Brothers Eric and Marc Staal choose not to wear themed jerseys during Panthers’ Pride Night
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Citing religious beliefs, Eric and Marc Staal opted out of warmups Thursday night
Two Florida Panthers players elected not to take part in wearing special themed jerseys for Pride Night at FLA Live Arena on Thursday.
Brothers Eric and Marc Staal did not join their teammates on the ice for warmups.
They issued a joint statement in which they said “after many thoughts and prayers” they chose not to wear the jerseys.
The brothers cited their Christian beliefs as the reason for not participating.
“We carry no judgement on how people choose to live their lives, and believe that all people should be welcome in all aspects of the game of hockey,” the statement read.
This comes despite Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice saying Thursday morning that the team made an organizational decision to “celebrate” Pride Night.
“As an organization we’ve decided, rightfully so, to move forward with it and support it and celebrate it,” Maurice said when asked if there would be any issues with the Panthers ahead of the planned theme night. “Teams around the league and players around the league have got the right to their opinion and we’ve got the right to ours.”
Both Staal brothers are in their first year with the Panthers after signing with the team during the offseason.
“We hope you can respect this statement, we will not be speaking any further on the matter and would like to continue to focus on the game of hockey and helping the Florida Panthers win the Stanley Cup,” the statement read.
It’s expected that both players will be participating in Thursday’s game against Toronto.