Walker Rangers’ Pride Night About-Face Created Same Mess it Tried to Avoid

[Sod16]

Quote

By veering from their promoted plan to wear Pride-themed jerseys for their annual Pride Night on Friday at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers turned what was otherwise a beautiful celebration of inclusivity into a story about the organization. 

 

It’s ironic that the reversed decision to forgo the special warm-ups and tape was presumably made to avoid a public relations mess. Instead, that’s exactly what has happened. After making a public promise that the team would don the rainbow colors of the Pride flag “in solidarity” with the LGBTQ+ community, and then walking back on it, what did the organization think would happen? There were fans who purchased their tickets to see themselves represented on the ice, and they were left disappointed. 

 

The Garden and the Rangers have been hosting Pride Night for seven years. In the past, the whole team has sported the Pride-themed warmup jerseys and wrapped their sticks in rainbow tape, which is why it was so peculiar that the Rangers chose not to go through with it this time. 

 

What changed? Why now? Who made the decision? 

 

https://nypost.com/2023/01/28/rangers-made-an-absolute-mess-with-pride-night-about-face/

 

--

 

Smart move, because I'll bet there was a one word reason: Shesty.  He's private, reserved, and observant Russian Orothdox.  The last thing we need is him becoming a focus of non-hockey media attention, like Proporov.  I doubt they even asked him.  They just didn't want to put him on the spot.  Woke Molly can whine all she wants.

 

 

[Blue Heaven]

[Scott]

Did Igor not participate in the past or has he found religion since?  Did they advertise the warmup jerseys as they have done in the past as a charity fundraiser and then decide at some point decide to just not wear them and not make that public, if so that's the part that's spineless and bs.  If Dolan and Co say no thanks we're not in from the get go, no issue.  Should of just advertised the fanny packs or whatever they gave away.

[LindG1000]

If we're going to have this conversation - and that the board collectively ignored it for three days suggests that we may not care to - we should at least have it on a factual basis and not on some political flashpoint terms that have lost all meaning as they've been co-opted (like "woke")

 

• The Rangers have done Pride Night, including Pride-specific jerseys and rainbow-taped sticks in every season since 2014. They usually auction the jerseys off for charity.  This includes Panarin, Shesterkin, and Buchnevich (in past years) wearing the jersey and taping their sticks. It's a bizarre move for a team that has honestly led the pack on LGBTQ+ inclusion in the NHL for a while.
• The Rangers explicitly marketed this game as featuring the jerseys and the taped sticks. They outwardly asked for ticket sales.
• The Rangers still held a Pride celebration without the jerseys and without the sticks on the night of, including a donation to a local LGBTQ+ charity. 
• Players seemed caught off guard. I'm looking for the tweet, but (edit - the note is in the article linked in OP) Mollie Walker quoted a player (anonymously) saying that it hadn't come up for any discussion and they were surprised to see the normal warm-up jerseys on Friday.
• The NHL did not intervene in the planning or execution.

So we're kind of left with "this came from the top".  Which given the Rangers successfully doing this for seven years running seems like a very strange situation.

 

I'd HEAVILY recommend that everyone in this thread reads Vince's article on the situation. It tries to engage with the nuances of it all in a thoughtful way.

 

 

[BrooksBurner]

Lol at Vince writing a whole article to whine about it

[Phil]

1 hour ago, Sod16 said:

Smart move, because I'll bet there was a one word reason: Shesty.  He's private, reserved, and observant Russian Orothdox.  The last thing we need is him becoming a focus of non-hockey media attention, like Proporov.  I doubt they even asked him.  They just didn't want to put him on the spot.  Woke Molly can whine all she wants.

 

https://nypost.com/2023/01/28/rangers-made-an-absolute-mess-with-pride-night-about-face/

 

1. Shesterkin is of the same Russian Orthodox faith as Provorov, but he's worn a pride jersey in the past, so it's hard to say. That makes this argument unfalsifiable (hypothesis that is impossible to disprove). We simply have no idea whether Shesterkin would or would not have worn it again. It's actually safer to assume he would have, not just because he has already, but because the players reportedly were prepared to wear them per both Vince and Molly, and didn't understand why they abruptly weren't.

