Should Matt Dumba be suspended for this hit on Joe Pavelski?
The 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs aren’t even a day old and already there’s controversy brewing.
On Monday, the Dallas Stars were hosting the Minnesota Wild in Game 1 of the first round of the playoffs. With the Stars up 2-1 late in the second period as the team was moving deep into the offensive zone, Joe Pavelski was rocked by a hit from Matt Dumba that send both teams into a frenzy.
On the play, Dumba backed into Pavelski with a violent hit that caught him high in the shoulder, causing the Stars’ forward to fall hard on the ice. Pavelski had to be helped off the ice after the hit and did not return for the remainder of the second period.
Originally, Dumba was given a five-minute major for the hit, but after review — which is a new rule this season — the Wild defenseman was given a two-minute minor for roughing instead.
Matt Dumba lays a late hit on Joe Pavelski and receives a 2-minute minor penalty for roughing. pic.twitter.com/a6XTWf4Hup
You never want to see a player go out with an injury like that, especially on a brutal hit from Dumba that felt unnecessarily late. We’ll have to see if Dumba is given extra from the Department of Player Safety, but given the ferocity of the hit, it feels like a suspension could very well be in the cards.
NHL fans were absolutely irate that Dumba’s vicious hit on Pavelski was downgraded to a minor penalty.
The Minnesota Wild defenseman has taken on the burden of protest for the entire NHL. Will anyone join him?
Eschewing a team jersey and dressed in jeans and a hoodie, the Minnesota Wild’s Matt Dumba became the first NHL player to take a knee during the national anthem on Saturday afternoon.
On Sunday evening, ahead of the Wild’s first Stanley Cup Qualifying Series game against the Vancouver Canucks, Dumba continued his protest for racial justice and became the second NHL player to raise a fist during the national anthems.
In both instances, one where he knelt on the red carpet and one where he stood inside the team bench, Dumba cut a solitary, lonely figure.
Regardless of the fact that Dumba was surrounded by teammates and fellow players during both moments, it was still abundantly clear that, because of the boldness of his actions, he stood on his own. On Saturday, Dumba knelt with the hands of the Blackhawks’ Malcom Subban and the Oilers’ Darnell Nurse on his shoulders, yet that visual only heightened the burden that players of color carry.
On center ice, there were no players joining him and instead of Dumba’s knee reading like a unifying act, it showed the gap between him and the rest of his (mostly white) NHL teammates. Prior to the Wild game on Sunday, Dumba, who is Filipino-Canadian, was inside the bench and kept his fist up for both anthems, swaying slightly as hockey players are apt to do. This time, there was no supportive hands on his shoulders and only the vague indifference of his teammates as they stared into the distance.
“Just that feeling, that feeling of having that support and just love in our locker room is something that we’ve been talking about,” Dumba told reporters. “I’ve been able to share everything that I’ve been doing with my group these last couple weeks, and everyone has just jumped right on board. It’s been awesome to see.”
It’s heartening that support for Dumba from players and his teammates has been unwavering and it certainly sounds far better than what NHL player JT Brown received from the Tampa Bay Lightening when he raised his fist during the national anthem in 2017. But, what’s also become clear over the past few days is that while the NHL and players have been quick to extend their support with words, so far, no one, certainly not his white teammates, has stepped up with meaningful actions.
Players have worn Black Lives Matter t-shirts and spoken about their continued responsibility towards working for racial justice, but those vague gestures and words are just that —vague sentiments meant to placate while someone else does the work.
According to The Athletic, Dumba was specifically asked by the NHL if “he would be interested in being the face of social change on the first day of the Stanley Cup.”
It seems clear then that the NHL wanted someone they could turn into a symbol, someone who would be willing to shoulder the burden for an entire league without any help. And while privately executives praise Dumba for being “well spoken,” they’ve left him out to dry with fans and consented to him becoming the social justice whipping boy.
As has been detailed, the NHL professes a commitment to social justice, but they haven’t done much to show their support, certainly not as far as money goes. Plus, even while Dumba is facing blowback from fans and warriors in the culture war, the NHL or the Wild can’t even use the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter to describe Dumba’s actions.
In their tweet about Dumba’s raised fist, the Minnesota Wild used the hashtag #WeSkateFor Equality. But there was no “we” here, only one man taking a very difficult stand.
This conditional, half-hearted support makes Dumba’s actions even more courageous and heartbreaking.
The league’s players of color already do more than their fair share of lifting as far as addressing racial injustice is concerned, either by constantly addressing questions from the media that white players rarely face, or being vocal proponents for social change in a league that likes to keep its rinks apolitical. There are many of them who, like Dumba, are doing the work, either through their words or with their wallets. They are already ostracized in a league that is overwhelmingly white and we ask too much of them already.
Dumba’s white NHL teammates though need to take a long look inward and search back to the social media posts they made earlier this summer. How steadfast is their commitment is to the causes they professed to care so much about a few months ago? Are they willing to take it past social media statements and t-shirts? Can they boldly come out for defunding the police and criminal justice reform? Can they say its time to arrest the cops that killed Breonna Taylor? Can they too raise a fist in solidarity?
Right now, Dumba and other players of color in the league need their support in that manner. Not privately in the locker room or via text message, but publicly and on the ice.
In other professional leagues, like the NBA, MLB, NWSL, and WNBA, entire teams have taken a knee before or during the anthem to show their commitment towards social justice. They present a strong, united front, letting no player stand on their own in their desire for racial equality.
The NHL though, has pushed an entire movement onto the shoulders of one man. It remains to be seen which players will have courage to join him.
“Black Lives Matter. Breonna Taylor’s life matters,” Dumba said.
The Minnesota Wild’s Matt Dumba became the first NHL player to take a knee during the national anthem on Saturday afternoon.
Prior the start of the Chicago Blackhawks and Edmonton Oilers Stanley Cup qualifying series, the NHL’s pregame ceremony featured players from both teams standing in a circle on center ice. After a short voice over honoring front line health care workers and social justice advocates, Dumba entered the rink in a Hockey Diversity Alliance sweatshirt.
Standing in a circle of his peers, Dumba, who is Filipino-Canadian, spoke on behalf of the HDA about racial justice and how he hopes hockey and its fans can rise to meet the moment.
“Black Lives Matter. Breonna Taylor’s life matters,” Dumba said. “Hockey is a great game, but it can be a whole lot greater…and it starts with all of us.”
As the opening strains of the American national anthem played, Dumba took a knee.
Supported by the Blackhawks’ Malcom Subban and the Oilers’ Darnell Nurse, Dumba made NHL history in a powerful, moving moment.
Taking a knee might be looked at as a performative gesture in other places, such as the NBA or WNBA arena, where it is far more common, but in an NHL rink it is still a bold, controversial statement of protest.
Dumba, a founding member of the Hockey Diversity Alliance, has spoken out recently about the need for the NHL and NHL players to do more to help achieve racial justice. As the Canadian national anthem started, Dumba, who plays in Minnesota, stood up.
Dumba taking a knee shouldn’t be minimized, yet it didn’t go unnoticed that no other players, especially white players, were willing to kneel with him. Despite the show of unity, Dumba cut a lonely figure out on center ice.
