when tkachuk scores and aint even hype about it we're in a dark place. oof.

For the first time ever the NHL allowed their offical logo to be used in a pride parade today in Sydney’s Mardi Gras

While this is a big step forward I want to emphasise it wasn’t because the NHL wanted to it’s because we kept at them for months and essentially bullied them into it.

Even though the NHL still sucks for queer people, women and POC, despite the best efforts of the NHL progress is still being made and will not stop being made.

Well fuck yotes fans, I guess. It’s truely awful that the owner allowed plans for the new rink to be released instead of being honest and transparent. It’s abysmal to give their faithful fans that kind of hope for a future only to rip it away a week later. It’s important for people to know that having an active hockey team in the desert has done a lot for the sport and helped to produce some of the stars you see in the NHL today. The Coyotes team also has programs that are aimed at growing the sport and allowing kids from diverse backgrounds to get into the sport. These programs will most likely disappear without Coyotes. It’s a loss that goes against everything that the NHL has been promoting.

While I get that Arizona hasn’t panned out for the team, it’s important to remember that this will affect more than just the Coyotes team and staff.

I want to meet Gary Bettman so I can punch him in the face

extremely funny to me that the nhl banned pride tape bc it was 'a distraction' and now they have crumpled like cardboard and also there are gays in the orgs themselves anyway absolute clown shoes organization

bitches be like "fuck the nhl" and "i hate the nhl" yet continue to follow them anyway. it's me. i'm bitches.

so for those who aren’t familiar with the NHL, this season multiple players refused to wear pride night jerseys, often citing religious beliefs as the reason why:

so slowly, these jerseys became super controversial as the season went on. many were online claiming that “political beliefs shouldn’t be pushed on players” (interesting bc none of them complain about military appreciation night!), and others were calling out the players who refused to wear them. several teams (such as the minnesota wild, new york rangers, and chicago blackhawks) pulled out of wearing pride jerseys altogether, even if they initially claimed they would. these jerseys have been done before this season, but have never been so controversial until now.

yet in this scary time where anti-LGBTQ+ bills are being introduced, trans people are under attack, and fascists who are against queer people’s very existence are in high positions of power across the US, the NHL has made it very clear they do not care. instead of showing support to queer people when it’s more important than ever before, the league has instead made the decision to not do warm-up jerseys at all next season!

this is insanely disappointing news—not just because the NHL is moving to protect and shield their homophobic players from any backlash/criticism, but because the special jerseys that the NHL does are for all sorts of important causes. there’s hockey fights cancer jerseys, there’s military appreciation jerseys, there’s hispanic heritage jerseys, there’s black history jerseys, and the list goes on. most of these jerseys are designed by local artists, and the jerseys are auctioned off so that proceeds can go to charity. while gary bettman (commissioner of the NHL) has stated that they’re still going to auction off warm-up jerseys and that pride nights won’t stop, it is incredibly disappointing that they won’t get the same visibility and consequently won’t raise the same awareness. pride nights are simply meant to tell fans of teams “hey, LGBTQ+ fans are all welcome here, we acknowledge your existence and we support you.” the fact that it’s been so insanely politicized is incredibly disappointing, and the fact that the league is scrapping the jerseys to avoid bad press over individual decisions is quite simply disgusting. i went to the ducks’ pride night in march and it meant the world to me to see some of my favorite players wearing the warm-up jerseys—acknowledging my existence and telling me i was welcome in their arena. i know many other LGBTQ+ sports fans feel the same way, and especially many LGBTQ+ hockey fans. hockey culture is so horrifically homophobic and always has been, so when pride nights first started it was a huge deal. it was fighting back against a historically bigoted culture that caters to cis straight white men with money. to see the league’s support of queer/trans people diminish like this simply because they’re scared of backlash against their players is quite frankly terrifying. the NHL is constantly saying they need to “grow the game” and show that “hockey is for everyone”—but how can they say this when they’ve chosen to protect and prioritize their few homophobic players over their thousands of LGBTQ+ fans at a time when they should be showing their support? it’s just absolutely unfathomable to me, and the most blatant display of cowardice i’ve ever seen.

