And the Arizona Coyotes are
making national headlines
this morning. I'm talking with the team's
president ahead of the Yates
hosting their
Pride night. This evening, defenseman Travis Dermott
defied an NHL rule
and used Rainbow Pride tape on his stick
during a game recently. Well, now the NHL has reversed that
rule and the NHL said this
week that players will now be allowed to voluntarily
represent social causes with their stick tape
throughout the season. And tonight just happens
to be the Arizona Coyotes night of hosting
their Pride Night. It's happening at Mullah
Arena in Tempe
and it's happening in October to
coincide with Phoenix pride. So you can see, I asked Coyote's President
Javier Gutierrez about their
reaction to
this rule reversal and why Pride Night
is so important
to the team. I start by first applauding
Travis Dermott who is our defenseman who really
was courageous. Um He, he did not inform us
this was his decision. Um And as I told him, uh on
behalf of the organization, one, we support our players' rights
to express themselves. Uh Number two, we are never going
to waiver
from our organizational support of
the LGBT Q community, these communities, we see ourselves as
a community asset that convenes everybody that
welcomes everybody. And so we have and we will
continue to maintain support
of that community. And as you mentioned, we have our Pride Night where
we have an extensive
programming, but it's not just about one
night, it's not just
about one event. This is a commitment that we
have year long. And we shared
that with Travis and Javier shared with me that
they want everyone to be
part of their pack. And you will hear more of my
interview with Javier
on today
in A Z next month when we dive into
what this season is
looking like, how their players are shaping
up and also where their future permanent home
could be here
in Arizona.