The NHL Is Banning GIFs For The Playoffs Because The NHL Is Stupid

This shouldn’t be surprising. The NHL is run by a moron, Gary Bettman, who makes almost exclusively bad decisions. The very first thing that happens after a team wins the Stanley Cup is that Gary Bettman gets booed. That’s how much everyone hates him: it takes precedence over the joy they feel for their team winning the most storied and desired trophy in all of sports. “I’ll be happy in a bit, but right now I need to make sure this Jewish midget knows how much I hate him,” is what everyone thinks as the team they’ve spent their entire life supporting hugs and celebrates achieving their ultimate goal.

But since the NHL revels in idiotic and shortsighted moves, we’ll be without GIFs for the playoffs. It’s astonishing that leagues still view 6 second commercials all over social media as some kind of boogeyman stealing money from their pockets, but it’s exactly the way they look at it. The only league that has embraced GIFs is the NBA and you’re never going to believe this, but I’ve found myself watching more NBA games this year than ever before. I saw enough Stephy Curry and Russell Westbrook highlights on Twitter to admit to myself that I was a fool for not watching these games. It’s almost like the free marketing that GIF makers do for the sport turned into more eyes reaching their product, or something crazy like that.

But don’t tell that to the NHL. If you want to see an amazing Alexader Ovechkin goal or incredible Henrik Lundqvist save then you better have been watching all along. It’s actually kind of a perfect rule for hockey. The fans of the NHL are undoubtedly the most defensive over bandwagoners or new people enjoying the sport, so it makes a lot of sense that they wouldn’t want these people who are just here for the highlights. You haven’t been a diehard your entire life? YOU DON’T GET TO WATCH OUR SPORT! Fuck growth and reaching new audiences. If you want to enjoy hockey you need to Google what channel NBCSN is then watch the entire game like the rest of us.

Update: Apparently the NHL claims they’re not banning GIFs. But, the accounts of MyRegularFace and PeteBlackburn, two of the more followed NHL GIF makers, are gone from Twitter. So maybe they’re not banning GIFs, just the people who make them?