Wednesday marked a monumental day in sports.
The NBA and Major League Baseball both had games postponed in the wake of the shooting of Jacob Blake by a Kenosha, Wisc. police officer.
The NHL played its slate of games Wednesday night, with the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning holding a moment of reflection prior to puck drop.
After Boston’s 7-1 loss to Tampa Bay in Game 3, Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara and Bruce Cassidy were asked to share their thoughts on the boycotts.
Here’s how they answered on Zoom during their postgame press conferences:
Bergeron: “I think I’m just going to keep that at, obviously we stand against any type of racism. My stance and our stance doesn’t change. Again, any form of injustice and I’ve made a statement earlier, a few months ago, Zee did as well, I stand behind that statement. I want to be a part of it, part of a solution. Obviously, there needs to be change. That’s where I’m at. Obviously, it’s about human rights, and that’s it, that’s all I have to say for that.”
Chara: “We support NBA players and all the leagues that showed their support. Obviously, it was so close to our game that we were just getting ready. But pretty much saying what Patrice said, we support the fight against racism and injustice. There are different ways to express that fight and obviously NBA players expressed their opinions by boycotting the games today. We support it.”
Cassidy: “We as an NHL have voiced our opinion, we support the NBA and their players and their decision tonight. We’ll continue to fight for social justice and anti-racism, and I think the Bruins have been quite clear on their position on that and the players for that matter. As for playing the game I think then it goes to a higher authority than me so probably better question to the players if they felt that was something they discussed.”
Chara also noted there was no discussion about not playing Wednesday’s game.
