General posts, including essays and discussions.
I was eating dinner during Game 5 of the Capitals/Penguins series last night when I heard Elliotte Friedman referencing an academic journal about concussions during the second intermission. You don’t often hear hockey pundits talking about academic research so that got me out of my seat. I walked into the living room and witnessed Friedman…
By Doo Jae Park This article is revised from the paper: Park, D., Kristin E., B., (2016). Exploring the Racialized Athletic Identity of Korean Ice Hockey Players. Presented at the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport, Tampa, FL. Which country is the most controversial across the world last few months? What do you…
*Trigger Warning: sexual assault/abuse* This is a guest post. The writer has chosen to remain anonymous. After decades of playing women’s hockey, I decided to join a co-ed league a few years ago. It was an opportunity to play on the same team as my husband, and to find a new social circle after returning…
As part of a storytelling contest I put together a three minute video summarizing my doctoral research on South Asian experiences in hockey. While it is impossible to fully explain a project that is four years in the making, I wanted to focus on the tensions that exist between hockey and Canadian multiculturalism. You might…
The Weekly Links post highlights important or interesting writing from the hockey blogosphere and media. Enjoy! Former Oiler, Ryan Smyth was the victim of a dirty hit during a senior playoff game. [Edmonton Sun] Researchers at the University of Calgary have observed a significant decrease in concussions after a body checking ban was instituted in…
*Co-authored by Brett Pardy & Courtney Szto As part of Hockey is for Everyone Month (HIFE), the NHL promoted screenings of Soul on Ice: Past, Present & Future in franchise cities. We attended a free screening (sponsored by the Vancouver Canucks) as part of the Vancouver International Film Festival (no Canucks seemed to be in…
As Hockey Is For Everyone month comes to a close, I’m reflecting on my experience with the You Can Play Project , Pride Tape, and the Edmonton Oilers’ Pride Night/You Can Play Night. For almost five years now, my academic research has been on attitudes towards homosexuality in boys’ and men’s ice hockey, so I’m…
*Written by Matt Ventresca and cross-posted from Engaging Sports* The media conversation surrounding sport’s ongoing “concussion crisis” took an interesting turn in early December 2016. In spite of the wide assortment of sophisticated technologies heralded as providing the next big breakthrough in protecting athletes from the effects of brain trauma, the debates around how to…
Every February since 2013, the seven Canadian NHL teams host Hockey Talks, a NHLPA led program aimed at “destigmatizing” mental illness. The effort was initiated by former Vancouver Canucks defenceman Kevin Bieksa after teammate Rick Rypien’s suicide in 2011. In addition to media spots, public service announcements, and the hashtag #hockeytalks, the team’s websites link…
The Canadian Women’s Hockey League celebrates its 10th season in 2016-17, highlighted by the December 10th game where nearly 6000 people watched the Calgary Inferno take on Les Canadiennes de Montreal at the Bell Centre. The league has stabilized with the same five teams over the past five seasons, though names have changed to reflect…
Hockey in Society / Hockey dans la société 