from Chris Hine of the Chicago Tribune,

The “Declaration of Principles” looks good on paper, and it appears the NHL is serious when it says it wants to make hockey more inclusive for everyone. But it must back up these flowery words with its actions.

That means promoting an atmosphere of inclusion at the highest level, not just at youth levels. Young players take their cues from the pros, and the NHL made an unfortunate misstep last season when it did not suspend Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf for using an anti-gay slur during the postseason. This came a year after the league rightly suspended former Blackhawks winger Andrew Shaw for using a different homophobic slur in a playoff game.

The discrepancy between the two should not have mattered, yet in its handling of the incidents the NHL was saying one was OK while another wasn’t. Truth is, both words are used to demean and emasculate gay men, and if Getzlaf has a closeted gay teammate, that word could foster an atmosphere of hostility in which that player might not feel comfortable coming out.

If the NHL is serious about its “Declaration of Principles,” then it needs to act when a player acts outside of those principles.

It’s not going to be easy. Hockey traditionally has crude language, and after the Getzlaf and Shaw incidents some argued the league should not have suspended the players because that language was always a “part of the game.”

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