The Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night held their You Can Play,
Hockey is for Everyone night as they hosted the San Jose Sharks and invited
Harrison Browne, a forward for the Buffalo Beauts of the National Women’s
Hockey League to take center stage with them.
Browne, 23, became the first openly transgendered athlete in
a North American professional sports league when he came out prior to the
2016-2017 NWHL season. The NWHL announced in late December a policy which
recognizes all types of gender expression.
The Sabres featured Browne in a video on the jumbotron at
the Key Bank Center, during the night. The team also announced that they were
contributing 5,000 dollars to the Gay and Lesbian Youth Center of Western New
York as well as the Pride Center of Western New York.
Sabres captain, Brian Gionta, center Ryan O’Reilly, goalie
Anders Nilsson and coach Dan Bylsma were featured in a Public Service
Announcement as well as some of the players having their sticks wrapped with
Pride Tape. Nilsson, the team’s You Can Play Ambassador added the pride flag to
his mask.
Hockey is for Everyone is the campaign sponsored by the
National Hockey League and NHL Players’ Association to help spotlight the
league’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. The month-long initiative will
run through February in conjunction with the You Can Play Project.
You Can Play is a nonprofit organization committed to
supporting the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community while fight
homophobia.
Browne said, “The
Hockey is for Everyone nights are great and the fact that everybody has the
Pride Tape and showing their support, but it is good to see that even before
then, when everyone starts to do it. It is good to see someone step up, and I
think [Nilsson] is a good ambassador to have.”
The attention that Browne has received since coming out has
made him a role model for the LGBT community.
Browne said, “I am
pretty confident with myself, so I knew there was going to be some media
attention and I was prepared for it. The [NWHL] PR did a great job in preparing
me, and the You Can Play Organization with [vice president] Chris Mosier, him
mentoring me at the beginning of the season, just kind of helping me work
through answering tough questions or anything like that. I think You Can Play
and the league really did step up for me and help make this year a success.”
Beauts coaches, Ric Seiling and Craig Muni, who both played
for the Sabres helped to make Browne’s landmark decision less difficult.
The Foothills Flyers, who will be representing the Colorado
Avalanche in the Quebec International Pee Wee Tournament received a hockey
clinic from Avalanche forward, Mikhail Grigorenko, goaltender, Calvin Pickard and
defenseman, Nikita Zadorov last Friday, February 5.
Each member of the team also received new Quebec gear and a
personalized Avalanche jersey. They were also honored during the Avalanche’s
5-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night.
They earned the right to represent the Avalanche, in Quebec,
from February 8 through 20, after winning the Colorado Avalanche Quebec
Qualifier Tournament this past November.
The Avalanche Quebec Pee Wee program, now in its 15th
year, is a part of the Hockey is for Everyone month. The program includes a
variety of community related events and activities that focus on the LGBTQ
community, gender and ethnicity equality socio-economic status and those with
disabilities.
The Quebec International Pee Wee Hockey Tournament is known
to be one of the largest and most prestigious international tournaments in the
world with 110 teams from about 16 countries.
The Columbus Blue Jackets this past Saturday hosted about
150 Girl Scouts from central Ohio, with a clinic on the outdoor rink, in
McFerson Commons across the street from Nationwide Arena before having them
attend their game against the New Jersey Devils.
Julee Klima, Program Manager for the Girl Scouts of Ohio’s
Heartland noted that with family and friends brought the total number of
participants to about 376 participants. Her group was the first to participate
in the Blue Jackets month long Hockey is for Everyone initiative.
Before the rink closes on February 26, the rink will host
sled hockey and special hockey teams as well. Blue Jackets forward, Scott
Hartnell is the team’s ambassador for the initiative.
Klima added that the Blue Jackets and Hockey is for Everyone
is a perfect fit for the Girl Scouts, saying “In the Girl Scouts a lot of people would like to work with us because
we have access to a lot of people but we just do not partner with anybody. We
sit down with them and work out a program to make sure it is meeting our leadership
guidelines so they can earn a badge.”
