How Hockey Canada Failed both Hockey, and Canada

TW: Sexual Abuse

It has become clear to most keen observers that, after the events of the past few years, there is a tangible issue that has infested every corner of hockey culture. Sexual abuse in man

y forms has consumed the headlines routinely, from the NHL, to the OHL, to minor hockey organizations across North America. As a result of these repeated incidents, that range from disturbing to heartbreaking, there has been renewed pressure on these organizations and leagues to try and clamp down on these sorts of despicable behavior within their ranks.

And there was a desire among the public, especially after the Chicago Blackhawks/Kyle Beach revelations, to really make a difference and eliminate the negative behaviours. But almost more importantly, there were calls to dismantle the culture of silence that enables players and staff to abuse without being called out or held responsible for their actions.

Those who truly love the sport looked to organizations such as Hockey Canada as catalysts for change, bodies that have the ability to make a difference from a grassroots level, all the way up to the most elite players in the world. However, the curtain has been pulled back, and what’s behind the scenes is just as disappointing as what is in front.

In June of 2018, after a Hockey Canada Foundation gala in London, Ontario, eight CHL players, including at least one member of the gold medal winning 2018 Canadian World Junior roster, are accused of sexually assaulting one woman for several hours in a hotel room.

The aforementioned victim filed a civil lawsuit in April 2022, which was promptly settled by Hockey Canada by May, just a month later. The defendants were not named the case has never seen a criminal court, and the victim had to sign an NDA that prevented her from speaking out.

While this horrific incident is bad enough on its own, it is the details of the actions the organization that is supposed to be a steward of sport in this country took, that is so infuriating. In the aftermath of a despicable mark on Canadian hockey history, Hockey Canada proceeded to continue not only ignoring the clear cultural issues that enable such events to keep occurring, they enabled it through quietly paying off the victim in an attempt to sweep everything under the rug. The players involved were not compelled to be a part of the initial investigation that was done by the national body, and shockingly, the investigation was so botched and incomplete, that they don’t even know which players for certain committed the alleged assault.

Somehow, it only gets worse. A 2021 affidavit by Glen McCurdie, who was at that time Hockey Canada’s vice-president of insurance and risk management, claims that the organization possess a specific fund dedicated to the settling of “uninsured liabilities”, including events such as the assault that took place in 2018. The value of the fund has ballooned to over $15 million dollars in recent years. This clearly shows that there have been enough repeated issues throughout the years to warrant hoarding a slush fund for the particular event of high level Canadian players committing unsavory acts. Not only have they maintained and supported this fund for multiple years prior to 2018, in a revelation that seems almost too cruel to be true, the fund was partially financed by registration fees from minor hockey players all over the country. If you were at any point a Canadian hockey player in a sanctioned youth league, a portion of your money, year upon year, went to settling lawsuits and paying off defendants.

On the Hockey Canada’s website, the organization’s Mission Statement states that their objective is to “Lead, Develop and Promote Positive Hockey Experiences”. And I think this is prudent to bring up for the simple fact that it is not as if the only prerogative that Hockey Canada seeks to accomplish is developing the most elite hockey players. If that was the case, maybe it would be easier for them to hide behind the (admittedly bland and unsatisfactory) excuse of only focusing on on-ice performance. But that’s simply not the case, they have long made it their goal to make hockey as accessible and welcoming as possible for the largest number of Canadians.

Instead, they have let the glaring issues that reach from the highest levels of the game all the way to minor hockey fester, until it became too heinous to disregard any longer. Do not be fooled, this is an issue that stretches back far before 2018, as is reinforced by the reports of an eerily similar assault that was committed by members of the 2003 Canadian World Junior team. According to TSN’s reporting, the players were “recorded while engaging in sex with a woman who was naked and non-responsive.” At the moment, further details regarding this separate incident are scarce, but it just goes to show that for decades, Hockey Canada has enabled and bailed out countless predators amongst their ranks. Sheldon Kennedy first told the story of his abuse at the hands of his junior hockey coach Graham James in 1996, and even though the story was national news and a watershed moment in Canadian hockey history, the larger problems were never truly addressed in a meaningful way. Rape culture, manipulation of minors, hazing, and physical assault have helped make up the herd of elephants planted firmly in Hockey Canada’s offices, but the organization refused to act in any meaningful way until it was too late.

The only solution left, is to burn it all down. Hockey Canada has lost the privilege of governing itself independently, and I personally believe it can no longer accomplish its mandate of promoting positive hockey experiences into the future. It remains to be seen if this will ultimately be the case, but thus far the response from some of the senior brass has not been adequate. Current Hockey Canada CEO Scott Smith stated on multiple occasions during hearings that took place with Canadian parliament that he will not resign from his position, and the organization seems to be behind its current leader. The federal government has frozen their funding, and it seems like there are no imminent plans on what will happen with Hockey Canada and the money that is tied up in a limbo.

But I would like to submit the following question to the many parents and players amongst the ranks of Hockey Canada’s expansive organization:

Do you really feel comfortable giving these people your money? Are you okay with every year gifting an unknown amount to ensure that potential sex criminals can continue living out your child’s dream?

Upon seeing the universal outcry that followed Rick Westhead and Katie Strang’s reporting of the initial 2018 scandal, I’d hazard to say that answer, for most across the country, is no.

And that is why Hockey Canada cannot exit this shameful part of their history unscathed, the trust between Canadians and the governing body has been irreparably damaged, and if we continue to let them go largely unpunished, the bond between Canadians and their national sport will grow strained as well.

These incidents will keep happening, and the victims will have to live in silence and fear without ever getting proper compensation, while they watch their abusers make millions and be seen as heroes by the general public all around them. Hockey Canada has proven inept at solving the problems that its culture creates, and if nothing is done, it will only get worse.

For the countless victims whose names we’ll never know, we need concrete change. This is too damaging to just slap wrists and implement small fixes, this is a rotten group who has been heralded as the best in the world for so long that they forgot to look down and actually acknowledge their repeated failings. There are no apologies that can repair the damage, and in order for the long and arduous process of rebuilding to begin, the first step is to tear down the dilapidated shack at the end of the street.

@Russell_28_ on Twitter