A pledge was sent to the NHL on July 14 but is yet to be signed. 

The Hockey Diversity Alliance revealed the details of the pledge following player-led boycotts sparked by the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

NHL, Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, Women's National Basketball Association and Major League Soccer matches were all called off after footage emerged of Blake being shot seven times in the back by police in Kenosha in Wisconsin.

The pledge is made up of eight requests, with the first asking the NHL and its teams to work on increasing the employment of black executives, hockey-related personnel and non-hockey related personnel.

It asks the NHL to ensure that at least 10 per cent of the league's procurement expenditure is from black suppliers before the start of the next season, and that the Hockey Diversity Alliance selects 50 per cent of the members of the Executive Inclusion Committee.

Mandatory anti-racism and unconscious-bias education has been requested for all employees before the start of the 2020-2021 season, alongside the creation of Hockey Diversity Alliance approved zero-tolerance policies and sanctions.

Finally, the pledge demands zero-tolerance support of any organisation that "has engaged in, promoted or failed to appropriately respond to racist conduct in their organisation of any kind", transparency regarding these actions with the Hockey Diversity Alliance, a commitment funding the Hockey Diversity Alliance to help "support social justice initiatives."

The Hockey Diversity Alliance was launched in June with the aim to "eradicate racism and intolerance" in ice hockey.

San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane and former NHL player Akim Aliu serve as co-heads, while the Executive Committee includes Detroit Red Wings Trevor Daley, Minnesota Wild’s Matt Dumba, Buffalo Sabres’ Wayne Simmonds, Philadelphia Flyers’ Chris Stewart and former NHL player Joel Ward.

They pledged to promote diversity at all levels, through both community outreach and engagement with youth, as well as educating the ice hockey community on racism issues effecting the sport.

Development of the alliance had reportedly been underway since late 2019.

The launch came as part of a renewed focus on the Black Lives Matter movement, following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man killed by white police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis.

Floyd’s death sparked protests in the United States, which later spread to other nations and are still ongoing.