Earlier this week, Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov refused to part in the pregame skate because he refused to wear the team’s LGBTQ+ Pride Night warmup jersey. The Russian national cited his religious beliefs as the reason for not taking part.
Despite the backlash, head coach John Tortorella stood by his player and the decision to play him afterward.
“With Provy, he’s being true to himself and to his religion,” the first-year Flyers coach said. “This has to do with his belief and his religion. It’s one thing I respect about Provy: He’s always true to himself. That’s where we’re at with that.”
No harm, no foul, right? Not exactly.
John Tortorella would soon be reminded of what he said about benching players if they chose to sit during the playing of the National Anthem.
“remember when John Tortorella said that if a player of his sat for the national anthem to protest racial inequality he’d bench them for the entire game? something that just came to mind for no particular reason,” one writer exclaimed.
“John Tortorella once said he would bench any player who didn’t stand for the US anthem. So what have we learned here,” another fan said.
The team wore rainbow-colored jerseys and used sticks wrapped in rainbow-colored tape during their warm-up ahead of the game and posted pictures of a few players wearing the jerseys in a tweet. The team also tweeted a video of some of those jerseys hanging up in the locker room with a post saying, “Hockey Is For Everyone.”
The Flyers said in a statement after the game that the organization is “committed to inclusivity.”
“Many of our players are active in their support of local LGBTQ+ organizations, and we were proud to host our annual Pride Night again this year,” the statement reads. “The Flyers will continue to be strong advocates for inclusivity and the LGBTQ+ community.”
