Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury had planned to wear a special custom mask for his team’s Native American Heritage night but was prevented from doing so by the NHL.
Fleury’s agent, Allan Walsh, confirmed the league’s decision and said Fleury was even willing to pay a fine for just wearing the mask in warmups, but the league prevented the netminder from doing that.
“The NHL refusing to allow Marc-Andre Fleury from wearing a custom designed mask Native American Heritage Night (even in warm ups) is all you need to know about Gary Bettman’s NHL,” Walsh wrote on X. “Hockey is for everyone?”
The league told Fleury, whose wife, Véronique, is Native Canadian, twice that NHL rules prevented Fleury from doing so, per The Athletic.
The 38-year goaltender called the move “stupid,” The Athletic reported.
The mask was designed by Mdewakanton Dakota artist Cole Redhorse Taylor, who included “Dakota Florals” into the design (Fleury’s nickname is Flower) while also incorporating the Dakota language.
Taylor also spoke out against the decision to block Fleury from donning the mask, calling the move “racist.”
“What they don’t realize is … they’re being racist towards Indigenous peoples without intentionally doing so,” Taylor, a member of the Prairie Island Indian Community, told the Toronto Star. “We were exiled from our homelands. My ancestors were executed for defending our rights to exist … That’s something that I feel a lot of institutions really don’t think about when they have to make these really hard decisions.”
While the mask will not be worn on the ice, the Wild are auctioning it off and proceeds will go to the Minnesota Wild Foundation and the American Indian Family Center, per The Athletic.
It’s not the first time in 2023 the NHL has been involved in backlash surrounding themed nights.
Earlier this year, the league blocked teams from specialty jerseys before games and also stopped players from using themed stick tape, which it later reversed, allowing players to use stick tape representing causes, including rainbow-colored Pride tape.
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