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Morning Edition
Cathy Wurzer and Lukas Levin

Twin Cities queer hockey group worries new NHL guideline is shortsighted

Two people pose for a photo in hockey rink stadium seats.
Twin Cities Queer Hockey Association league director Dani Bennett-Danek (left) and her wife Cam Danek-Bennett pose for a photo.
Courtesy of Dani Bennett-Danek

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Dani Bennett-Danek says the National Hockey League’s decision to restrict theme night jerseys and custom hockey stick tape represents a lot more than just taking away simple symbols of acceptance and support — it takes away a moment of visibility.

“You’re not safe here,” she told MPR News in an interview.

Bennett-Danek is a hockey player and league director of the Twin Cities Queer Hockey Association, which she started with her wife in Dec. 2021. The group works to ensure that queer people who’ve been left out of hockey, especially transgender folks and gay men, have a safe place to play.

“I’m very, you know, sad, disappointed,” she said. “When you start progress, and then you take it away, that’s a problem.”

Over the summer, the NHL announced that special jerseys worn during warmups on theme nights like Pride night would no longer be allowed. After a handful of players refused to wear them last season, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said it had become a distraction.

In October, the NHL issued updated, expanded guidance saying players’ uniforms and gear can’t be altered to reflect any theme night, Pride or otherwise. That means banning something like rainbow-colored pride tape that some players used on their hockey sticks during theme nights.

While the custom jerseys would be swapped for standard ones after warmups, customized sticks could be used throughout the whole game.

“The whole Pride Tape is a little bit different than the purple tape that people wear for [pancreatic cancer] or the military tape.” Bennett-Danek said. “It’s an actual company that was created to have a visual representation of the queer community that we are here. And we want to play hockey like everybody else.”

Pride Tape issued a statement following the decision. They said they were, “extremely disappointed by the decision,” and “hope the league — and teams — will again show commitment to this important symbol of combating homophobia.”

According to reporting from NPR, Brian Burke, a former NHL and team executive called the new policy a “serious setback.”

“I tried to get the NHL to understand that the last two stands of homophobia and transphobia in the athletic world are hockey and football,” Bennett-Danek said. “And if we keep making decisions like this, over something as simple as some tape, we’re not going to get to where we need to be.”