Buffalo Sabres goalie Anders Nilsson is showing his support for LGBT people by wearing a gay pride flag sticker on the back of his mask.
“I have a couple friends who are gay, and life hasn’t been easy for them growing up,” Nilsson told the Buffalo News. “It’s time that hockey starts to pay some attention to that.”
Nilsson got the idea while in Edmonton with the Oilers when the team wore rainbow tape on their sticks.
“We brought awareness last year in Edmonton,” Nilsson told the News. “We had a skills competition, Edmonton has one every year, and during that game we had rainbow tape. They said they were the first team in North America to do that.
“This summer, I thought why not be the first goalie to put that on the helmet and raise some awareness for that?”
Nilsson said he was also trying to help the You Can Play Project with his show of support.
There has never been an out NHL player, so allies like Nilsson are important. The fact that he wears the pride flag sticker on his mask near a photo of his son shows the issue is important to him.
