Let’s face it, the Ivan Provorov story had everything that Big Tech-era social warriors could have wanted — Gay Pride, religion, big-time sports, Russia and waves of hot-headed social-media commentary by journalists covering the story.

What it didn’t have, unless I missed it in my reading and search-engine work, was journalists connecting a few dots and spotting a possible role for a true villain — as in Russian ruler Vladimir Putin. Hold that thought.

If you missed this drama, here is the top of the Associated Press story what probably made it into many local newspapers with a headline something like this: “Flyers’ Provorov cites religion for boycott on Pride night.”

Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov cited his Russian Orthodox religion as the reason he did not participate in pregame warmups when the team wore Pride-themed jerseys and used sticks wrapped in rainbow Pride tape.

The 26-year-old Provorov didn’t take part in the pregame skate with his teammates before their game against Anaheim … , when the Flyers celebrated their annual Pride night in celebration and support of the LGBTQ community. He played nearly 23 minutes in Philadelphia’s 5-2 victory.

“I respect everybody’s choices,” Provorov said after the game. “My choice is to stay true to myself and my religion. That’s all I’m going to say.”

Provorov declined to answer follow-up questions about his decision.

Flyers coach John Tortorella said Provorov “was true to himself and to his religion.”

“It’s one thing I respect about Provy, he’s always true to himself,” Tortorella said.

The AP story, quoting Flyers player Scott Laughton, hinted that the story probably wasn’t over.

Laughton said there would be more conversations ahead with Provorov, who moved from Russia to the United States as a teenager. He signed a six-year, $40.5 million contract before the 2019 season and won the Barry Ashbee Trophy as the Flyers’ outstanding defenseman in his rookie season, the youngest Philadelphia player to receive the honor.

Yes, Eastern Orthodoxy (I am a convert to this ancient Christian communion) defends centuries of Christian teachings and tradition when it comes to the sacrament of marriage and all forms of sex outside of marriage. This frequently creates clashes with the ever-evolving doctrines of the Sexual Revolutions.

These clashes draw relatively little ink, in part because Orthodoxy isn’t a major player, yet, in the marketplace of American religion news. However, Putin’s hellish invasion of Ukraine has changed that to some degree. Some of us paid close attention to the religion angles during years of rising tensions linked to NATO and the obvious cultural divide between heavily Russian eastern Ukraine and the very European regions of western Ukraine.

But here is the question: Is this a story about religious beliefs or a young man worried about the safety of his loved ones?

A former student sent me an email noting that “what is completely missing in every article that I've read is that Ivan is also Russian. He grew up in Russia, he played for the Russian Olympic Committee, and he has family in Russia. As you know, Putin is a loud critic of LGBTQ rights and passed a law just last month banning the promotion of LGBTQ causes. I'd imagine wearing that jersey would be detrimental if not dangerous to Ivan and his family.”

That’s a good point. Did anyone see a Putin-revenge angle the waves of mainstream news or commentary? I could not come up with a set of search terms that would successfully probed the family angle.

With that hard-news angle missing, readers ended up seeing oh-so typical niche-news coverage in which mainstream journalists “covered” the story and then, in some cases, aired their progressive personal convictions in social media. At that point, conservative media fired back, as usual.

A major role, in this media drama, was played by Greg Wyshynski, ESPN’s senior NHL writer. Here is his hard-news report: “Flyers' Ivan Provorov boycotts Pride night, cites religion.”

Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov did not take the pregame skate … because he refused to wear the team's LGBTQ+ Pride Night warmup jersey, citing his religious beliefs.

Provorov, 26, told reporters after the Flyers' 5-2 home win over the Anaheim Ducks that it was his choice "to stay true to myself and my religion," which he identified as Russian Orthodox.

At the heart of the ESPN coverage was a simple, and valid, question: Could Flyers executives have punished Provorov by pulling him out of the match between the Flyers and the Ducks? Could he have been fined or punished in some other way?

OK, here’s another question: How has this team handled other acts of protest in the past?

The NHL, in response to ESPN's request for comment, said Wednesday in a statement that players are "free to decide which initiatives to support."

"Hockey is for Everyone is the umbrella initiative under which the League encourages Clubs to celebrate the diversity that exists in their respective markets, and to work to achieve more welcoming and inclusive environments for all fans," the league said in its statement to ESPN. "Clubs decide whom to celebrate, when and how -- with League counsel and support. Players are free to decide which initiatives to support, and we continue to encourage their voices and perspectives on social and cultural issues."

