Minnesota Wild goalie barred from wearing Native American Heritage Night mask during warmups

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The Minnesota Wild are holding a Native American Heritage Night on Friday, so goalie Marc-Andre Fleury wanted to honor his wife's indigenous background.

So, he had a mask designed to acknowledge his wife, but the NHL is disallowing him to wear it.

The NHL announced in June that in order to avoid any "distraction," themed jerseys and equipment will no longer be worn on the ice. The stance stemmed from when several players and some teams (including the Wild) opted not to wear LGBTQ-themed jerseys during warm-ups on their respective Pride Nights.

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Marc-Andre Fleury, #29 of the Minnesota Wild, warms up before facing the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 2023 NHL Global Series Sweden at Avicii Arena on November 19, 2023, in Stockholm, Sweden.  (André Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images)

However, commissioner Gary Bettman said the ban would be in effect for all theme nights.

Fleury had a member of the Prairie Island Indian Community design the mask, according to The Athletic, who said he was "bummed" that he could not wear it.

The goalie originally planned to wear it and take any punishment, says his agent, Allan Walsh, but he backtracked when the league threatened a more significant penalty.

Bettman said he made his decision on the jerseys in order to keep "the focus on the game."

"I suggested that it would be appropriate for clubs not to change their jerseys in warm-ups, because it's become a distraction and taking away from the fact that all of our clubs in some form or another host nights in honor of various groups or causes, and we'd rather them continue to get the appropriate attention that