Hockey Diversity Alliance says NHL/NHLPA Player Inclusion Coalition is ‘laughable’

Last week in Nashville leading up to the NHL Draft, the NHL and NHL Players’ Association launched the Player Inclusion Coalition. Spawned from the NHL Player Inclusion Committee, the new initiative is self-described as “A group of current and former NHL Players and women’s professional hockey players who work to advance equality and inclusion in the sport of hockey on and off the ice.” It’s chaired by former NHLers Anson Carter and P.K. Subban and has pledged more than $1 million USD to support the coalition’s programming via “contributions to grassroots organizations, player-perspective storytelling, and other special projects.”

This week, the Hockey Diversity Alliance, which was founded by Akim Aliu and Evander Kane in 2020 with a mission statement of “eradicating racism in hockey,” called out the launch of the Player Inclusion Coalition in a public statement accusing the NHL of “performative” behavior.

The NHL and HDA had previously negotiated in an attempt to work together, but the HDA claimed in Wednesday’s statement, “When we approached the NHL three years ago for financial and strategic support with our initiatives, their rebuttal to us was “We don’t have history” (notwithstanding that our group is comprised of current and former players of the League). In three short years history has already proven who is doing the real work and who is on the right side of it.

“Our communications with the league have indicated to us that the NHL has no interest in working as a partner for a good cause, but rather seeks full autonomy over any initiative, even one with the best of intentions,” the statement added.

The statement claims that the Coalition, in partnership with the NHLPA, is “laudable on its face, laughable in full context of the work we have been doing for three years without the league’s support.” And it describes the NHL’s stated goal of advancing equality and inclusion in the sport of hockey on and off the ice not just as echoing the HDA’s goals but a “cynical attempt to appropriate them.”

The statement expressed dismay at the NHL launching the Coalition days after announcing that speciality jersey nights had been abandoned, damaging the merchandise marketing for causes such as Black History Month, Indigenous Celebration, Pride and Hockey Fights Cancer.

“History would indicate that the league’s commitment to the new inclusion program will purely be performative: brand-building and message and attaching the league’s logo to a cause but going no further.”

The HDA’s board includes chair Aliu, Kane, Trevor Daley, Anthony Duclair, Matt Dumba, Nazem Kadri, Wayne Simmonds, Chris Stewart and Joel Ward. As mentioned in Wednesday’s statement, last winter, 230 BIPOC youths from at risk and/or underserved communities played with equipment provided by the HDA. The HDA’s Grassroots hockey program includes ice and ball hockey programs as part of their Grassroots Original Hockey League.

Daily Faceoff reached out to the NHL for comment to the HDA statement. The NHL has not responded as of this time.