{"id":1360,"date":"2023-01-18T10:06:45","date_gmt":"2023-01-18T11:06:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marinemalawi.com\/?p=1360"},"modified":"2025-06-20T11:03:01","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T11:03:01","slug":"russian-hockey-star-explains-ditching-lgbt-themed-demonstration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marinemalawi.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/18\/russian-hockey-star-explains-ditching-lgbt-themed-demonstration\/","title":{"rendered":"Russian hockey star explains ditching LGBT-themed demonstration"},"content":{"rendered":"

NHL player Ivan Provorov was absent from his team\u2019s support of the Pride movement<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ivan Provorov, the 26-year-old Russian defender for the NHL team the Philadelphia Flyers, has said that he opted out of a pre-game warmup which paid tribute to the Pride movement because it clashed with his religious beliefs.<\/p>\n

Provorov, who has played for the NHL franchise since the 2016-17 season, was absent from his team\u2019s pre-game skate ahead of a game with the Anaheim Ducks as the Flyers celebrated Pride night by wearing rainbow-colored regalia in support of the LGBT community.<\/p>\n

He subsequently played 23 minutes in the Flyers\u2019 5-2 win.<\/p>\n

The uniforms and sticks used in pregame warmup were later made available for online auction, with the proceeds set to be given to charity. Provorov was the only player on the Flyers roster who did not have any items available for sale.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI respect everybody and I respect everybody\u2019s choices. My choice is to stay true to myself and my religion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov on refusing to wear a rainbow jersey for warm ups during \u201cPride Night\u201d due to his Russian Orthodox faith.
pic.twitter.com\/wCUl8slmRB<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 18, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

Hockey Is For Everyone. \u2764\ufe0f\ud83e\udde1\ud83d\udc9b\ud83d\udc9a\ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc9c#ANAvsPHI<\/a> | #FueledByPhilly<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/oIyJ6dV1Ae<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) January 17, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI respect everybody\u2019s choices<\/em>,\u201d Provorov said after the conclusion of the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy choice is to stay true to myself and my religion. That\u2019s all I\u2019m going to say<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Provorov’s teammates James van Riemsdyk and Scott Laughton have been noted supporters of LGBT issues and have helped launch local programs in support of the movement.<\/p>\n

Despite Provorov\u2019s absence, Laughton said afterwards that the demonstration was a \u201cgreat, great night that brings a lot of awareness<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t hold anything against anyone<\/em>,\u201d Laughton said when asked about his Russian teammate. \u201cIt\u2019s nothing like that. It was an awesome night and I\u2019m very happy we got a win on a night like this<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking about the matter afterwards, Flyers coach John Tortorella said that he respected Provorov\u2019s stance and noted that it was an example of him displaying his individuality.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Provy, he\u2019s being true to himself and to his religion<\/em>,\u201d Tortorella said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has to do with his belief and his religion. It\u2019s one thing I respect about Provy: He’s always true to himself. That\u2019s where we\u2019re at with that.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

The Flyers also appeared to reference Provorov\u2019s absence in a post-game statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Philadelphia Flyers organization is committed to inclusivity and is proud to support the LGBTQ+ community<\/em>,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of our players are active in their support of local LGBTQ+ organizations, and we were proud to host our annual Pride Night again this year. The Flyers will continue to be strong advocates for inclusivity and the LGBTQ+ community<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NHL player Ivan Provorov was absent from his team\u2019s support of the Pride movement Ivan Provorov, the 26-year-old Russian defender […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1320,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marinemalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marinemalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marinemalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marinemalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marinemalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1360"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/marinemalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1360\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1361,"href":"https:\/\/marinemalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1360\/revisions\/1361"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marinemalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marinemalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marinemalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marinemalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}