Jets Announce Pride Night April 5 vs. Calgary

The Winnipeg Jets have announced their plans for Pride Night, to be held on Wednesday, April 5 against the Calgary Flames.

Much like in past seasons, the Jets will honour the Pride Night tradition of wearing rainbow-themed sweaters and using coloured stick tape in advance of the team's most important game on the season schedule - a potential four-point contest with the ever-challenging Flames.

The yearly theme night will return to honour the NHL's Hockey is for Everyone initiative, Winnipeg's You Can Play project and the Rainbow Resource Centre. The Jets hope is to show that 'all are welcome in hockey and any teammate, coach, or fan who brings passion to the rink should be supported and respected.'

The taped sticks and jerseys worn during the pre-game warmup will be auctioned off at auctions.nhl.com during Pride Month from June 1 at 5 p.m. until June 11 at 8 p.m. All sale proceeds will go to towards the You Can Play project and the Rainbow Resource Centre. 

The 2022-23 running of the Hockey is For Everyone campaign has not gone as smoothly this year as it has in past seasons, with various players/teams opting out of what had previously been a rather involuntary celebration. 

Initially boycotted by Philadelphia Flyers' defenceman Ivan Provorov back in January, additional players including James Reimer, Eric and Marc Staal, Ilya Lyubushkin and Andrei Kuzmenko have all opted out of skating with their respective club's Pride Night jerseys on for warmup.

Additionally, the Minnesota Wild, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers and most recently the St. Louis Blues have also pulled the jerseys from their initial plans as players spoke out against the themes. 

For some - Reimer, Provorov and the Staals included - it was cited as going against their religious beliefs. But for the others, who are all of Russian descent, wearing the Pride jerseys was interpreted as acting out against Vladimir Putin's state laws. 

Either way, it has been quite the distraction from an otherwise well-run initiative across the NHL in hopes of its teams, players, management and fans being more inclusive to the rapidly-growing LGBTQSIA+ community of hockey supporters. 

With the Jets set to face off against the Flames on Wednesday night, fans in attendance at Canada Life Centre will have the opportunity to listen to the Rainbow Harmony Project sing the Canadian national anthem prior to puck drop - which is Winnipeg's choir for the LGBTQ2SIA+ community and its allies - while Jets Pride apparel will be made available for purchase at Jets Gear as well as online at TrueNorthShop.com. 

More information on the Hockey is For Everyone initiative can be found at NHL.com/Community/Pride.