General posts, including essays and discussions.
Post by Heather Isnor Heather is a PhD student in the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences at Brock University. She previously spent six years at Wilfrid Laurier University, splitting her time between academics in the Kinesiology and Physical Education Department, coaching in the community and running a dance class and intramural hockey on campus. Her…
By E. Martin Nolan Lawrence Martin is a journalist and the author of books on both politics and sport. More importantly, he is the author of the best hockey book that’s out of print. It’s called The Red Machine, on the history of the Soviet hockey program, which dominated international competition before the NHL’s best…
I study masculinity and ice hockey from a sociological perspective, so within that context, I am often asked what I think about Gongshow Gear, a Canadian lifestyle hockey apparel company, and the way it portrays male Junior ice hockey players to society. My opinion of Gongshow is that it’s a company with a bit of a…
By Zuzana Botikova Jaromír Jágr, the Czech veteran on ice, is a very noticeable figure of the world’s ice hockey scene… or shall I say the world’s ice rink? And this is not only because of his trademark mullet haircut (a.k.a.: “I see, I hear and my neck is warm”). I guess I don’t have…
A few years ago, I had a conversation with Danny Flynn, who, at the time, was the head coach of the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He mentioned in passing that the team consistently had trouble settling on ice time with its home rink, the Moncton Coliseum, from which the Wildcats…
Ever wonder how the chain of misbehaved Junior hockey players got started? I suggest that we look beyond Junior hockey for answers. Every so often the media erupts with stories of Junior hockey players behaving badly. Over the past few years, these eruptions have gathered speed as social media facilitates our ability to share such…
*Cross posted on The Rabbit Hole. Hopefully, you are familiar with sledge hockey at this point but what do you know about Blind Hockey? So often we judge people by what they are unable to do that we forget about all the things of which they are capable. While blind hockey may not match the…
The W Network recently launched a “reality” series called, Hockey Wives. It’s like the wife version of 24/7…but not nearly as awesome. I watched the season premiere, titled “Married to the Game,” and, well, there were tears, giggles, and diamonds. The website describes the show as such: Being married to the game comes with its…
By Vicky Grygar Dear Mr. Branch, What is going on with major junior hockey? No, seriously, what the $%&! is going on with major junior hockey? We know each other. Over the past several years I have sent you multiple correspondences, and our names have appeared in many of the same newspaper articles. We share…
By Zuzana Botikova Here comes yet another post about the ice-hockey phenomenon in the context of a small central European country – Slovakia. This time I shall be looking closer on the Slovak goalies… or, better to say, their image. It seems that these clumsy looking guys in their oversized gear steal the hearts of…
Hockey in Society / Hockey dans la société 