NHL team Carolina Hurricanes rise to bait after claims ‘Putin will be laughing’ at their right-on message about gender pronouns

NHL team the Carolina Hurricanes appear to have walked themselves into a 'woke' corner after some sports fans took issue with their attempt to play the gender equality 'pronoun game' online.

In an apparent attempt to virtue-signal their wokeness, the Hurricanes issued a tweet recently in which they threw their support behind the growing trend of "respecting people's gender identity."

"The use of pronouns gives everyone the opportunity to self-identify instead of assuming someone's identity and/or which pronouns they use," the message preached. 

"... By providing an opportunity for people to share their pronouns, you are showing that you are not assuming their gender identity is based on their appearance." 

The right-on statement comes amid the broader debate regarding equality and gender rights which has opened a new frontline in the feud between woke progressivists and the more traditional view that gender is assigned at birth and any subsequent debate is moot. 

But taking a bit of a bizarre twist, the Hurricanes found themselves wading in against a tweet which claimed that "bullsh*t like this" would leave Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping "laugh[ing] at the deteriorating culture and society" in the US.

Sticking to their guns, and taking the chance to reaffirm those virtues, the Hurricanes clapped back to say: "Call it what you want, but this ridiculous photo/tweet will do nothing to stop us supporting the LGBTQ+ community," adding a laughing emoji. 

The move, though, doesn't appear to have been a sweetly struck puck into the net, with numerous hockey fans expressing their confusion and dismay at the missive. 

"Put the puck in the net! That's all," said one fan, suggesting that the team should be more concerned with issues on the ice rather than off of it.

"I'm gay and pronouns and f*cking stupid," said another.

"Honestly, what is the point of pronouns?," a third wondered aloud. 

Say what you will about this ongoing debate, but you can be sure that most of their fans might just prefer if the Carolina Hurricanes self-identified as the Stanley Cup champions - something they have achieved just once in their history.