VANCOUVER -- The Vancouver Canucks won't be hitting the ice Thursday night following calls to postpone playoff games in solidarity with racial injustice protesters, the team confirmed on social media.
Game 3 of the Canucks' series against the Golden Knights is one of two NHL playoff matches scheduled for Thursday. The postponement follows similar action seen in the NBA, MLS and MLB this week, in the wake of the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis.
"The Vancouver Canucks and Vegas Golden Knights players have elected not to play tonight's game in the name of equality and to protect against acts of racial injustice," the Canucks said on Twitter.
"The Canucks organization is 100 per cent supportive. The decision emphasizes the importance of being an ally, moving the conversation forward and taking action."
Earlier in the day, the Hockey Diversity Alliance revealed it had formally requested that games be suspended Thursday to let players and fans reflect on Blake's shooting, which it described as "yet another example of police brutality against Black Americans that continues to go unabated and unaddressed in the communities where NHL teams play."
Multiple NBA games were postponed on Wednesday and the association's board of governors will meet on Thursday to discuss whether games planned for that evening will go ahead.
"We have all worked hard to come together to play games, but this is a moment for all of us to take a stand," the Canucks' post says, using the Black Lives Matter hashtag. "This is bigger than hockey."
