The Hockey Diversity Alliance (HDA) has called out the NHL for its decision to launch an inclusion committee to diversify the sport. The HDA is angry because the group sees the move by the NHL as repetitive to something that was pledged years ago.

Akim Aliu, one of the key members of the HDA, doesn't understand why the NHL would say and do basically the same thing it said it would do three years ago. He called out the league for its tendency to speak out of both sides of the league's mouth.

“As the NHL has done so many times, they're late to the party, and they still want to show that they want to be involved in the dance,” said Aliu, who played 7 games with the Calgary Flames more than a decade agao. “This is their way of showing that this is their bigger and better thing. But I think everyone that's on the inside of hockey knows what's really going on and really knows that this is just another façade.”

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The NHL and NHL Players Association announced the formation of a 20-player committee that includes both current and former players. This committee has $1 million at its disposal to support grass roots organizations that support the development of the sport for minorities and women. The committee is chaired by current NHL analysts and former players  P.K. Subban and Anson Carter.

Nazem Kadri of the HDA pointed out that his organization has already created a strong organization prior to the league's involvement.

“Fundamentally, I think we have a very, very strong structure and a foundation in place,” Kadri said. “We did that without the league.