Flyers coach John Tortorella said he didn't contemplate scratching Provorov for not taking warmups.

"With Provy, he's being true to himself and to his religion," the first-year Flyers coach said. "This has to do with his belief and his religion. It's one thing I respect about Provy: He's always true to himself. That's where we're at with that."

Tortorella has made headlines before about his stance on pregame protests. In 2016, he said that any of his players who didn't stand for the national anthem would be benched for the rest of the game. He reversed that stance after watching the racial injustice protests in 2020, saying he would no longer punish players who protested before a game.

The ESPN story included quite a few voices and raised some interesting issues. However, Wyshynski (and others) then lit into Provorov in social media.

The game was on.

With Provorov remaining silent, in terms of follow-up remarks after the game, the spotlight shifted. It would, of course, have been easy to have found online and human sources linked to Eastern Orthodox teachings linked to this debate, but who wants to do that?

Readers who want to dive into the culture-clash material can turn to this Yahoo! feature, with lots of URLs and social-media links: “Flyers' Ivan Provorov refuses to wear Pride Night jersey due to religion.”

How wild were the comments in cyberspace? Check out this roundup from National Review: “The Anti-Bigots Suggest Ivan Provorov Go Die in Ukraine.” A sample:

Commentator on the NHL network E. J. Hradek took to television to imply that perhaps Provorov should die in Ukraine if he feels so strongly about it.

“Ivan Provorov can get on a plane any day he wants and go back to a place where he feels more comfortable, take less money, and get on with his life that way if it’s that problematic for him,” Hradek said.

“If this is that much of a problem for him to maybe assimilate into his group of teammates and in the community and here in this country, that’s okay,” he said. “Go back where you feel more comfortable. I understand there’s a conflict going on over there; maybe get involved.”

The premise of Hradek’s position is that anyone who still holds to roughly Barack Obama’s 2008 views on marriage 15 years later has failed to assimilate and should be treated as a dirty foreigner who should probably die in the Donbas.

Like I said: We live in an age of niche-media silos — left and right — in which journalists are, literally, paid to generate clicks from true believers.

The subject worth discussing is this: Why are the mainstream reporters who are covering the hard-news story — as opposed to the work of clearly labeled progressive writing in left-wing media — trying so hard to attract the attention and approval of only one side of this debate?

Asking that “balance” question is, of course, a “conservative” thing to do, these days. Thus, readers will find that angle explored in-depth at (#DUH) Fox News.

Try out this headline: “ESPN writer calls out Flyers player for wearing jersey to support military but skipping LGBTQ sweater.”

Readers can then turn to this Fox report for more: “Sports media mocks Flyers' Ivan Provorov's faith for refusing to participate in Pride festivities.” This long, long quote (from a video source embedded in this post) kind of says it all:

Canadian sports pundit Sid Seixeiro called on the NHL to fine the Flyers "$1 million" over Provorov's "insulting" comments.

"The theme from the National Hockey League is that hockey is for everyone, ok? The theme isn’t hockey is for everyone dot, dot, dot unless you don’t believe in gay rights then do whatever you want," Seixeiro said. "If the National Hockey League is going to do this, if any league is going to do this, do it properly or reevaluate what you’re doing because there’s not a lot of repercussions that I’m seeing from any league.

"The National Hockey League needs to attack this and figure this out because what I heard last night was offensive and didn’t make any sense," he went on to say. "Nothing scares me more than any human being who says I’m not doing this because of my religious beliefs. Because when you look at people’s lives who normally say that publicly, you’d throw up at what you saw. You would throw up at what you saw. And I’ve seen that a million times in a lot of different ways. So don’t give me that. With respect, don’t gimme that, because no one’s perfect. Don’t feed me the religious beliefs line and all of a sudden the NHL is going to back off this."

What happens next? Are there any evangelicals and/or traditional Catholics in the NHL?

Clearly it is not in Provorov’s interest to speak out in defense of his own beliefs or to clear up the status of his family, in Russia or wherever they happen to be.

How will he be treated during road trips?

Stay tuned.

FIRST IMAGE: Pride Night hockey puck on sale at ETSY.com