Braydon Coburn wanted to talk about the pursuit of social justice on Friday, not slap shots and shift changes.
The Tampa Bay Lightning defender wasn’t alone.
As a token of unity that NHL players show in their fight against racism, Coburn chose not to answer questions about hockey, particularly Tampa Bay’s Game 4 of the Eastern Conference’s second round against the Boston Bruins on Saturday (12 p.m. ET; NBC, SN), TVAS).
“I think today, for the most part, especially yesterday and today, we want to make sure we keep the attention and conversation around the issue,” said Coburn. “I think our heads are straight there.”
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The Lightning Bruins game is the first since Wednesday after players from all eight remaining teams decided not to play on Thursday and Friday in protest against systemic racism and police brutality.
For the past two days, players for Tampa Bay and Boston in Toronto, the hub to the east, have mingled in the bubble, as have members of the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders who play in the Eastern Conference Second Series series.
Lightning defender Luke Schenn The topic of conversation was always the same, and 30 to 40 players from the four teams got together to discuss what they could do to make change.
One of those players was Bruins striker Brad Marchandwho had a message for critics who believe players should stick with the sport.
“Look, everyone has a right to their own opinion,” he said. “But it’s very obvious and clear that this is bigger than sport. People have to put that aside.
“Sport is a luxury. It is a luxury to see this game, play this game. But when it comes to people’s safety and lives, and people feel good about being in their own skin, it’s a lot more important than that. I understand people I understand people want to see this, but that’s a shame, we have bigger things that are important to us and that we want to do and improve, and people that we want to support and on top of it depends. “
Video: NHL Players Stand United to Fight Racism and Injustice
Days before, Schenn and Marchand fought several times for the puck in Tampa Bay’s 7-1 win in Game 3 on Wednesday, which gave them a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series. But those fights seemed controversial, Schenn said when the lightning bolt came off the ice and discovered that NBA players had boycotted their playoff games to oppose the shooting of Jacob Blake, a black man, by a white police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin to protest on Sunday.
“Given what happened, everyone celebrates and celebrates after you’ve got a win,” he said. “After the last game, it wasn’t like that at all. We walked into the room and were made aware of what was going on and the conversation quickly shifted. I think you’re obviously in the middle of a playoff series, but it is even more happens outside of the game. “
By Thursday, enemies had become friends for a common cause.
“Before we did anything, we spoke to four or five Bruins,” said Schenn. “So you literally play what, 10 hours before, and the next day that has nothing to do with hockey. It all depends on what’s going on in the world right now and how it affects us all at different levels. These conversations and, well, personally I almost forgot we played it the night before and we’ll be playing it again in a moment, it’s based entirely on race issues and how we can keep growing and educating ourselves.
“We also spoke to four or five Bruins, and then another man on our team said, ‘Let’s make sure the flyers and islanders know.’ The next thing you know is that 30 or 40 of us are having a meeting. “
For some players, the talks over the past two days have had a profound impact.
“For me it’s about action,” said the islanders defender Scott Mayfield said. “I’ve already reached out to our Community Relations Director about things to set up outside the rink, what we can do, brainstorm, visit minority communities, that sort of thing.”
All of this is part of the players’ pursuit of much-needed change at all levels of the sport.
“Just hearing stories from young players who don’t feel safe, who don’t feel included, just has to stop,” Mayfield said. “It only makes me sick because hockey is a place for everyone.”
NHL.com employees Amalie Benjamin and Brian Compton contributed to this report
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