'They don't need to be activists': Ex-NHL star criticizes league's 'push' on players

Former NHL defenseman and multi-award-winning player P.K. Subban recently spoke out about the National Hockey League's controversy. The league faces increasing backlash surrounding some players and teams opting out of the NHL's "Pride Night" jerseys.

Subban, 33, who retired from the sport after 13 seasons, spoke to Reuters at the end of March 2023 to address the ever-growing activism from the hockey league.

"We cannot push everyone to be an activist; we need to be very careful," Subban told Reuters.

"I feel people pick and choose what they want to talk about, and I don't like it when we put the onus on athletes to be activists," he added.

Subban's remarks came the same day that the Vancouver Canucks hosted a drag queen show before their pride night, during which Russian player Andrei Kuzmenko became yet another player to refuse to wear a pride-themed warm-up jersey.

"They don't need to be activists," Toronto-born Subban commented.

"I'm not saying it is right or wrong to wear the [Pride] jersey; we have just got to be very careful how we push players to do things. ... You can support the LGBTQ community without having to wear a hat, a T-shirt, or a jersey," he continued.

The player blamed media narrative for a lack of coverage of the good that players do in other realms of activism:

"The people that write the articles, the people that push certain narratives in the media, they have to be held accountable," the former New Jersey player said.

"We have to be very, very careful about the way we perceive a moment. ... There's many players in the league that have started programs. Why aren't the media talking about that?" Subban asked.

"The frustrating thing for me is there are people in the media who have the responsibility to do their job a certain way and they don't. ... There are a lot of positive stories out there."

Subban's activism, which other outlets have pointed to, even includes diversity initiatives in the sport, putting him in a unique position to criticize the league's choices. He has worked with the Montreal Childrens Hospital and is an ambassador for the Kraft Hockeyville program, which awards $250,000 to small communities to upgrade or build hockey programs and arenas.

As for Kuzmenko, the 27-year-old from Yakutsk, Russia, became the sixth skater to refuse to wear a pride-themed jersey, joining James Reimer, Eric Staal, Marc Staal, and fellow Russians Ilya Lyubushkin and Ivan Provorov.

The Chicago Blackhawks, Minnesota Wild, New York Islanders, and New York Rangers all opted out of wearing the themed uniforms for the 2022-2023 season.

Recent refusals have prompted NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman to announce that the league is reconsidering the implementation of "pride night" for the upcoming season.

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