As NHL players further conversations to try to spur change, 'sticking to sports' isn't going to cut it

During the NHL’s scheduled Zoom conference calls with both the Bruins and Lightning players on Friday afternoon, only one question lofted through the computer screen centered on the ongoing heavyweight bout between Boston and Tampa Bay in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. 

Tampa defenseman Braydon Coburn respectfully declined to answer the query. 

“I think today, for the most part, and especially today and yesterday, we kind of want to make sure that we keep the attention and the conversation around the issues, and that's kind of where I think our heads are right now,” Coburn said.

Such has been the sentiment echoed both in the Toronto and Edmonton bubbles over the past 24 hours — especially after a player-driven movement to postpone Stanley Cup Playoff games on both Thursday and Friday in wake of other protests in the sports world following the shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin. 

Even before Thursday’s playoff slate was postponed, most of that morning and early afternoon involved players from all eight remaining NHL clubs reaching out and beginning conversations about racial injustice and how all involved in the game of hockey could take collective steps forward.

“It started even after (Game 3),” Patrice Bergeron said. “We had some discussions then, went to bed and we already had some meetings planned with Tampa Bay early in the morning and it kind of snowballed from there.” 

While both Coburn and fellow Tampa blueliner Luke Schenn were originally slated to speak with the media on Thursday afternoon, the two instead began striking up a conversation with their Eastern Conference rivals in Boston — a club that the Bolts just beat the bag out of on the ice the previous night.

“Literally the first guys we ran into were four or five guys on the Bruins,” Schenn said. “So you play them literally 10 hours the night before and the next day, it’s nothing to do with hockey. It's all specifically based on what's going on in the world right now and how it affects all of us on different levels. ... Personally, I almost forgot that we even played them the night before and that we're about to play them again. 

“It's strictly based on racial issues and how we can continue to grow and educate ourselves, and on top of that, we were talking about four or five of the Bruins, and then all of a sudden another guy on the team says, ‘Well, let's make sure the Flyers and the Islanders are aware.’ Next thing you know, there's 30 or 40 of us yesterday having a meeting.”

These conversations are expected to continue into Friday evening, with the Hockey Diversity Alliance holding presentations with teams up in Toronto and Edmonton in an effort to forge new strategies to elicit change and discuss the next steps forward. 

“I think it was great and powerful to see what happened yesterday — seeing all those four teams, obviously battling on the ice for one thing, but then we all realized it's beyond sports right now,” Bergeron said. “And it's about human rights and it's about supporting fellow players in this league and it was great to hear from them as well.”

Brad Marchand was quick to note that the challenges facing hockey — and society as a whole — are not going to be solved by the steps taken by the NHL over the past two days, but the efforts put forth during this stoppage could be the beginnings of the positive changes that this sport needs. 

“We all need to learn a lot about what's happening outside of our own lives,” Marchand said. “A lot of us, we don't truly understand what it's like in other people's shoes and we need to, it's the only way that things are going to change.”

During our darkest days, sports have indeed often served as an escape — our escape from the trials and tribulations of our everyday lives. 

Such has especially been the case in 2020, a year that we all can’t wait to toss in the rearview mirror and look ahead to hopefully brighter days on the horizon. 

But such is not the reality we’re currently mired in. As such, Marchand made one thing abundantly clear — athletes can, and will, no longer just “stick to sports.” 

"I think that's one thing that people continually mix up is they bring politics into these situations. And that's not what this is about,” Marchand said. "We're not being political. … "I think it comes back to people having opinions and that, listen, everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but it's very evident and clear that this is bigger than sports. And people need to put that aside. 

“Sports is a luxury. It's a luxury to watch this game, to play this game. But when it becomes about people's safety and people's lives, and people feel uncomfortable to be in their own skin, it's much more important than that. And, you know, I understand people want to watch the games and understand people want to see this, but — it's too bad. We have bigger things that we care about and that we want to do and improve upon and the people that we want to support."