- NHL fans are posting images of themselves kneeling in their jerseys with the hashtag #Kneel4Hockey in solidarity with Black Lives Matter.
- As the NHL restart approaches, players have been standing side-by-side with their opponents as the national anthem played.
- Eric Trump tweeted out his support of players standing on Thursday night.
- On Friday, fans began making their #Kneel4Hockey posts, asking for a more clear show of support from the league.
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NHL fans are posting pictures of themselves kneeling in their jerseys with the hashtag #Kneel4Hockey on social media.
The trend comes just as the NHL prepares to restart its season out of two bubbles located in Canada.
In the warm-up scrimmages ahead of the restart, players from opposing teams have been standing together for the anthem as a show of unity. Players are not taking a knee during the national anthem, as has become common in the NBA, or leaving the court, as did WNBA players.
Some political figures on the right, including Eric Trump, tweeted their support for the players standing for the anthem on Thursday night.
Thank you @NHL#Standing 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 https://t.co/Q6KgQx7ED8
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) July 30, 2020
In response, NHL fans posted images of themselves kneeling in their jerseys, in a show of solidarity with Black Lives Matter.
Today, we as hockey fans need to #Kneel4Hockey if we really want #HockeyIsForEveryone to be true. I love the sport, but work needs to be done to make the game open, accepting, and available to everyone.
Support #BlackLivesMatter and @BlackGirlHockey 🏒 pic.twitter.com/21I4W9Ojld
— Joe Ginley (@JoeGinley) July 31, 2020
https://twitter.com/fromtapetotape/status/1289239264018886656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttps://twitter.com/shafer_soc/status/1289279794492784641?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttps://twitter.com/Chris_Moore26/status/1289279249937920000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
i love this sport, and hope someday it actually will be “for everyone.” but we’re not there yet and we won’t get there without a fight. now is the time for @nhl to decide what side of history they’d like to fall on.#Kneel4Hockey #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/yta5r6rfHs
— 🩷💜💙 Katya 🇺🇦🌻 (@plscallmesurely) July 31, 2020
If the league won’t do it, I will. #BlackLivesMatter #Kneel4Hockey pic.twitter.com/WS2SJIegGD
— bo (@normalpostmaker) July 31, 2020
if the players won’t, we will. #Kneel4Hockey #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/IPvTHuVCeb
— max (@mxellery) July 31, 2020
Teams that stood with their opponents as the anthem played had intended the statement to be seen as a message of unity.
"It was something for equality and justice, (anti) racism," Flyers center Sean Couturier said after his team stood side-by-side with the Penguins ahead of their scrimmage, per NBC Sports. "It was to respect people, your opponent. We're a pretty big rival, but at least it shows the way that we have respect for each other, the same as in life."
With the #Kneel4Hockey campaign, some fans are looking to push for a clearer statement from the players.
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