Actually, we need to talk about fandom and the NHL's conservative politics
From Peter Lutz on Vote Hub
You just finished reading every queer hockey story available to man—and holy Wayne Gretzky—you're a newly minted hockey fan. You love the gays; you want to watch the sexy men zoom around in the boy aquarium, and it's Friday night. So you tune into an NHL game.
You're a brand new hockey fan and you can see that there's twelve men on the ice, a bunch of others on the bench, there's coaches, assistant coaches, goalie coaches, retired NHL players who are doing analysis and color commentary. You scan the faces and all are consumed by the reason for tonight's gathering: working together to get a vulcanized piece of rubber in a goddamn net. We've left the outside world behind; color, creed, orientation, immigration status, and gender matter not. All that matters is the effort these athletes put out on the ice.
Yet, as a new, leftist hockey fan, pick any one of these people, and flip a coin—and there's a decent chance that this player has conservative politics. If they're American and registered to vote, there's a 43.9% chance they are registered as a Republican and if they voted, they voted for Donald J. Trump.
And I'm sure if you asked the other 38.5% of NHL players, they'd say something alone the lines of "I don't really do politics." You know, the type of "uh...I think everyone should stop fighting" response that people offer when you bring up genocides.
Oh man. Oh gosh. That's so weird. You got into hockey because of the myriad of stories that celebrate queerness and marginalized identities and intersectional feminism—so what is up with this league? Why is so different from the stories that use it as an athletic backdrop? Has it always been like this? And how did you end up here? Why are so many other fannish/bookish left-leaning people like yourself finding solace in a league where there are millionaires who will gladly win it all and shake hands with a self-proclaimed fascist?
If you're at all like me, a leftist Black woman, it's a simple cycle.
You discover the world of hockey and the NHL which is strange and fascinating. The blood, sweat, and tears compel you. Yes, it's filled with white people—like it's mostly white people whatthefuckisupwiththat—but they're a different sort of people because this niche underground culture is...strange and fascinating! They have slang and enormous asses!
It is very gay. The homosociality of hockey breeds a male repression unmatched by any other form of physical exertion. You feel safe here now; you feel justified. Nevermind the fact that toxic masculinity is the thing you're actually observing. You were born with slash goggles on. If these men can't untie the bow on their unconscious desires and unrealized tenderness, you can do it for them.
Reality strikes. A good rule of writing is that characters are what they do. And whenever you peek into the real world of the NHL...you see what the league and its players do—or don't do. Time after time again you're presented with political inaction from the league, racism, misogyny, transphobia, and apathy towards the things you really care about. You learn slowly, that the NHL is a league that moves at glacial speeds, pun intended. It is, simply, not progressive.
Well, at least you have a hockey romance that is progressive! You don't need professional men's hockey! You can make a difference! Yay!
...But oh good God, now you've spread the tainted gospel of hockey to hundreds—maybe thousands of people with your hockey book. They may never make it to step three! (Picture me running from laptop to laptop, closing the Word documents of various hockey romance writers. I kind of sound like Jimmy Stewart: "Stop! St-stop it now! We're spreading it! Dontcha know we're spreading it, huh? You're sending 'em down to the boy aquarium; that's no boy aquarium! These people think Bernie Sanders is crazy!")
Am I saying that watching an NHL game is like buying a signed copy of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child—no. (But someone do the math on that.) Any time we engage with any of the major sports we put money in the coffers of billionaires. (The PWHL is owned by billionaire Mark Walters, who is the owner the Lakers, Dodgers, Sparks. He donated to Obama and the DNC and is always happy to visit the White House—even if it's to hang out with Trump when his sports team does well. Do NOT get me started on the MLB)
All I am saying is that, you, new hockey fan, can save yourself a lot of time and frustration by enjoying the league, but by also knowing the league that is being marketed to you. You will be disappointed with player politics. You will be lulled by rainbow capitalism. 43% of American NHL players are registered Republicans. You will find yourself accepting the bare-minimum. (I was way too proud of Sidney Crosby for like, knowing a gay person?)
I'm deeply regretting making Jack Zimmermann's "uncle" Wayne Gretzky. I didn't know the guy would go to Trump's inauguration... He's not even American.
A decade ago, I was still actively watching NHL games and somewhat enmeshed in hockey Tumblr, so I got to watch in real time as people started to have full-blown meltdowns and existential crises after Trump's first election and over the realization that many of their beloved players were publicly celebrating his victory.
The players' reaction didn't really come as a surprise to me, largely because I'm Canadian and well aware of the conservative nature of the sport and its culture. But what did surprise me was how surprised other people were by the players' reaction. I mean, come on, I thought to myself. Isn't this common sense? A group of straight white men whose biggest political priority is lowering taxes so they can hoard as many of their millions are possible are, by nature, not going to be drawn to liberal/progressive politics.
In line with OP's post, I think the most important thing for new left-leaning NHL fans to know is something I read on a hockey Tumblr back during the 2016 election shitshow regarding the players and the wider league:
These people are not on your side. It's likely never even occurred to them to be on your side.
Go in with rock-bottom expectations, understand who and what these players are (in reality, not in RPF fantasy land where they're all gay and fucking each other), and you'll save yourself a lot of grief and disappointment.
