Forward Tommy Wingels of the San Jose Sharks was particularly pleased with this week's announcement that the NHL and NHLPA have joined together as partners with the You Can Play Project, an advocacy group that fights homophobia in sports.
Wingels, a college friend of the late Brendan Burke (son of former Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke) whose life and death inspired the project, serves on the You Can Play advisory board after having a role in its development. "Obviously it's great news," Wingels said. "The support from individual guys around the league had been great to this point. But to see the league as a whole partner with the NHLPA and come together as a group .... is remarkable."