Reaves Doesn't Stand Alone

Ryan Reaves spent Wednesday night alone in his hotel room. Alone in his thoughts. Alone with his fears. Alone as a Black man in a predominantly White sport.
But he woke up Thursday morning surrounded. Surrounded in support and friendship. Reaves found out how much he mattered to his teammates and his league. He found out those around him understood, though they could never walk his path, that it was a painful path. And they wanted to help create change in his world. Here in hockey, we often use the phrase "the hockey world." It's a bubble of its own. On Thursday, NHL players chose to step out of that bubble. To leave the hockey world and step into the real world. A world where racism is too strong and social justice is too weak. They looked beyond their scope and chose to make a statement.

NHL players have elected to take Thursday and Friday off from playing games. They told their story over Zoom calls with a handful of players including Reaves at microphones, but a mass of players standing behind them from all four teams left in the Stanley Cup playoffs Western Conference bubble.
The Vegas Golden Knights winger was floored by the help offered from across the league.
"I have to go back to (Wednesday) night to be honest. We went out for dinner with a couple of the boys and then Brayden McNabb asked if we were going to play (Thursday). I said 'yeah, why not?' I then came upstairs and asked myself if we were really going to play. Are we not going to support what's going on here? We have to, you have to think we are. Honestly I was up all night," said Reaves.
"I ended up calling Marc-Andre Fleury, I texted him at 12 a.m. to see if he was still up. He called me back and we had a decent conversation. In my head, I was thinking about how there were only a couple players of color in the bubble. How is this going to look? Am I just going to walk out to support my black community? Am I going to be the one or two or three out of the eight teams doing it? Am I not going to support and just go play and act like everything is fine? I was back and forth, but in my head I felt like we shouldn't play. I felt like this was something that we needed to support.
"Lo and behold, I wake up after an hour or two of sleep and I have a text from Kevin Shattenkirk asking me to call him. I called him and he said he had players from the teams out east and they wanted to hear what I had to say. I said I feel like it's a strong message and a very powerful message if a sport like hockey, which is predominantly white, can stand up and say I don't know what you've been through and never will, but I see what's going on in this country and I don't think it is right. Every single player said they would stand behind it and that we should not play. I got another text that Vancouver wanted to talk. I get outside their locker room and every one of those guys thought we should sit for two days and said they'd stand behind it. It was a big exhale for me because I felt like I was alone in it, but it was the exact opposite. I couldn't have felt more in a group than I did this morning. It was great because it was such a powerful message to see that people really see what is going on in this country. As white athletes, they don't want to stand for it anymore. To take that stance, I applaud every single NHL player right now. I really do."
Reaves is 33 and born in Canada. His father Willard was born in Flagstaff, Arizona, and played pro football in the NHL and CFL before settling in Winnipeg and working as a sheriff. The family has a long background law enforcement and Reaves says he supports the military.
"A couple of us took a knee in that first game with Dallas. It was talked about, good or bad, it was talked about. It was in the media and we had to talk about it. It started the conversation. Like I stated before, I have so much respect for the people that protect this country the right way, the people that go overseas to protect this country and the rights of this country while putting their lives on the line," he said.
"We got the conversation started and now stand for the people that fight for those freedoms. I think you can do it both ways, as long as the message is right. There are going to be the people that disagree. I got a lot of hate in my inbox, I know Robin Lehner did too. There was a lot of hate in what we did. You can't satisfy everybody, but what I believe in was more powerful. I felt that I had to do what I believed in, and then I stood for what I believed in. As long as the message is right, you can do both."
Reaves believes in peaceful protest and plans to be proactive and to attempt to inspire positive change.
"I'm stuck in a bubble right now and all I can do right now is what we just organized together. The conversation has been started. This is going to be on TV, this is going to be talked about for a couple days. That alone right there is a very powerful start," said Reaves.
"When we get out of the bubble, we've got to get out in these communities. We're hockey players. We should start with hockey. We should start by bringing more black players, more players of color into the sport, building rinks in those communities, getting them equipment, because equipment is not cheap. Hockey is a hard sport to get into because it's not cheap to play. A stick costs $200. People can't afford that. Not everybody can afford that kind of stuff. It is a very privileged sport to play. If you can get out into these communities and start bringing the sport to them. Start bringing them equipment, build rinks there, run some hockey camps with a couple of the players free of charge to get out in those communities, meet with these kids and get them to start enjoying the game. That's a great start right there. For me, when I get out of the bubble that's where I'm starting for sure."
Vegas coach Pete DeBoer spoke Thursday and singled out Reaves:
"Real proud of Ryan. It hasn't just been the last 24 hours, we've had ongoing conversations going back to the beginning when we got into the bubble and when Ryan and a group of other players took a knee during the national anthem. He is a smart, intellectual guy that has a lot of loyalty to both his race, but also to law enforcement and military. He doesn't do anything without considering everything. When we discussed what was going to go on here today, he had my full support. I don't think he slept a lot last night and I think it weighed heavily on him. I also think he was very comfortable in his decision. I'm real proud of him and proud to stand behind him."
Reaves is the only black player in the Golden Knights lineup right now. But his teammates didn't just stand behind him on Thursday. They held long conversations and while not all originally agreed with the decision not to play, they eventually settled on the course of action as a team, said Reaves.
"Look, they could have said 'We want to play. We're playing well right now and we don't think this is the right thing to do.' And to be honest not every single player wanted to necessarily sit out for two days," said Reaves. "I didn't know if I wanted to sit out for two days. I was back and forth with it just like some of the guys on the team were. But the most powerful thing was they said 'If that's what you think needs to be done, I stand behind you.' That's the kind of team we have. We support each other in decisions we make, whether you believe it or not or whether you think it's the right way of going about it. Every single guy once we talked about it said 'Hey, I support what you're doing. We're not going to play these next two days.' I thank every player on this team too."