General posts, including essays and discussions.
By Matt Ventresca And now for something completely different… If we are to believe Roch Carrier’s assertion that “hockey is life in Canada” (and that’s a big if), then it only makes sense that we explore how the game materializes in art and culture. In my last post in this space (co-written with the illustrious…
Bodies of Knowledge (BOK) is an annual graduate student conference held at the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education at University of Toronto. The conference is entirely organized and run by graduate students (full disclosure: I am on the organizing committee and am presenting, so this post is somewhat self-promotional) and all presentations are by…
There has been no shortage of ink spilled in the past weeks about the surprising and upsetting levels of violence that have characterized the 2012 NHL playoffs thus far – including insightful posts from Hockey in Society’s E. Martin Nolan about psychosocial understandings of hockey violence and the fantastical nature of “hatred” between players. NHL…
By E. Martin Nolan An Open Letter to NHL Players Brad Marchand: “The more we play each other, the more we hate each other.” Sidney Crosby: “I hate everyone on their team.” Dear NHL Players, Think about how people see you for a second. From the most skeptical perspective, you are grown men playing a…
By E. Martin Nolan Do the NHL Playoffs Facilitate Catharsis? Shea Weber knew he’d be hit, even though the game was over. Henrik Zetterberg went after it like it was midway through the period, like he’d actually be able to make a play. So Weber slams his head into the glass, twice. But let’s not…
By E. Martin Nolan So the Toronto Maple Leafs have apologized to their fans for another awful season. How do you think that went over? Yeah, not so well. Based on the initial response, the fans have refused to accept the apology, instead taking this as another opportunity to bash the organization they feel has…
Sean Mitton is a Canadian living in the United States, and the founder of the ’72 Project. The ’72 Project aims to collect stories from Canadians about their experience of the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union, which gave Canadian hockey its most famous and mythologized moment in Paul Henderson’s game winner…
The Hockey Sweater by Roch Carrier is a classic and beloved piece of Canadian children’s literature. The book tells the tale of a young boy who idolizes Maurice “The Rocket” Richard and his Montreal Canadiens, and who faces extreme embarrassment and social discomfort when his mother accidentally orders him a Toronto Maple Leafs sweater instead…
There is no shortage of critiques of Brendan Shanahan and his oxymoronic Department of Player Safety. Speaking in his suit from his CNN like ‘war room’, Shanahan offers a very inhuman and sterilized account of some of the most atrocious hits in hockey. He stands, sans emotion, and delivers a verdict as a judge would…
By E. Martin Nolan A follow-up to “Are the Toronto Maple Leafs a Public Institution? No (but Also Yes)” A professional sports team may have a genuine public aspect to it, but it looks a lot less like a public institution when it’s failing. Witness this year’s sad Toronto Maple Leafs. You’d be hard-pressed to…
Hockey in Society / Hockey dans la société 