Insider Trading: NHL rescinds rule banning Pride Tape

TSN’s Hockey Insiders with more on the league reversing its stance on players using Pride Tape, Jets owner Mark Chipman on attendance concerns in Winnipeg, Rick Bowness’ focus on his family and the Ducks sitting Leo Carlsson for some games over the first two months.

The NHL pulled a 180 and rescinds its ban on Pride Tape. What changed the league’s mind?

Travis Dermott Arizona CoyotesChris Johnston: What changed is that Travis Dermott used that Pride Tape on the shaft of his stick in a game on Saturday afternoon and I think, ultimately, that is what we’ll look back on as the tipping point. Look, the NHL has been under fire and under criticism for the last few weeks since this rule has been discussed. It wasn’t until a player came forward and essentially challenged them, in a sense, in terms of whether or not they were going to give out some punishment. I don’t think that was something the NHL ever wanted or seriously contemplated doing that forced this change.

Inside the league office I don’t get the sense there’s any animus towards Dermott. They know he’s been a long time supporter of the cause,  this is nothing new for him. They were conscious there could be a wave, an avalanche of players that followed suit and they didn't want any part of that.

That renewed discussions behind the scenes with the NHL Players’ Association and ultimately we end up now with this rule being rescinded. 

I did talk to Travis Dermott in the last 24 hours and he’s pretty overwhelmed and in disbelief of everything that’s happened but he’s happy he can support a cause now that’s close to his heart on the ice.

Pierre LeBrun: Certainly in the leadup to what Dermott did, I think the league and the NHLPA were aware that some players were planning to do this closer to their individual Pride nights for their NHL teams and were going to wait and react to that.

On top of that there were a number of conversations over the last couple of weeks between the NHL and NHLPA almost immediately after the backlash to this decision, a lot of it spearheaded by Marty Walsh of the NHLPA. Walsh took a lot of criticism the week this news came out because he didn’t come out and say anything and I think it’s because he wanted to find a way to get these talks going behind the scenes to find a better resolution.

Players reached out to the PA, they were unhappy and all of this had an impact. How about Scotiabank? A longtime NHL partner announcing on Monday it was donating 5,000 rolls of Pride Tape. Don’t think things like that don’t have an impact as well.
 

How close were the Winnipeg Jets to fully embracing a rebuild this past summer?

Darren Dreger: I can tell you that Mark Chipman [in his upcoming interview] shares what they went through in talking about those things. Talking about the costliness of a rebuild, how long it takes, traditionally, to go through a rebuild, and why they ultimately made the decision not to go that route and invest into the win-now model, as seen with the extensions to Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck.

Chipman knows this market wouldn't be able to sustain a historic rebuild so, instead, they’re investing in the here and now.
 

How is Rick Bowness’ wife, Judy, doing after suffering a stroke on Sunday?

Rick Bowness Winnipeg JetsDreger: The great news is that Judy is at home. Rick is with her at home and she’s resting. She’s also undergoing further testing and evaluation to find out exactly what happened and why that happened.

The priority is family for Rick Bowness and by extension the Winnipeg Jets, hence the leave of absence. We don’t know how long he's going to be away from the club but the team is in good hands from a hockey perspective with Scott Arniel, who was a top candidate when the Jets went down the path of a coaching search before hiring Rick Bowness so they know he’s certainly capable on handling things in the interim.
 

Leo Carlsson, the No. 2 overall pick in the [2023] draft, is not playing every game. Is that all part of the plan?

Leo Carlsson Anaheim DucksLeBrun: That’s right. Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek sat down with Leo Carlsson and his agent Matt Keator and they came up with this plan which is to limit him to two games per week for the opening two months of the season and then re-evaluating where he is in his game. Verbeek says this is about him having a bigger impact and being fresher in the second half.

A very interesting approach here but probably a smart one for the second overall pick.