Minnesota Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury Nick Wosika-USA TODAY Sports

Marc-Andre Fleury defied NHL with Native American Heritage mask

By Adam Gretz | Last updated 11/25/23

The NHL told Minnesota Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury on Friday that he was not permitted to wear a custom-designed mask to celebrate the team's Native American Heritage Night, threatening both him and the team with fines.

Fleury did not care about the threat and wore the mask anyway for the team's warmup against the Colorado Avalanche.

Marc-Andre Fleury is wearing his Native American Heritage mask in warmups. pic.twitter.com/WPSITbHz5U
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 25, 2023

After a very small handful of players complained about having to wear rainbow-themed jerseys on Pride nights around the league last season, the NHL put in a rule this season that prohibited players from wearing specialty-themed jerseys, masks and tape.

It was not a popular rule change, especially since the league gave in to a very vocal minority.

The NHL already reversed course one time after the rule change and said it would allow players to use rainbow stick tape during warmups.

Not allowing Fleury to wear the mask was proving to be a PR disaster for the league. The mask was designed by artist Cole Redhorse Taylor and featured quotes from Fleury's dad and the names of his children. He also wanted to wear the mask to honor his wife, who is native.

The mask is being auctioned off (bidding ends on Nov. 30), and as of Saturday morning the bidding was already up over $15,000. It will almost certainly continue to increase over the next few days.

Fleury did not actually start in the game, which was a 3-2 win for the Avalanche.

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