Brian Burke will double the donation for every goal from Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby.
Over the last few months, the NHL has seen multiple instances of players and teams dropping the ball when it comes to Pride Night celebrations.
Pittsburgh Penguins president of hockey operations Brian Burke recently spoke with the Athletic about the incidents, and he’s come up with a plan to give back, and is calling on others to do so, as well.
Burke has a deep involvement with Pride and the LGBTQ community; one of Burke’s sons, Brendan, came out as gay in 2007 and died in a car accident in 2010 at the age of 21.
Ever since Brendan came out, Brian has had a hand in spreading the message of equality in sports.
With the league’s best players in Florida for the NHL All-Star Game, Burke plans to donate $100 for every goal scored during the tournament, and will donate $200 for every goal scored by Penguins captain Sidney Crosby.
Burke will be donating to the You Can Play project, a group that Burke created and believes anyone, no matter their sexual orientation, should be able to play sports.
This move to raise awareness comes following the incident involving Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov refusing to skate during warmups that involved him wearing a pride themed jersey.
Provorov later played in the game and stated that it was due to his religion he did not take part in warmups.
The New York Rangers also mishandled their Pride Night when no one wore Pride themed jerseys in the wake of the Provorov situation.
Burke was disappointed in the actions of the teams and plans to continue spreading his message.
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