Philadelphia Flyers Defenseman Skipped Warmups After Refusing to Wear Pride-Themed Jersey On Pride Night

Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov skipped warmups on Tuesday night after he refused to wear a Pride-themed jersey while the team celebrated Pride Night.

Before the start of the Flyers’ game against the Anaheim Ducks, Philly players came out of their dressing room wearing warmup jerseys with rainbows through their numbers. Players also had rainbow-colored tape on their sticks. The Flyers will auction off the jerseys and sticks, and the proceeds will go to diverse communities to help grow the game of hockey. After the game, Provorov met media members at his locker and explained why he was not on the ice for warmups.

“I respect everybody, and I respect everybody’s choices,” Provorov said. “My choice is to stay true to myself and to my religion. That’s all I’m going to say.”

Provorov noted that he is Russian Orthodox in a follow-up questions, but declined to speak further on the subject.

The Flyers released a statement before Provorov met with the media at his locker. The statement read:

The Philadelphia Flyers organization is committed to inclusivity and is proud to support the LGBTQ+ community. Many of our players are active in their support of local LGBTQ+ organizations, and we were proud to host our annual Pride Night again this year. The Flyers will continue to be strong advocates for inclusivity and the LGBTQ+ community.

In a press conference after the game, Flyers head coach John Tortorella explained that Provorov missed warmups due to his personal views.

“With Provy, he’s being true to himself and to his religion,” Tortorella continued. “This has to do with belief and his religion. It’s one thing I respect about Provy. He’s always true to himself. That’s where we’re at with that.”

Tortorella was asked if he considered not playing Provorov after missing warmups, and his answer was “no.”

This is not the first time the Flyers head coach has made headlines due to pregame protests. In 2016, Tortorella said he would bench players who did not stand for the National Anthem, but in 2020, his stance changed after seeing the racial injustice protests.

“I would hope that if one of my players wanted to protest during the anthem, he would bring it to me, and we would talk about it, tell me his thoughts and what he wanted to do,” Tortorella told The Athletic in 2020. “From there, we would bring it to the team to discuss it, much like it’s being discussed in our country right now.”

Watch above via the Philadelphia Flyers.