Colorado Avalanche Respond Positively to Fan Feedback for Pride Night

After initial negative responses the Colorado Avalanche listened to feedback and put on their best Pride Night to date

The Colorado Avalanche were off to a shaky start with their efforts for this year’s Pride Night. By initially placing the emphasis on allies rather than the LGBTQ+ community the team was at risk of alienating the very people Pride Night is supposed to be for.

LGBTQ+ fans were not happy and media outlets such as Outsports were also not reporting on the event in a positive way.

"On its own, it’s a well-meaning gesture. But the Avalanche’s failure to also include any kind of acknowledgement of LGBTQ fans themselves is a choice, to uplift only self-identified allies’ voices, one that was called out across social media as a mistake."

Although the team never directly responded to the negative comments, and instead offered generic responses along the lines of ‘your feedback is important to us’, clearly the message was received. When Pride Night rolled around it was the most open and inclusive I have seen from the team since I started following them.

One of the suggestions for what would make a good Pride Night was talking to the players and the team actually did this ahead of the game. I notice they steer clear of using words like ‘homophobia’ or specifically talking about people’s sexuality/gender identity but this is definitely a step in the right direction. Also, the players are rocking the fantastic hats, which I believe were part of the newly rebranded Pride Package.

And for those who didn’t buy the Pride Package there was still some other Pride Night merchandise available. Again, this is a lot more than has been done in previous years.

After asking fans to submit their ‘I am an ally’ videos, which was what caused most of the negative feedback, the final product is so much more inclusive than that. While they have still included messages from allies they have also included personal messages from LGBTQ+ fans who wanted to share their stories. It’s incredibly moving and covers just about every aspect of the community. This is exactly what Pride Night is all about.

Pepsi Center was lit up in rainbow colors and looked great!

The fans, whether members of the LGBTQ+ community or not, really embraced the theme. The game was a sellout, which is impressive for a midweek game, and everyone looked to be having a great time.

The players were clearly having fun too, with pride themed warmup pucks being tossed to fans with signs.

https://twitter.com/jompherfoot/status/1235392157168455682

https://twitter.com/jostcomphfoot/status/1235396836531175425

A lot of the players (but sadly not all of them) warmed up with Pride Tape on their sticks. The sticks and leftover pucks were donated to You Can Play, presumably to be auctioned off at a later point.

Overall, while there is still some room for improvement (I would love to see the team partner with local LGBTQ+ charities next year) this is by far above and beyond what I expected from the Avalanche’s Pride Night. They clearly listened to the feedback they were receiving and acted on it.

Thank you, Avs. More like this next year, please.

The Colorado Avalanche now have a west coast road trip ahead of them where they will take on the Vancouver Canucks on Friday, the San Jose Sharks on Sunday and the LA Kings on Monday.