Absolutely revolting. What are you even DOING at this point you dumb fucking nhl. Fuck u bettman. What the hell kind of league commissioner doesn't take into account the pr side of this bullshit. Pls for the love of god hire a diversity consultant, put them in the c-level suite. and then fire yourself

The pride tape ban is so fucking devastating. Like no one was making an issue if players didn't use the tape, what was the reason??? "Hockey is for everyone," they say. "We stand with the LGBT+ community," they say. Bunch of fucking performative bullshit. When will we get to live in peace? When will we be able to enjoy sports without worrying about people hating us for existing, hating us for asking for basic fucking human decency??? It's a fucking step backwards in progress that was made to make the league inclusive. What next, Gary? Ban gay players? Are you going to start banning BIPOC related things too? When does it fucking end???

pairing of your choice + 🤠

if you can't see the emoji, its a cowboy hat, so here is NicoNate + cowboys (kind of) + a small tie in to the Unhinged Verse that is a massive inside joke with @offside-the-lines.

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Nate's lost their horses.

Nate's gone and lost their horses and now he's going to have to tell Nico that he's lost the horses and he's going to have to figure out how to not dissolve on the spot when Nico gives him The Look.

The patented Nico Look of Disappointment and Sadness and Despair.

With his mouth all downturned and his voice all low and quiet and his eyes all big and brown and sad and his eyebrows cast down and his forehead all creased. Just misery.

And the worst part, the absolute worst part, no dimples in sight.

Nate sighs to himself.

There has to be a way to avoid The Look.

The Look has previously brought many a sheriff, many a gunslinger, many a cowboy to their knees. He's seen all sorts of frontier towns bend to The Look. How can anyone go on when they're being looked at like that?

Nate knows, firsthand, they absolutely cannot.

There's no way to beat The Look, but maybe he can figure out how to not deal with it at all.

He can't get their horses back, but he may be able to find replacement horses, and then instead of Nico giving him The Look, Nico will give him a kiss or two or seven. And Nico's eyes will crinkle and his nose will do the tiniest of wiggles and his smile will be big and bright.

And there will definitely be dimples then.

"Now...where do I find horses?"

"Young man...did you say you were looking for horses?" Nate whips around and sees a very short man creeping towards him.

Nate takes an instinctive step back. He didn't think anyone else was around and this man seems to have appeared out of nowhere.

He's short and pale, really pale with thinning hair that barely covers his head. There's a frozen smile on his face, unmoving. Its unwelcoming. And his eyes. His eyes look empty. Blue but there's nothingness.

And it gets weirder still as Nate sees that he old man is wearing dark red velvet clothes. These aren't clothes he's ever seen before and Nico and him have been traveling to all kinds of new places with their horses.

Horses.

"Horses?"

"You asked where you could find horses...?" The old man is looking at him expectantly. His eyes look dead and his smile hasn't changed at all. Are his lips even moving?

Nico is always telling him to be careful about who he gives his name to, and he's not going to stop listening now, "Bass, I'm Bass."

"My name is Gary. I can help you get some horses if you need?" Nate think he sees something in Gary's eyes now. Some sort of spark. Something that wasn't there before. And his smile seems to have gotten bigger, but it somehow looks even more sinister now.

But Nate does need horses. And Nate is very actively trying to avoid The Look.

Nate takes stalk. He's much taller than this man. Frankly, the man looks a little decrepit. Nate also has his two trusty revolvers. And as far as he can tell, Gary doesn't seem to have any weapons on him. Only the strange clothes. He can outrun him if need be and he can definitely beat him in a one on one fight.

Plus, there's the ever present threat of The Look.

So Nate takes a step towards this...Gary.

Gary's smile gets even wider, "Follow me."

this is all mike hoffman’s fault

someone must dissaude me from writing a hockey rpf/the locked tomb crossover. It has infected my mind.

(Gary Bettman is Jod, of course)

that one post about pouring coca cola into a rare, sick bird's mouth with confidence and no doubt but it's me with an in-n-out double double animal style and connor bedard