*Content Warning: Suicide statistics* Dear James Reimer, Once upon a time, I was your biggest fan. Even when most of the Toronto Maple Leaf fandom questioned you as the starting goaltender over Jonathan Bernier, I fervently advocated for you. I saw your passion for the sport, and win or lose, I could tell you…
Today, the Chicago Blackhawks, who have worn Pride jerseys in warm-up in past years, announced they will not be wearing them this year, supposedly to protect Russian players from consequences of Russia’s expanded “gay propaganda” ban. This is the first NHL team to officially use this explanation for cancelling the jersey, after speculation this was…
The ‘Out with the Old-School’ series is based on the findings from Donna Cumming’s MA thesis. The study involved interviews and focus groups with 11 Canadian varsity women hockey players about their hockey leadership experiences, perceptions, and intentions. In my last post, I talked about the potential for a more inclusive hockey leadership culture. But…
Roundtables are an occasional feature on Hockey in Society. Roundtables present brief commentaries from Hockey in Society contributors on pressing or timely issues within hockey and its culture, with the aim of presenting multiple critical viewpoints on the topic under discussion. On January 17, 2023 the Philadelphia Flyers hosted its annual pride night celebration. James…
It’s a battle within yourself. You want and need to play hockey so bad, as it’s a way to feel like yourself again, but at the same time feeling judged by others for bringing your kids with you and parenting from the ice and bench, like a bad mom. ~ Heidi When I started playing…
The Men’s World Junior Championships (WJC) are back, coming at the close of the year where Hockey Canada’s shadowy, unaccountable leadership has fallen apart and their image tarnished. The year has seen two Hockey Canada CEOs go, two Hockey Canada Board Chairs resign, and two secret slush funds for sexual assault claims exposed. All of…
Co-Authored by Courtney Szto and Brett Pardy You want to keep salaries low? Don’t let employees talk about them. For decades, owners of NHL teams knew this. In Gordie: A Hockey Legend, author Roy MacSkimming writes about how Gordie Howe discovered at the age of 40, in the 1967-68 season, just how underpaid he was.…
The ‘Out with the Old-School’ series is based on the findings from Donna Cumming’s MA thesis. The study involved interviews and focus groups with 11 Canadian varsity women hockey players about their hockey leadership experiences, perceptions, and intentions. Today’s post is all about leadership. It’s safe to say that in the last couple of years,…
The ‘Out with the Old-School’ series is based on the findings from Donna Cumming’s MA thesis. The study involved interviews and focus groups with 11 Canadian varsity women hockey players about their hockey leadership experiences, perceptions, and intentions. Most of this series will focus on women and hockey leadership, but this first post is all…
“It’s just the old boys’ culture of hockey that serves as a barrier of entry for women to get into leadership positions because it’s like an exclusive club, and they don’t really want to let you in. There’s a lot of sexism in it really, the men at the top just want to keep their…
Canada’s Drag Race (CDR) is a Canadian spin-off of the hit reality television show RuPaul’s Drag Race (RPDR). On the show, twelve drag queens compete for the title of “Canada’s Next Drag Superstar.” Each week the queens compete in different “mini” and “maxi” challenges to impress the judges and avoid elimination. One queen is eliminated…
As a kid, I revered the Hockey Canada logo. I think it’s an objectively good looking logo but, more than that, it represented something good about Canada. I bought my first Hockey Canada hat in high school and it was my most prized possession for a long time because the people who I looked up…
This week, Rogers cancelled Hometown Hockey, a weekly broadcast from a different Canadian “hometown” each week. I will not miss the program’s presentation of Canada as a mythic settler colonial state.
There were two particularly damaging issues in Smith, Renney, and Andrew’s testimony.
Another June, another Pride month. As the NHL and its various hockey clubs gear up to participate in pride month, we see a growth of support from different teams in their support for the 2SLGBTQI+ community. For example, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced that they would be marching in the Toronto Pride Parade to demonstrate support for…
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