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Welcome to Hockey in Society’s Weekly Links post. This feature highlights articles or blog entries that are related to Hockey in Society’s areas of interest and that may be of interest to the site’s readers.

Hockey Links

Andrew Gadsby of Puck Buddies writes an op-ed about homophobia and bullying, in light of the tragic suicide of Jamie Hubley – an openly gay Ottawa teenager who was bullied, in part, because he chose to figure skate instead of playing hockey. A must read. RIP Jamie. [Globe and Mail]

Justin Bourne urges hockey to “accept the gray area” of hockey violence, and makes some excellent points about the ways in which sports are socially constructed: “Sports are a fairly arbitrary collections of rules. . . . It is debatable whether a rule has any fundamental value other than the value people give it. Hockey is not static and fixed: we can add and remove things from it and the only thing that really determines whether it is still ‘hockey’ is our own judgement.” [Backhand Shelf]

Despite Chris Pronger suffering a brutal eye injury on Wednesday, some members of the Philadelphia Flyers refuse to wear a visor. The phrases “too macho to wear a visor” and “longstanding stereotypes about toughness that consider visors an effete accessory” (the  latter a quotation from the New York Times) speak volumes about the culture of hockey. [Puck Daddy]

Travis Hughes believes that the NHL must impose mandatory visors, because players will never accept this condition voluntarily. [SB Nation]

A legal perspective on mandating visors – in short, it can’t be done without the buy-in of the NHL Player’s Association. [Offside: A Sports Law Blog; h/t to Spector’s Hockey for the link]

Bruce Arthur argues that, love him or hate him, “Don Cherry will be missed” whenever he leaves the airwaves. Despite the fact that Hockey in Society’s output will likely be cut in half without Cherry, I can’t say I agree with Arthur. [National Post]

Just in case you think Cherry has lost his influence, Bruce Dowbiggen reminds us of his tremendous in and on the sport. [Globe and Mail]

An interesting examination of the “NHL feeder chain” – that is, where NHL players play before making the big leagues. The CHL and NCAA are first and second, followed by European professional leagues. [Puck Worlds]

This is a few years old, but Stu Hackel wrote a great piece about why the instigator rule should remain in hockey. Particularly interesting insights about the Philadelphia Flyers Stanley Cup winning teams of the 1970s, and how the Broad Street Bullies used strategic violence against opponents’ star players in order to win games. [Slap Shot]

The Manitoba Junior Hockey League suspends 14 players and the head and assistant coaches of the Neepawa Natives for hazing, and the RCMP is investigating the incident. Sadly, hazing is very common in minor hockey and strong regulation is very much needed to stamp it out. As for the name “Neepawa Natives”… how on earth has that not been changed? [CTV Winnipeg]

As details about the incident leak out, a well-argued call for police action on hazing incidents. [Buzzing the Net]

Ken Campbell wants Hockey Canada’s residency rules to change, so that children can more easily play hockey in locations other than their home area. Seriously problematic in my opinion, as it gives carte blanche to over-zealous hockey parents to frequently uproot their children in pursuit of a career in professional hockey. [The Hockey News]

More arena politics: Edmonton City Council votes in favour of the Oilers’ downtown arena proposal, because the politicans “believe that other businesses will sprout up quickly in the area around the arena”. [SB Nation]

Finally, the NHL continues its efforts to emulate the NBA’s globalization strategies by signing a major European TV deal. [SB Nation]