 

2. Based on what we know of this situation from the coverage of Vince, Molly, and others, I don't think Shesterkin is the reason here, or necessarily anyone else on the team, most of whom have also worn them in the past. I think it's much more likely that Dolan is responsible here given his history of making unilateral, rash decisions based on arbitrary rules and logic he makes up on the fly. This is also unfalsifiable, but I feel there's stronger anecdotal evidence to support this theory than there is Shesterkin.

 

3. While I agree that in a vacuum this is probably a mole hill being made into a mountain — certainly most of all by the loudest social justice voices on the internet — I think the real issue here is that a lot of fans simply feel robbed. Because the fact of the matter is, the Rangers literally marketed this night ahead of time, signaling to fans to come see the team wear pride jerseys and tape. When those fans purchased tickets, they were baited and switched (false advertising), only to see the team skating in uniforms that were not advertised, with no advanced warning or update, or even an explanation of any sort. The Rangers did still give out pride night fanny packs, as I understand it, but generally speaking, there's an argument to be made that the Rangers made a marketing and advertising promise they failed to keep.

 

4. Let's not do the woke as a pejorative thing, please. We can argue the merits of this decision, and the decision to participate in other ideological causes on their own.

 

5. Slightly different subject, but this is going to be made so much worse given "Police Appreciation Night" is coming February 26th. If the Rangers do wear jerseys that night, this will rear its ugly head again.

[Bieser]

I recall Brooks and Mollie saying a few players told them they were surprised.  That does not exclude the possibility that one of the Rangers players refused.  If so, they may have made the decision to drop it rather than a player stand out??

[Winter]

wow i'll never be able to sleep tonight because they didn't wear a rainbow jersey in warmups. Yawwwwn 

[Sharpshooter]

[The Dude]

If you're advertising this. You have to follow through. Or atleast change it up and make it a give away of the jerseys. Or fuckin lie and say someone stole all the jerseys.  

 

If it wasn't done because of a player,  obviously you have to look into who is new in upper management. Is there any new CEOs or what ever? New sponsors?

 

Or maybe some new players? Halak? Harpur? Vesey? Trochek? Leschyshyn? 

 

 

[Sharpshooter]

You'd think it has to be new players, no? My first though, because I can't stand him, is Dolan, but they've had these kinds of things for years with no problems. Unless he had a change of heart after what happened in Philadelphia? No clue. The only thing that's likely is some of the new guys don't care for it.

 

As G said this organization had been at the forefront of these types of things so this is very random.

[Keirik]

There is just no evidence at all that this was player driven and a lot bigger track record of it being seat of the pants Dolan driven. From face recognition, threatening to ban alcohol, to previously firing both Gorton and JD. There is a lot more tangible evidence to think it stemmed from there. 

[Phil]

36 minutes ago, Bieser said:

I recall Brooks and Mollie saying a few players told them they were surprised.  That does not exclude the possibility that one of the Rangers players refused.  If so, they may have made the decision to drop it rather than a player stand out??

 

It's certainly possible, yeah, but it's purely speculative. Everything I've read on the story to this point suggests the players as a whole were fully prepared to wear the uniforms in warmups and were surprised, again as a whole, when they weren't and weren't given an explanation as to why.

[Sharpshooter]

Yeah, the whole thing smells like the '22-'23 version of Dolan.

[Phil]

21 minutes ago, Winter said:

wow i'll never be able to sleep tonight because they didn't wear a rainbow jersey in warmups. Yawwwwn 

 

I mean, I get it. I'm no fan of corporate rainbow washing, either. I don't think this actually helps the LGBTQ cause much, if any, but promises were made and broken. If the team follow through and wear LEO-inspired uniforms in warmups for Law Enforcement Appreciation night, it'll reek of hypocrisy.

 

To me, this whole idea of corporate adoption of ideological causes is fine, but you can't be half pregnant. You either do it, or you don't. You sure as hell don't advertise it and then pull the rug out and just expect that no one will notice, either.

