Ryan Reaves’ fear when he woke up on Thursday was that he would be the only player on the Golden Knights who wanted Game 3 against the Vancouver Canucks.
“But I woke up to a text from (Tampa Bay defender) Kevin Shattenkirk, and he had a bunch of guys from the east there and they wanted to talk,” Reaves said. “And then I got a text that said Vancouver wanted to talk. That, I think, was more powerful.”
NHL players joined athletes from other leagues and professional sports on Thursday by choosing not to play as a protest against racial inequality and police brutality.
The league announced, in a joint statement with the NHL Players’ Association, the games Thursday and Friday were postponed and the playoffs would resume Saturday.
The Knights were scheduled to meet the Canucks on Thursday at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, in the final of the Western Conference. The league has not announced a revised schedule for the best-of-seven series, which is equal to 1.
Statement from the National Hockey League Players’ Association and National Hockey League. https://t.co/uV1F5iDeUS pic.twitter.com/JS2t0MvUij
– NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) August 27, 2020
“Black and brown communities continue to experience real, painful experiences,” the statement said. “The NHL and NHLPA recognize that much work still needs to be done before we can play an appropriate role in a discussion focused on diversity, inclusion and social justice.
“We understand that the tragedies with Jacob Blake, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others require us to acknowledge this moment. We promise to work to use our sport to influence positive change in society. ”
The NHL and its players were criticized Wednesday for continuing to play instead of players from other leagues protesting against the recent shooting of Blake, a Black man, by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks chose not to take the floor for their playoff game against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, sparking a chain reaction of player strikes across the sports world.
Thursday’s three NBA games were postponed, as were three games in the WNBA. Seven Major League Baseball matches were called on Thursday, while eight matches on the schedule were contested.
In response to the NHL’s inaction Wednesday, the newly formed Hockey Diversity Alliance made a formal request to the NHL to postpone all playoff games Thursday.
The Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders would play Thursday in Toronto. Friday’s schedule included two games: Boston vs. Tampa Bay and Colorado vs. Dallas.
“We had to do something and take a stand, and I think this is the appropriate form of action we are taking now,” said Canucks captain Bo Horvat. “I could not be proud of our group of boys to come up with this solution.”
Horvat said the Canucks met as a team Thursday morning and took the unusual step of reaching out to Reaves and the Knights, their opponent in the playoffs. The teams agreed not to play, he said, and others followed suit.
The Knights’ organization has released a statement that does not play into the decision of players, like the Canucks.
– Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) August 27, 2020
Statement from the Vegas Golden Knights and our players pic.twitter.com/WVvhtnS8Q1
– Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) August 27, 2020
“I thought this morning that our players would think about change, and it weighed them down,” said Vancouver coach Travis Green. ‘I personally know I thought about it last night, what would happen this morning when I got to the rink. Again, I’m proud of our group. ”
The Knights were scheduled to have media availability at 9:45 a.m. before it was delayed, while a decision was reached by players in the league as to whether they would play.
After the afternoon announcement that games were postponed, Reaves was flanked by Horvat, Dallas ‘Jason Dickinson and Colorado’s Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Nazem Kadri during a video conference to discuss the players’ decision.
Players from all four teams left in the Edmonton bubble stood behind them in a powerful show of solidarity.
“The conversation started with white players on other teams wanting to talk,” Reaves said. ‘I think that’s the most powerful thing that happened today, and now you see us all coming together, all the opponents here.
‘I would go to war with these guys, and I hate their guts on the ice, but I could not be bigger on these guys. This statement they made today is something that will last. “
Reaves took a knee injury with Knights goalie Robin Lehner, Dickinson and Tyler Seguin of Dallas during the national anthems for their round robin game Aug. 3, a step Reaves believes is important to start the conversation in the NHL about systemic racism.
Bellemare said the players’ current goal is to continue to raise awareness of systemic racism and to push the discussion forward to bring about change.
“These two days we know that they may not change everything now, but the main goal is that we are all here and that we are aware of what is happening. It has to stop, ”said Bellemare, who played two seasons with the Knights. “The reason we’re here now is because no one in this room is happy about what’s going on.”
Contact David Schoen at [email protected] or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.
