Philadelphia Flyers: Game Three has reportedly been postponed
Along with the rest of the NHL games slated for today, the Flyers will not take to the ice tonight.
While the NHL has not formally announced the cancellation of tonight’s games, the growing sense among players is that they will not be playing. That includes the Flyers and Islanders Game 3 that was scheduled for tonight.
As of right now, the players have acknowledged that they won’t be playing. But the decision has to come from the league itself.
It is a statement a day after the NBA players began the movement of boycotting their games. The Milwaukee Bucks made the decision to not take to the court for their series against the Orlando Magic.
That creates a trickle down effect through not only the NBA, but some of the other major sports. Games around the MLB, MLS, WNBA were not played. NFL teams even went as far as cancelling practices for today.
The NHL went on as scheduled last night, only taking a brief moment of reflection before the Tampa Bay/Boston game. Nothing was done for the Dallas/Avs game.
The Flyers had already been in the midst of their matchup when everything went down. But it appears more and more likely that they will be waiting a few days to resume.
There is word that not only will tonight’s games be postponed, but Friday may come into play as well. The Flyers wouldn’t be scheduled to take the ice again until Saturday.
This is a strong stance, despite how long it took to come to the conclusion. It should also be known that this has been a player-led initiative.
The Hockey Diversity Alliance came forward earlier today and formally requested that the NHL suspend all of their games for tonight. Each member also posted a united message across social media this afternoon.
We the @TheOfficialHDA have formally requested the @NHL to suspend all playoff games today. We strongly feel this sends a clear message that human rights take priority over sports.
— Evander Kane (@evanderkane) August 27, 2020
Players were also said to have reached out to members of the HDA last night. Among those mentioned were James van Riemsdyk and Scott Laughton.
That is all that is known at this time as we await the official word from both the Toronto and Edmonton bubble. But nevertheless, this is a big moment for the NHL to take a stance once and for all.