The girls that participated in the program earned a badge
that looked just like the Blue Jackets home jersey, “Girl Scouts Night 2017”
under the crest.
In addition to skating on the rink, they also attended a Hockey
101 clinic detailing the basics of the game. The clinic was conducted by Leslie
Walker, Coordinator for the Columbus Chill Youth Hockey Association. She also
had girls from the AA girls Blue Jackets helping with skating demonstrations
and going over the rules of the game.
Klima said, “Leslie
talked about women in hockey. The nice thing is the volunteers come in and
skate and that allows our girls to see women play a sport they might not
typically think is for them.”
Former Washington Capital goaltender, Clint Malarchuk, who
also played for the Sabres and Quebec Nordiques, helped the Capitals lead a
Hockey is for Everyone event, with the USA Warriors Ice Hockey Program, at the
Capitals Kettler Iceplex on Saturday.
Malarchuk said, “They
said come out and do some drills or whatever. Then I saw that referee and I
said, ‘Why don’t you come out and we will have a scrimmage and it will be more
fun for them?’”
As he borrowed a pair of gloves belonging to Caps forward,
T.J. Oshie, he decided to take a shift on defense with one of the teams during
the scrimmage.
Part of the Hockey is for Everyone program as well as the
USA Warriors is having fun and the spirit of inclusion. The USA Warriors helps
to provide recreation and therapy for wounded veterans. They practice once a
week and even participate in games and charity events.
Retired United States Army Sergeant, Rafael Delgado, injured
during a tour in Iraq, told NHL.com, “It
is hard to explain to other people that do not understand, being in the military
or not. We have a stigma of ‘Do not go near that guy, He has got problems.’
When you are in the locker room and on the ice, it is not there. That is what
is means, it is healing through hockey.”
Retired U.S. Army Major, Jane Polcen added, “I love playing with these guys. I am a
woman, I am small, but they take care of you. Nobody is out playing too hard,
trying to check one another. We play hard but we play fair.”
Malarchuk was brought in to share his story about dealing
with post-traumatic stress disorder after he had his carotid artery and jugular
vein sliced while tending the net for the Sabres almost 28 years ago. He added
that some of the Warriors players opened up to him about their experiences
during the game.
The Capitals also brought a female hockey fan from the
United Arab Emirates to Washington on Sunday, to practice with the team
Wednesday, February 8, and be a guest of the club at their matchup against the
Detroit Red Wings on Thursday, February 9.
The Capitals were introduced to Fatima Al Ali, after former
Cap, Peter Bondra met her during a trip to the UAE to play hockey with friends
and experience a different culture, last November.
Al Ali a member of the UAE women’s national team, will
fulfill her dream of meeting Alex Ovechkin and practicing with him this week.
Bondra added that Al Ali is looking forward to her visit.
He said, “We exchanged
a couple of texts. She is a little bit nervous. It will be overwhelming for her
just to come to the game or to meet the team. I will be around to help her as
much as I can.”
As he looks at Al Ali, Bondra realizes the embodiment of
Hockey is for Everyone’s message of inclusion and diversity in the sport.
According to the International Ice Hockey Federation’s website,
there are 802 registered players in the UAE, which includes 386 males, 82
females and 334 junior players. Bondra was impressed with what he saw with the
Abu Dhabi under-18 team’s practice.
As he was being interviewed by a television crew, he noticed
Al Ali. He said, “She stepped on the ice with
no skates on and she started puck handling. I stopped doing the interview and
said, ‘Hold it let me see what is going on here.’”
Bondra had found out she learned about the game through
working with as the website administrator and photographer for the UAE men’s
national team. He was even more stunned by the coincidence when she let him
know that the Capitals were her favorite team and Ovechkin was her favorite
player.
In addition to practicing with the Capitals and attending their
game against the Red Wings, she will also practice with the Washington Pride of
the Junior Women’s hockey League as well as visit the UAE Embassy and do some
sightseeing around the nation’s capital.
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