Brad Marchand reacts to NHL's ban on Pride Tape
BOSTON -- Just before this season got underway, the NHL informed clubs that players would no longer be allowed to use rainbow-colored tape during warmups on Pride nights.
It's a decision that came after several players and teams received a storm of criticism for opting to not participate in the events, and it came as news to Bruins captain Brad Marchand on Wednesday.
Marchand was asked for his thoughts on the matter, and after taking a moment to collect his thoughts, he offered up his opinion.
"You know, I believe -- my beliefs are that you should treat everyone with respect, treat people how you want to be treated, and you support who and what you want to support," Marchand said. "Also, I don't think that we need to be used to push political agendas as well. So if there's something that you feel like supporting, then you support it. I think where a lot of it comes from is the backlash that players got in the previous years. It's just unfortunate when you try to stand up for what's right and you get a lot of backlash one way or another. It just seems like right now, you can't win."
Marchand continued, saying players should be free to show public support for causes in which they believe.
"I truly believe in my heart that if there's something you support, then you support. Then if not, it's OK to have your own beliefs and feeling your own way about things. But to be pushed to do something you don't want to do, or to be banned from something you do believe in, there's gotta be a line where we can all have our beliefs and support each other and be OK and not have tension between the sides," he said. "It's just unfortunate we can't find common ground right now. It would be nice, like with the certain nights that we have across the league, it's all to support different things and just [show] support for people. And that's OK. So it's tough when you can't win either way. I understand both sides of it. It's just unfortunate that we can't all get along on some of these topics. But that's the way that it is these days."