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January 24, 2024 by Ryan Lotsberg
I was going to write a thread on X about Wednesday’s news regarding the sexual assault scandal involving members of the 2018 Canadian World Junior team, but I decided that it would be better to write an article.
My thoughts are first and foremost with the victim and her family. Secondly, shame on the players that were involved in such a despicable act. There are no winners in this situation, but the fact that these players are being charged and held accountable for their actions represents a step forward. It’s sad to say that people being held accountable for their actions is a step forward, but that’s where we are.
When I started raising funds for the Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton as part of the Heavy Hockey Showdown, I said that our event provides a great opportunity to start a conversation about what is broken in hockey culture that is making sexual assault cases like these so common, and what we can do to fix them. There’s no better time to initiate that conversation than today while the issue is in the spotlight.
We’re aware of reports about the slush fund that Hockey Canada used to pay off victims of sexual assault cases to keep them quiet. It seemed like that they wanted to avoid litigation in those cases to avoid higher financial costs and to avoid the bad press that would have come along with litigation. The motives for paying the victims out can be categorized as “financial” and “public relations”. The ironic part is that the act of covering up multiple instances of sexual assault and sweeping them under the rug by paying off victims makes them look FAR WORSE than simply dealing with the issues as they arose would have made them look, and they have lost millions in lost sponsorship deals.
We know that the Chicago Blackhawks failed to handle an internal sexual assault case with the urgency that was required. Once again, it seemed like they wanted to avoid litigation to avoid the financial cost and the bad press, and they ended up looking awful in the end.
Lastly, the NHL decided to announce that a potential owner has expressed interest in a potential expansion opportunity at some point down the road TODAY of all days. That isn’t news! That statement had absolutely no bearing on anything that is currently happening. It was a thinly veiled and frankly weak attempt to distract from the news of the day. That was about the league trying to minimize the impact of the negative press that came out today. That stunt just made them look FAR WORSE in my eyes.
There’s a whole other conversation to be had about how the NHL has handled players that have been accused of sexual assault that weren’t actually charged or convicted, but that’s not what I want to start a conversation about today.
It appears that some of the issues affecting hockey culture are coming from the top. It only became unacceptable to hide instances of sexual assault after some of those instances became public knowledge. Those stories being leaked made the organizations look bad, so they had to save face by attempting to take a stronger stance on the actions.
THAT is the first problem that needs to be addressed. Organizations can’t control the actions of people within them, but they can control their reaction to situations that arise. Trying to hide things like this just makes the organization involved look terrible. All we ask is that organizations don’t hide from the realities of the events that have taken place. There needs to be a level of privacy for the individuals involved, but organizations shouldn’t plead ignorance or try to sweep the incidents under the rug. People are encouraged to take responsibility for their actions. The same expectations should be placed on organizations.
There’s a deeper issue here though. The onus is ultimately on the people that commit the crimes in these instances. The question that I want to ask is what is it about hockey culture is producing so many people that decide to commit acts of sexual assault?
It starts at the grassroots level, which is minor hockey. Teenage boys are viewed more highly within their peer groups if they have sex. Like it or loathe it, that’s the way it is and that’s not going to change. I don’t think that’s the issue either. It’s not wrong to pursue consensual sex in a respectful manner.
Professional male hockey players are young men that grew up being praised for being good at a sport. Being good at hockey and playing on elite teams makes those boys more desirable in the eyes of some women, which makes it more likely that they will be able to increase their popularity by having sex. That’s all well and good if the sex is consensual and they act in a respectful manner, but being good at hockey doesn’t make it okay for them to commit acts of sexual assault!
Is it an issue of entitlement? Are these hockey players living their lives with so much entitlement that they feel it’s okay to do whatever they want without consequences? Never hearing the word “no” creates toxic behaviour. I feel like that’s too simple of an explanation though. Millions of people have grown up playing minor hockey without thinking it’s okay to sexually assault people. The vast majority of male professional hockey players have not sexually assaulted anyone.
I only ever played one year of minor hockey. I have friends that played minor hockey. I heard stories about what would go on in the dressing room. Some of the stories are a little outlandish and ridiculous, but nothing I heard would make me believe that there was a culture where sexual assault was being encouraged or celebrated. Teenage boys make dirty jokes. Hell, even I make dirty jokes! I understand that sexual assault is not okay despite making dirty jokes sometimes. I don’t necessarily see a correlation between telling dirty jokes and learning that sexual assault is okay.
Every team is different. Each team has its own culture. I have not spent a lot of time in minor hockey dressing rooms, so I really don’t know what all goes on inside the dressing room. I can’t speak to how deep the problem runs in minor hockey dressing rooms. Perhaps some of my readers can shed some light on those issues in the comments on X!
What can hockey organizations at any level do to fix the broken culture?
For me, it starts with taking firmer action on players that commit these types of acts. If you want to remove head shots from the game, you penalize them more severely. The same strategy needs to be taken with sexual assault.
It’s going to take more severe penalties for people to take notice and to change their behaviour. It will take some players being severely punished for the message to get through to the next generation, but that’s what is necessary.
The expectations of zero tolerance towards any kind of sexual assault, jokes about sexual assault, and bullying of any kind should be set and communicated to every team at the start of every season. At what age should those expectations start being communicated? I’m not sure about that, and it’s not up to me to decide. Obviously, that information doesn’t need to be shared with young children. There’s no need to rob children of their innocence here; but the expectations certainly need to be communicated with teenagers.
People will talk about education and outreach as well. I personally don’t think that it should be up to hockey organizations to teach teenagers about sexual assault. It should be up to hockey organizations to set a certain expectation for the way that players should behave and then to uphold that expectation. Hockey organizations should be expected to take a firm stance when players fail to live up to the expectation for behaviour in regards to not only sexual assault, but bullying of any kind as well.
If the proper expectations are set now, then this generation of young hockey players will grow up with the understanding that sexual assault is wrong and eventually these incidents will stop happening. “Eventually” is the key word though. It is a process that will take time. Organizations at the highest levels should absolutely do a better job of handling these situations, but the real issues start at the grassroots levels.
Wrap
Those are my thoughts. My intent in writing this article is to start a conversation. I encourage people to comment on the original post for this article on X.
I also want to take this opportunity to express how important organizations like the Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton are to victims of sexual assault. These are traumatic incidents that require intense therapy for many years. Not everyone has access to that kind of therapy. Think about the impact that instances of sexual assault have on victims. It’s not just the incident itself and reliving it. It impacts a person’s romantic relationships as well. Instances of sexual assault shatter trust, and trust is vital in relationships. The trauma can impact a person’s performance at work and their career as well.
I’m proud to be a part of the Heavy Hockey Network and the Heavy Hockey Showdown in benefit of the Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton. There will be a silent auction and party at SOHO YEG on Jasper Avenue on February 24, and the Heavy Hockey Showdown between teams from the Heavy Hockey Network and Edmonton Sports Talk will be played at the Downtown Community Arena on February 25. We would love it if you would come out and support the event!
I’m proud of the fundraising that I have done to date, and I’m thankful for anyone that has donated to my page or to the page of any other Heavy Hockey Showdown participant. Your support is so greatly appreciated by all of us at the Heavy Hockey Network.
I’m still collecting donations as well. Please consider donating to SACE if you’re in a position to do so. Your support makes a huge difference.
If you would like to donate to a different participant’s page, you can find the full list of fundraising pages of Heavy Hockey Showdown participants here.
