It’s a very popular contest during the Chicago Blackhawks games that draws a lot of interest, Shoot the Puck. Usually after the second period a man or child and a woman join a celebrity to compete in the event. It has become a tradition for the song The Stripper to be played during the contest, but from now on the song won’t be played.
Marissa Miller is pushing for some changes in the Blackhawks organization about the way women are presented. She started an online petition and received nearly 900 signatures since posting it on August 6. Miller’s “3 Hawks Goals” petition call for an overhaul of Shoot the Puck, dress the women of the “Ice Crew” in the same uniform as the guys (pants and jacket) and add a female moderator at next year’s Hawks Convention.
Blackhawks President and CEO John McDonough said on Wednesday he is listening to what the fans have to say. “We have to listen,” McDonough told the Chicago Sun-Times on Wednesday. “We have to be aware. We have to react when appropriate — not overreact, but react. We take all of this very seriously. We have had to take a look at every single element, every aspect of our operation, our hockey business from A to Z. I certainly have read the stories, and I understand the sensitive nature of all of that.”
Miller finds the outfit worn by the Ice Crew girls inappropriate. The Girls wear a short skirt and a crop top but they aren’t the only ones in the league wearing that uniform. McDonough said, “They’re very common throughout the league.” That doesn’t mean the Hawks aren’t going to look into a change in uniform for the girls, just means they aren’t the only one doing it.
The Hawks are very interested in making the United Center a more comfortable environment for not only its female fans but male fans as well. “I think as our franchise’s fan base has exploded, we’re hearing and we’re witnessing and we have to evolve with all of that, and we have to change and we have to address it,” McDonough said. “We hear the feedback. We respect it. We’re distilling it right now.”
You can read more on this story at Chicago Sun-Times.com.
featured image via Bill Smith/NHLI Getty Images
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