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Hockey Player Jesse Pollock Declares NHL's Pride Tape Ban Was 'Stupid'
The hockey forward took to TikTok to let everyone know what he thinks of the league's ban, which has since been reversed.
Earlier this week, after facing a backlash from players and fans, the Nation Hockey League lifted their ban on the use of rainbow-colored, Pride-themed tape on hockey sticks during games, but not before Jerusalem Capitals player and BarDown forward Jesse Pollock took to his TikTok account to show off his hockey stick covered in rainbow tape.
“Just letting you know that I’ll be using this Pride tape for the rest of BarDown season,” Pollock says in the video posted to TikTok last week. “I, and so many other people in the hockey community, believe in our core that hockey is for everyone and no stupid rule should make you feel otherwise. Plus this stuff is pretty cool, so [I’m] looking forward to using it!”
The quick video already has 39 thousand likes and close to 4,000 comments, including from people who were touched by Pollock’s sentiment.
“Well, you just earned a big fan,” one person commented.
“You sir, are all class. Play on,” another wrote.
“Thank you so much for this. I loved hockey and was really good. Unfortunately, it was not cool to be me,” someone else wrote, clearly impacted by the show of support offered in Pollock's video.
@jessepollock22 Hockey is for everyone. No rule should make anyone feel otherwise 🏒🏳️🌈 #pridetape #hockey #nhl #pride
Prior to it being rescinded by the NHL, the Pride tape ban disallowed the use of rainbow-colored tape during games, warmups and even practices because they disagreed with the message it sent. This came on the heels of the league banning themed jerseys, including ones that celebrated Pride, Black History, and Hockey Fights Cancer. The NHL made the unilateral ban and dubbed “speciality” jerseys a “distraction” after several players and teams refused to wear Pride Night jerseys last season.
Pollock’s TikTok is just one of the latest ways players have hit back against the homophobic rules put forward by the NHL. After the tape ban was first put in place, Arizona Coyotes defenseman Travis Dermott defied the rule by using Pride tape on his stick at a game earlier in the month. Buffalo Sabres players Tyson Jost and Alex Tuch made a “speed dating” skit posted to the team’s X account (formerly Twitter) that seemed to poke fun at some of the latest rules to be handed down by the NHL.
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Ariel Messman-Rucker is an Oakland-born journalist who now calls the Pacific Northwest her home. When she’s not writing about politics and queer pop culture, she can be found reading, hiking, or talking about horror movies with the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network.
Ariel Messman-Rucker is an Oakland-born journalist who now calls the Pacific Northwest her home. When she’s not writing about politics and queer pop culture, she can be found reading, hiking, or talking about horror movies with the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network.
