Talking About Hockey Talks: The NHL and Mental Health

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…

Weekly Links: Steve Montador’s family sues the NHL; Patrick O’Sullivan talks about his abusive father; the NWHL get its first corporate sponsor; and more.

The Weekly Links post highlights important or interesting writing from the hockey blogosphere and media. Enjoy! If you haven’t read Patrick O’Sullivan’s piece for [The Player’s Tribune] about his experiences as a victim of child abuse, stop what you are doing and read it RIGHT NOW. It is extremely poignant, reflective, and a necessary conversation.…

The Concussion Scapegoat

By Victoria Silverwood It comes to something when we are no longer surprised about the periodic news stories telling us that yet another current or retired hockey player has been found dead.  Since the summer of 2011 when Derek Boogaard, Rick Rypien and Wade Belak all lost their lives to the more recent losses of…