Denis Gurianov won't wear the Montreal Canadiens' special Pride Night uniforms and will sit out warmups for Thursday's game against the Washington Capitals.
In a statement, while not identifying Gurianov, the Canadiens said one of their players chose not to wear the Pride jersey "for family reasons."
Said head coach Martin St. Louis of Gurianov's decision, "I don't know the repercussions, and I've never walked a day in his shoes."
"I think anybody can say you'd always try to protect your family, so I have a tough time judging that," added St. Louis. "(Gurianov) is a great kid, it's tough."
Despite Gurianov sitting out, St. Louis stressed how important the night is for the organization.
"We're all on this planet, we should love each other, and tonight's one of those nights," he said.
"We, the Montreal Canadiens, really care about this night, and so do I, it's a great night."
The sweaters will be auctioned off after the game, with proceeds benefitting You Can Play, a non-profit committed to fighting homophobia in sports, and GRIS-Montreal, a research and social intervention group which demystifies homosexuality, bisexuality and gender identities in schools.
Gurianov is a native of Russia, where a law was passed in December making it illegal for anyone to promote same-sex relationships or suggest that non-heterosexual orientations are “normal.”
The new laws make it illegal to promote or “praise” LGBTQ relationships, publicly express non-heterosexual orientations. In what has widely been perceived as a further crackdown on free speech in the wake of Russia's attack on Ukraine, the new laws expand upon those passed in 2013 that made it illegal to promote non-heterosexual orientations to minors.
Gurianov joins a list of players who sat out warmups or did not wear Pride warmup jerseys that includes Andrei Kuzmenko, Sergei Bobrovsky, Ivan Provorov, Ilya Lyubushkin, Eric and Marc Staal, and James Reimer. In addition, teams such as the Chicago Blackhawks, Minnesota Wild and New York Rangers have also chosen to not wear Pride sweaters in warmups when they had previously announced they would.
--with files from The Canadian Press
