Monday's game against the Stars at PPG Paints Arena will be the Penguins' third annual Pride Night, with the team showing support for those who are LGBTQ+.
Players will wear warmup jerseys featuring the Pride Flag and will use rainbow Pride Tape during warmups. The Penguins Foundation will have an online auction for those jerseys, the team's Pride-themed locker room nameplates, as well as other team-signed items. The team will also have fundraising opportunities on the concourse during the game, selling warmup pucks, Pride Game shirts and UNRL rainbow hats from Jason Zucker's Give16 charity initiative.
Proceeds will benefit the Hugh Lane Wellness Foundation -- a Pittsburgh-area organization that aims to improve the health of the LGBTQ+ and HIV communities -- as well as the You Can Play Project, an organization that aims to eradicate homophobia in sports.
"I think that as hockey players, we can give a pretty good message," Rickard Rakell said. "Whenever we have a chance, we're willing to do it. So I think it's a great way to show our support that everyone can play the game of hockey, any sport. We're just showing our support."
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Rickard Rakell
That support was important to Zucker too, and why he decided to get involved with his Give16 charity.
"It's a way to spread awareness throughout the league, but also throughout hopefully the world and just show that we're supportive of a great cause," Zucker said of the Pride Night initiatives. "We want to make sure that we're all about diversity and inclusion that includes every aspect of the of the spectrum. So for us it's a fun night and we've got a great team that's very supportive of it."
Brian Dumoulin echoed that it's important for players to use their platform share the message of inclusion.
"I feel like the NHL has done a good job of trying to make all parties feel included," Dumoulin said. "It's a big part of our culture now, as it should be. It's great that we get to celebrate it, obviously wearing the jerseys, hopefully we can raise awareness. It's a fun night."
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Brian Dumoulin
Marcus Pettersson said that he thinks nights like these are still very much needed. Even though the culture is moving closer toward acceptance, it's clear that it isn't there yet.
"It shows that our game is willing to grow and willing to highlight problems in the world," Pettersson said of the importance of Pride Night. "It's the same with Hockey Fights Cancer night and stuff like that, it shows the league that we care. With Pride Night, there's an issue to raise and there still is even though it's 2022. It's important for the league to highlight that."
There has never been an openly gay player in the NHL. Predators WHL prospect Luke Prokop made history last year when he became the first (and still the only) player under contract to an NHL team to come out as gay.
It's impossible that in the 100+ years of the NHL's existence, there's never been a gay player in the NHL. It's impossible that there isn't a single gay player among the thousands of men playing professional hockey in North America today. It's not that Prokop is the first gay hockey player ever in North America, he's just the first to publicly come out as gay. There are surely others, and the fact that they don't feel comfortable yet being out and open the same way that players are openly straight by talking and posting about their wives and girlfriends shows that hockey still has a ways to go.
What needs to change, though, in order to make those gay players feel more comfortable?
"I think this is a good start, just showing the awareness and everything around it," Rakell said. "I'm sure there's guys and girls out there. So I think it's just a matter of time. I think it's definitely trending in the right direction."
Zucker said that it's the job of the players in the league now to make sure that the sport is a welcoming space for those who are LGBTQ+.
"It's about the awareness of it and letting them know that they have a platform to speak and a platform to come out and hopefully feel comfortable," Zucker said. "It's our job to make sure that they feel comfortable doing that. It's a part of our world, and it's a very regular part of our world now. We've got to make sure that we're being inclusive and making them comfortable enough to show their true selves."
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Jason Zucker
Dumoulin agreed that they need to continue to work toward making players feel comfortable enough to be open.
"It's awareness knowing that they can -- if they feel that way -- come out and know that you'll have the support of your teammates and your coaches and your staff," Dumoulin said. "You see it coming out in other sports, but it's great. That's how I've always been, you want people to feel the most comfortable and want people to be themselves. That's the most important thing, especially for becoming a team. You need people to be themselves."
Teddy Blueger said that it's difficult for him to identify what exactly needs to change around the league, because he thinks the Penguins' locker room as it is is already an accepting space.
"Honestly, I feel like in our room at least, I feel like everyone's really comfortable with each other," Blueger said. "Whatever the issue might be, whatever people are going through, there's no shame or embarrassment because it feels like we're all family. Everyone's got their issues, whatever that might be, like mental health, physical health or family stuff, and everyone's really supportive and open to that kind of stuff. It's tough to say (what needs to change) because I think just looking at it from the perspective of our team, I think we're in a pretty good place in that sense."
Pettersson thinks that the issue is bigger than individual players or locker rooms needing to change, and that it's hockey culture as a whole that needs to continue to shift in order to make those players feel for comfortable.
"It's a long, long, long culture in hockey that you have to be macho and stuff like that," he said. "I think we've come a long way in hockey, but it's something that still needs to be raised. I think that culture is slowly moving, but for sure, it'd be nice if it was moving faster. I think it's a long, long history of the culture of hockey."
The Penguins' annual Pride Night aims to continue to move the sport in the right direction. Mike Sullivan said that it's not that they have an opportunity to use their platform to do so, but rather they have a responsibility to do so.
"It's important from an organizational standpoint, it's important to all of us that are involved," Sullivan said. "You know, we all feel like it's our responsibility. It's not just an opportunity for us to use our platform, it's a responsibility that we have. I think all of us are eager to share in this message of inclusivity. That's an important message in today's world. I know all of our players, our coaching staff, our management and our ownership, we all feel strongly that we're trying to utilize our platform in a positive way. A night like tonight is, I think, an important one and and we have a certain responsibility to make sure we utilize that."
MORE FROM THE SKATE
• It was a full morning skate since the team was off yesterday. Jeff Petry was the only absence. Sullivan said afterward that Petry would not play Monday and is still being evaluated for an upper-body injury, which means that Chad Ruhwedel will get back into the lineup. Petry had that scary moment toward the end of Saturday's game when his wrist seemingly got twisted along the boards, though he said he was "all right" afterward.
• Tristan Jarry will start in net.
• The defense pairings rotated. The Penguins used the same line combinations:
Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Rickard Rakell
Jason Zucker - Evgeni Malkin - Bryan Rust
Brock McGinn - Jeff Carter - Kasperi Kapanen
Ryan Poehling - Teddy Blueger - Josh Archibald
(Danton Heinen)
• With Petry absent, Kris Letang was back on the top power play. The top unit was Letang, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jake Guentzel and Rakell. The second unit was P.O Joseph, Kasperi Kapanen, Jeff Carter, Bryan Rust and Zucker.
• Tonight will be Guentzel's 400th career regular-season game in the NHL.
"I'm just fortunate to play in this league," Guentzel said of the milestone. "It's gone by fast but it's been a lot of fun so far, and hopefully many more games come."
When Sullivan was reminded that Guentzel is playing in his 400th game, he remarked that "time does fly."
"I can't believe he's playing his 400th," Sullivan said. "Jake has, I think, quietly evolved into a superstar in this league. He's one of the best goal-scorers in the league, in my opinion. His numbers speak for itself. He's an ultra-competitive guy. He's just been a terrific Pittsburgh Penguin. The fact that he's playing 400 is just more evidence that I'm getting old."
• Crosby's mustache from 'Movember' lives to see another day. Feels like he's keeping it until the Penguins lose a game.