[Pete]

I just find this all really hard to swallow (pun intended).

 

Honestly, who's buying a ticket to MSG specifically to see players warm up in a rainbow jersey for 10 minutes? I believe it has to be the extremely vocal minority. Total edge cases.

 

This whole practice is performative, does nothing to move the needle, so I don't get why the specific complaints about jerseys and tape is even getting breathing room. They still did every other part of the programming. Pride jerseys haven't been auctioned since 2020 as far as I can see.

 

People saying that this mean they're homophobic or that gays aren't welcome etc are just on their bully pulpit. If you think a shirt and some tape means you're accepted...Then you don't know what acceptance really is.

[Phil]

6 minutes ago, Keirik said:

There is just no evidence at all that this was player driven and a lot bigger track record of it being seat of the pants Dolan driven. From face recognition, threatening to ban alcohol, to previously firing both Gorton and JD. There is a lot more tangible evidence to think it stemmed from there. 

 

It's not tangible, really, more anecdotal, but completely agree otherwise. It fits his personality to a tee. He's petulant, rash, and has a track record of making unilateral decisions simply because he decides to with very little thought put into the strategy and execution. This decision in particular, is a prime example of it. Advertised to fans they'd do this and that, didn't, on a whim. Players didn't know. Coaches didn't know. NYC Pride, who the Rangers partner with for the night, didn't know.

 

It's purely my own uninformed, evidence-lacking theory, but I think Dolan saw the shit storm the Flyers got based on their reaction to Provorov and said "I'd rather avoid this," then proceeded to go about changing the plan in the most abrupt and noticeable way possible, creating a mess he probably was trying to avoid in the process.

[The Dude]

2 minutes ago, Keirik said:

There is just no evidence at all that this was player driven and a lot bigger track record of it being seat of the pants Dolan driven. From face recognition, threatening to ban alcohol, to previously firing both Gorton and JD. There is a lot more tangible evidence to think it stemmed from there. 

How?

 

Its something the organization has been doing for a long time.  Dolan is most definitely a jerk off, but I don’t see how what you  brought to the table here can be considered tangible evidence.  There's no correlation between the facts that you brought up and this situation.  

 

I'm not even saying it's not possible it came from Dolan.  I'm just saying your evidence isn't evidence that can be thought of as being connected to this instance. 

 

There's no evidence of Dolan being behind this,  just as much as there's no evidence that it can't be a new player. Let's not be so matter of factly here, because obviously this is a mystery at the moment. 

 

 

[Phil]

Just now, Pete said:

I just find this all really hard to swallow (pun intended).

 

Honestly, who's buying a ticket to MSG specifically to see players warm up in a rainbow jersey for 10 minutes? I believe it has to be the extremely vocal minority. Total edge cases.

 

This whole practice is performative, does nothing to move the needle, so I don't get why the specific complaints about jerseys and tape is even getting breathing room. They still did every other part of the programming. Pride jerseys haven't been auctioned since 2020 as far as I can see.

 

People saying that this mean they're homophobic or that gays aren't welcome etc are just on their bully pulpit. If you think a shirt and some tape means you're accepted...Then you don't know what acceptance really is.

 

Edge cases, yes, most likely, but I've seen a handful of people on Twitter claim to have bought tickets to the game specifically for this night. For whatever reason.

 

These jerseys that they never wore were supposed to be auctioned immediately after the game, by the way.

[Phil]

2 minutes ago, The Dude said:

How?

 

Its something the organization has been doing for a long time.  Dolan is most definitely a jerk off, but I don’t see how what you  brought to the table here can be considered tangible evidence.  There's no correlation between the facts that you brought up and this situation.  

 

I'm not even saying it's not possible it came from Dolan.  I'm just saying your evidence isn't evidence that can be thought of as being connected to this instance. 

 

There's no evidence of Dolan being behind this,  just as much as there's no evidence that it can't be a new player. Let's not be so matter of factly here, because obviously this is a mystery at the moment.

 

Yup. The only response from the org is a purely PR-speak press release:

 

 

We have no evidence of anything one way or the other.

