PITTSBURGH, Pa (WTVR) - Due to backlash, high school hockey teams in Pennsylvania will once again play the National Anthem before games. Earlier this season, the league advised teams to consider stop playing the anthem because it took too long.
The original order came from Pennsylvania International Hockey League (PIHL) Commissioner Ed Sam. Sam sent out an email to the 183 high school teams in Central and Western Pennsylvania that advised the National Anthem not be sung. The high schools rent the ice time, so every game is carefully timed to get in as many games as possible in the shortest amount of time.
But in a more recent statement posted on the PIHL website, the league clarified its stance.
"The PIHL has not banned the National Anthem. A badly worded statement went out to teams about the subject and it has since been clarified and corrected," the statement read. "We apologize for the misunderstanding, but the National Anthem has not and will not be banned."
