Travis Dermott Explains Why He Challenged the Pride Tape Ban

Published October 24, 2023 at 9:37
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Dermott Defies NHL Restrictions on Pride Tape

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As the season kicked off, the NHL had explicitly warned teams against using pride tape.

Yet, Travis Dermott became the talk of the town by choosing to ignore Bettman's ruling, featuring pride tape in the Coyotes' season home debut.


During a chat with PHNX Sports, Dermott explained his decision.

Inside Dermott's Decision



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The Coyotes' defenseman opened up:

"You don't really want to go against rules that are put in place by your employer, but there are some people who took positive things from it. That's kind of what I'm looking to impact.

"You want everyone to feel included, and that's something I've felt passionate about for a long time in my career. It's not like I just jumped on this train. It's something that I've felt has been lacking in the hockey community for a while.

I feel we need supporters of a movement like this; to have everyone feel included and really to emphasize the idea that hockey is for everyone."

"I don't want to put my teammates, coaches, GMs, or equipment managers in any kind of bad light when it's their job to look out for something like this happening. It was definitely something I did on my own and was prepared to deal with whatever repercussions the league decides to impose. I'm not going to back off and say that this battle is won, but we're going to find better ways to do it."

The NHL said they'd evaluate the "incident" in "due time". Let's hope they can make the right call.

As reported on House of Hockey - Dermott Explains Why he Defied the Pride Tape Ban
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Travis Dermott Explains Why He Challenged the Pride Tape Ban

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