Khaira, Shaw among 'Hockey Is For Everyone' ambassadors
Feb. 1 marks the beginning of 'Hockey Is For Everyone' month around the NHL, and each club has named an official ambassador who will be a leader in both the locker room and the community on diversity, equality, and inclusion.
According to the NHL, the following players "have agreed to lead the way in their markets and be an advocate for underrepresented, marginalized, or disadvantaged communities; some will be featured in stories and public service announcements throughout the month":
- Anaheim Ducks - Corey Perry
- Arizona Coyotes - Oliver Ekman-Larsson
- Boston Bruins - Brad Marchand
- Buffalo Sabres - Ryan O'Reilly
- Carolina Hurricanes - Trevor van Riemsdyk
- Columbus Blue Jackets - Seth Jones
- Calgary Flames - Matt Stajan
- Chicago Blackhawks - Tommy Wingels
- Colorado Avalanche - Gabriel Landeskog
- Dallas Stars - Tyler Seguin
- Detroit Red Wings - Justin Abdelkader
- Edmonton Oilers - Jujhar Khaira
- Florida Panthers - Aaron Ekblad
- Los Angeles Kings - Dustin Brown
- Minnesota Wild - Charlie Coyle
- Montreal Canadiens - Andrew Shaw
- Nashville Predators - Kyle Turris
- New Jersey Devils - Andy Greene
- New York Islanders - Casey Cizikas
- New York Rangers - Mats Zuccarello
- Ottawa Senators - Dion Phaneuf
- Philadelphia Flyers - Claude Giroux
- Pittsburgh Penguins - Matt Murray
- San Jose Sharks - Chris Tierney
- St. Louis Blues - Carter Hutton
- Tampa Bay Lightning - Alex Killorn
- Toronto Maple Leafs - James van Riemsdyk
- Vancouver Canucks - Henrik Sedin
- Vegas Golden Knights - Pierre-idouard Bellemare
- Washington Capitals - Braden Holtby
- Winnipeg Jets - Jacob Trouba
Among the notable names is Montreal's Andrew Shaw, who takes on the role for the second year in a row after being suspended during the 2016 playoffs for uttering a homophobic slur. On a different note, Edmonton's Khaira is only the third player of Punjabi descent to play in the NHL.
The 31 players will be joined by two NHL Officials - Shandor Alphonso and Dave Jackson - as well as six special ambassadors: Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Bowser, Harrison Browne, Angela James, Josh Pauls, Fred Sasakamoose, and Harnarayan Singh.
Awareness nights will also be held around the league:
All 31 NHL teams will host #HockeyIsForEveryone Awareness Nights throughout the month of February. Details: https://t.co/bhDGSSpUUB pic.twitter.com/HbVA7Tl8nI
- NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 1, 2018
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