meg ❦

ive rewritten this i dont even know how many times at this point because i am so conflicted over this whole thing and i cant figure out what exactly to feel as a liberal american who grew up in a conservative town with half my family being conservative/MAGA too. i grew up surrounded by hockey— my aunts met and fell in love playing for opposing beer league teams, my parents’ first date was to a hockey game, nearly every one of my pets growing up was named after a hockey player, i’ve been going to games/been a season ticket holder to the nearest team since 2014, my first boyfriend was a AAA hockey player, my childhood best friend plays in the NCAA.

i know about hockey culture, about the conformity and mob mentality and the guarantee of being ostracized for voicing an opinion that doesn’t align with the majority. do i think that the ideas and message in that video are a representation of what every single player on the mens team thinks? not necessarily, but until they come out and say otherwise, i dont think it matters. im holding out hope (foolishly) that some of the players decide not to go to the white house, but that would require them to deviate from the collective and i just dont think that’s something any of them have the balls for or care enough to do.

i think everyone should read we breed lions by rick westhead if you haven’t already because it does a great job explaining just how deep this issue is rooted into hockey culture.

i didn’t really expect any differently and i know that 99.99% of them are conservative but it’s still so disappointing to see it displayed so blatantly and shamelessly and it’s so incredibly frustrating how many of these guys are trying to use patriotism as a mask for nationalism.