Facing fallout for his refusal to wear an LGBTQ “Pride Night” warmup jersey, Florida Panthers forward Eric Staal claimed to reporters this week that he had “never” worn any kind of Pride-themed garment before. The receipts tell a different story. In a beautiful self-own, a 2021 video of Staal wearing a jersey with a Pride-themed rainbow logo during his time on the Montreal Canadiens has since gone viral on social media. Eric and his brother Marc previously said in a statement that wearing a Pride jersey “goes against our Christian beliefs” but added that they “carry no judgement on how people choose to live their lives.” Pride jerseys have recently become a contentious issue in the National Hockey League, with San Jose Sharks goalkeeper James Reimer making a similar objection to the Staals, and the Chicago Blackhawks axing the jerseys altogether because of anti-LGBTQ Russian law that could see Russian players prosecuted for sporting the rainbow colors.