[Pete]

2 minutes ago, Phil said:

 

Edge cases, yes, most likely, but I've seen a handful of people on Twitter claim to have bought tickets to the game specifically for this night. For whatever reason.

 

These jerseys that they never wore were supposed to be auctioned immediately after the game, by the way.

Then they have their own agenda regardless.

[Keirik]

12 minutes ago, Phil said:

 

It's not tangible, really, more anecdotal, but completely agree otherwise. It fits his personality to a tee. He's petulant, rash, and has a track record of making unilateral decisions simply because he decides to with very little thought put into the strategy and execution. This decision in particular, is a prime example of it. Advertised to fans they'd do this and that, didn't, on a whim. Players didn't know. Coaches didn't know. NYC Pride, who the Rangers partner with for the night, didn't know.

 

It's purely my own uninformed, evidence-lacking theory, but I think Dolan saw the shit storm the Flyers got based on their reaction to Provorov and said "I'd rather avoid this," then proceeded to go about changing the plan in the most abrupt and noticeable way possible, creating a mess he probably was trying to avoid in the process.

Yeah, agreed. It is very anecdotal. Bad choice of word by me, but as someone like him that flies by the seat of his pants, very plausible. The fact that all of the other aspects were still upheld like the theme packs handed out, the national anthem being sung by a member of the LGBTQ+ community, ceiling lights and exterior in rainbow colors, and the player snippets saying there was no team dis us soon about this nor information given to them, makes me believe this was just a last minute Dolan driven thing for whatever reason and there was just no real communication. This is just purely speculation though as none of us even remotely know. 

[Phil]

5 minutes ago, Pete said:

Then they have their own agenda regardless.

 

Oh, of course, but that's beside the point. The false advertising/bait and switch argument is, to me, rooted in solid logic. The Rangers specifically marketed ticket sales for this night under the auspices of seeing Rangers players in pride jerseys and with pride tape during warmups. Anyone who did, even if it was one random edge case, has every right to feel duped having bought a ticket to a game to see something they never saw.

 

Fact is, any ideologically driven, or ideologically parallel "appreciation night" is going to have an agenda. The market for Law Enforcement Appreciation Night and Military Appreciation Night, for example, is markedly different than that of Pride night, but all three are used to boost sales. "Come see the Rangers wear X-themed jerseys in warmups and have a chance to bid on game-worn jerseys celebrating X cause!"

[Phil]

1 minute ago, Keirik said:

Yeah, agreed. It is very anecdotal. Bad choice of word by me, but as someone like him that flies by the seat of his pants, very plausible. The fact that all of the other aspects were still upheld like the theme packs handed out, the national anthem being sung by a member of the LGBTQ+ community, ceiling lights and exterior in rainbow colors, and the player snippets saying there was no team dis us soon about this nor information given to them, makes me believe this was just a last minute Dolan driven thing for whatever reason and there was just no real communication. 

 

Yup. I bet it was a last second "nope, no jerseys, I don't want a Provorov situation" email that staff/personnel scrambled to course correct on, leaving everyone in the dark. Sponsors, players, coaches, and parners alike.

[Pete]

1 minute ago, Phil said:

 

Oh, of course, but that's beside the point. The false advertising/bait and switch argument is, to me, rooted in solid logic. The Rangers specifically marketed ticket sales for this night under the auspices of seeing Rangers players in pride jerseys and with pride tape during warmups. Anyone who did, even if it was one random edge case, has every right to feel duped having bought a ticket to a game to see something they never saw.

 

Fact is, any ideologically driven, or ideologically parallel "appreciation night" is going to have an agenda. The market for Law Enforcement Appreciation Night and Military Appreciation Night, for example, is markedly different than that of Pride night, but all three are used to boost sales. "Come see the Rangers wear X-themed jerseys in warmups and have a chance to bid on game-worn jerseys celebrating X cause!"

It's only false advertising and bait and switch if there was intent. There was no intent to deceive anyone, circumstances changed.

 

I'd also love to grab the folks who claimed to have bought the ticket for a specific reason and see what time their tickets were scanned. Because if someone is telling me they shelled out MSG prices specifically for that event, I would say