of which teams, which players (chose not to wear the jerseys)," Bettman said. "This way we’re keeping the focus on the game and on these specialty nights we’re going to be focused on the cause."

While the Pride jerseys were the ones at the heart of the discourse, the decision to nix warmup jerseys means that Hockey Fights Cancer, Black Hockey History, Military themes and more will also no longer be showcased.

The theme nights themselves will remain for the teams to host and players themselves will be free to model any themed jerseys teams could still create. However, they just won't be utilized on the ice.

"32 of our clubs did Pride nights, some do Heritage nights, everybody does Hockey Fights Cancer, some do military nights. All of those nights will continue," Bettman said. "The only difference will be we’re not going to change jerseys for warmup because that’s just become more of a distraction from really the essence of what the purpose of these nights are."

The Kraken have highlighted local artists to design their various themed jerseys over their first two seasons. The team said in a statement they will continue to focus their efforts on the initiatives while awaiting more guidance from the NHL.

At the Seattle Kraken, we are building a championship organization that serves our fans and welcomes everyone into the hockey community. Since the team was awarded in 2018, the Kraken brand has been recognized for our commitment to building a diverse and inclusive fan base. We will continue these efforts into the 2023-24 season with ‘Hockey Is For Everyone’ nights where we partner with diverse local artists to celebrate their community and culture through our in-arena experience, and community activations.

We will wait to learn more from the NHL, but we are committed to deepening the connections between our organization and underrepresented communities in the Pacific Northwest.

For context:

Those nights are: