Capitals players Trevor van Riemsdyk and Darcy Kuemper comment on the NHL's ban on the rainbow-colored Pride Tape.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — For years, Washington Capitals defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk and goaltender Darcy Kuemper have been taping their sticks for Pride Nights and do what they can to voice their support for the LGBTQIA+ community over the years, and they plan to keep that going in as many different ways as possible — even with the NHL placing a ban on Pride Tape.
Van Riemsdyk and Kuemper responded to the ban on Thursday, stressing the need to continue to recognize theme nights, even without the multi-colored hockey stick tape.
Van Riemsdyk has been a "You Can Play" ambassador and longtime supporter of "Hockey Is For Everyone" over the course of his career. Ultimately, he feels more encouraged to take steps to recognize the community and voice his support, even if that'll be without special tape on his stick.
"The league decided what they did, but I don't think that stops us from showing our support and making it something that's extremely important to us just because they did what they did. We can still do things to make everyone feel included, whether it's on your social media, doing things away from the rink, all that stuff," van Riemsdyk said. "It was something I really enjoyed doing all the nights. It's all about that inclusive feel. That shouldn't stop us, like, 'Oh, we can't do anything.' There's still a lot we can do and a lot of ways we can make people feel welcome and included.
"It just puts it more in the forefront to do different things to make people feel welcome. Like I said, social media is so powerful nowadays, doing stuff away from the rink, whatever it may be," he added. "This whole topic has become right in the limelight but maybe with more eyes on it now, it vies you a bigger platform to spread the word."
The 32-year-old blueliner also said that he wants to continue to spread the message that "Hockey Is For Everyone" and that the league not allowing Pride Tape can lead players to find other outlets to support the community.
"Obviously, just the message behind it is so positive, and obviously, you want to be able to spread those positive messages whenever you can. It's something that's changed here last year; I guess they switched it. That shouldn't stop people. hopefully, now it encourages people to make it more of a priority," van Riemsdyk noted. Maybe it's something like, 'Oh, I'll just show my support on that night,' maybe now it's like, 'Oh, I can't do it then. Maybe I'll make it more of a priority to do it on a personal basis.'"
As for Kuemper, he couldn't speak on the league's decision, but did say that them banning tape or specialty jerseys won't take away from his values, the most important being inclusivity and equality in the game.
"My belief personally has been that hockey is for everybody. I want everyone to feel welcome and have equal opportunity within the game, and that's not going to change what my beliefs are," Kuemper told The Hockey News.
He also agreed with van Riemsdyk that just because the tape is banned doesn't mean the team can't show their support.
"We've taken great pride in our theme nights regardless of what the night is, and I'm sure we're going to find a way to have special nights where we can make everybody feel included," Kuemper added.