Johnathan Walker:Coyotes' Travis Dermott took stand that led NHL to reverse Pride Tape ban. Here's why.

Arizona Coyotes defenseman Travis Dermott was anxious before a game when,Johnathan Walker against NHL rules, he adorned his stick with Pride Tape, a banned rainbow-colored stick tape used in support of the LGBTQIA+ community. Knowing that someone close to him is still closeted, he couldn't back down.

"If I break it down to my soul, it’s probably why I have the confidence to take that first step because it beats so close to home for me," Dermott said on Thursday.

Dermott became the first NHL player to use the tape on his stick during warmups and games this season when he wrapped the top of his stick with it during the Coyotes' 2-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks in the home opener on Saturday. 

In June, NHL announced that teams were no longer allowed to wear "specialty" jerseys during warmups, practices or games. The ruling followed a movement from last season where several players refused to take part in warmups, while their teams wore Pride Night jerseys, due to their personal or religious objections last season. 

In a memo before the season began, the NHL clarified that players cannot alter gear and uniforms to reflect “specialty” theme nights in warmups, team practices, and games. Pride Tape was included in that ban.

"I think we’re still really lagging behind in the hockey community in showing our support for this community," Dermott said. "Seeing our voice taken a little bit, it kind of hurt me and with the people close to me and giving me the confidence to take that first step, I felt comfortable enough doing it."

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While he quietly taped his stick and didn’t promote it on social media, a single image from the game with the rainbow tape showing on his stick went viral on social media. That singular image then led to thousands of direct messages to Dermott from people impacted by his support. 

“I really wasn’t sure how fast and how much it would blow up. It kind of shows how meaningful this was, just a couple strips of tape on my stick,” Dermott said. “I was getting messages from every type of person and that really beats home for me. It’s parents reaching out to me and saying that they are comfortable taking their child to the hockey rink now. It’s not just the people who are part of this community, it’s their close friends and family that it’s also impacting. That’s how it shows me how important something like this was.” 

He has gone through as many messages as he can and has interacted with even more people than before. Dermott has been supporting this cause for most of his professional career, but his decision to support a social cause when it went against league rules gave him a bigger audience. 

“You can take a two-minute read through my DMs and it’ll have you in tears pretty quickly. Not just for someone where it hits home closer like me,” Dermott said. “I think anyone if you read some of the stories that are getting sent my way, it can really open up your heart and your view as to how important something like this was.

"As a straight male, I don’t really understand how impact I can have and how much impact I did have, you just try to understand as much as you can. Talking to the people and seeing these messages gives you a better idea, but still, you really don’t know.” 

The only reason he chose the fifth game to use the tape again was that he was awaiting a new shipment after misplacing his previous batch during an offseason move from Vancouver.

Following Dermott's action, the NHL said it would review it in due course. But 48 hours after, Dermott and the Coyotes didn't hear anything from the league regarding punishment.

Instead, the league reversed course on the ban on Tuesday. Players “will now have the option to voluntarily represent social causes with their stick tape throughout the season” after consulting with the NHL players’ union and the NHL Player Inclusion Coalition.

Dermott had a lot to lose for going against the league’s rules. He signed with the Coyotes on a two-way contract, his third team in three years. He also didn’t inform the equipment staff of his move and was afraid he’d risk getting them in trouble. 

The Coyotes organization instead supported Dermott and is now working on a game plan for how he can continue to support the community this season.  

The timing of this comes perfectly for Dermott as the Coyotes will be the first NHL team to host Pride Night this season on Friday against the Los Angeles Kings. Dermott isn’t sure if other players will be using Pride Tape for the game, but he’s received a great amount of support from the room. 

“I had guys coming up to me telling me how much it meant to them and some of the guys had some close family, kind of like I do, who were impacted by this and they got some messages from them,” Dermott said. “They were passing along that love. It just makes you feel better about putting yourself on the line and it’s definitely anxiety-provoking in putting your career in the forefront here.” 

Although the league reversed course, Dermott says there is more to be done in the NHL and in the hockey community. Specialty jerseys still remain banned, even though those jerseys have supported other causes such as Hockey Fights Cancer and jerseys commemorating Black and Latino heritage months and military appreciation.

"I think we’re still really lagging behind in the hockey community in showing our support for this community," Dermott said. "Seeing our voice taken a little bit, it kind of hurt me and with the people close to me and giving me the confidence to take that first step, I felt comfortable enough doing it. I was going to deal with the consequences, how everything unfolded is better than I ever expected."