Exactly one year ago, Sheldon Kennedy was one of Hockey Canada’s harshest critics.
After the organization refused to change its governing structure last summer, despite a series of controversies, Kennedy lashed out at the sport’s governing body in Canada.
“In order to improve the game and the kids, Hockey Canada’s leadership group must step down as they have lost Canadians’ confidence in their leadership abilities. That’s crystal clear,” Kennedy said on Aug. 30, 2022.
On Wednesday, Hockey Canada announced that Kennedy — a sex abuse survivor advocate and former NHL player — will be a keynote speaker at next week’s Beyond the Boards summit in Calgary. The two-day conference is designed to address some of the toxic elements that Kennedy and others believe have harmed the sport on many levels.
“I never want to claim anyone’s job, but I felt like I had to make a comment like this for the good of the game,” Kennedy said Wednesday. “But now they are able to watch the game as best they can and I feel the same way. And we have to tackle this together. I am well aware of the comments I made and stand by them today. But it shows growth and leadership when they say, ‘We need to hear from Sheldon.'”
Kennedy has worked with Hockey Canada for several years, but his criticism did not deter the organization’s leadership.
“We invited people who have been tough on Hockey Canada, and we invited them because we need to get better,” Hockey Canada chief operating officer Pat McLaughlin said Wednesday. “He wants us to get better… and our whole approach to that was that we’re in learning mode.”
The summit will be held in Calgary on September 8-9, and Hockey Canada is promoting the event as “a series of sessions that will bring together hockey leaders, outside subject matter experts, individuals with life experience and other stakeholders to find ways.” to guide future discussions and actions that will bring about positive changes in gaming culture.”
McLaughlin says the attendees will represent the spectrum of ice hockey in Canada “from the pond to the pro.” Members of all of the province’s minor hockey associations will be in attendance, as well as representatives from the NHL, AHL, CHL and Hockey Canada corporate sponsors. The idea of hosting a summit was floated internally last summer when Hockey Canada was stuck in multiple parliamentary hearings in Ottawa.
“The timing wasn’t right because of everything that was going on,” says McLaughlin. “And we didn’t want to give the impression that it was disingenuous. We felt we had to do a lot more.”
The central theme of the conference is “Leadership at the Intersection of Masculinity and Hockey,” a topic the organization hopes to address head-on at the summit.
“It is clear that the issue of toxic masculinity is pervasive in hockey and is threatening the future of the sport we all love,” the Hon. Hugh L. Fraser, chairman of the Hockey Canada Board of Directors and honorary chairman of the summit, said in a statement on Wednesday. “Although we recognize that the problem cannot be solved during a two-day conference, we have to start somewhere.”
In setting the conference agenda, Hockey Canada drew heavily on Teresa Fowler, whose research expertise focuses on the impact of masculinity on various aspects of society, with a particular focus on hockey culture. To kick off the Beyond the Boards Summit, Fowler will present results of her literature research on hockey culture in Canada, dating back more than a century.
“We see bullying and bullying rituals and the rules of silence and we see tradition perpetuating those practices. And what we need is a disturbance. Right now we’re talking about hockey. And there’s no denying that there are so many issues with violence in elite men’s hockey culture,” Fowler said Wednesday. “Hockey Canada has a chance to take the lead and say, ‘We screwed up. And how are we going to fix the problem?’ Because it needs to be fixed. We have to gain confidence in the sport of ice hockey.”
Katherine Henderson, who will officially assume her duties as President and Chief Executive Officer of Hockey Canada next week, will be in attendance and making her first public appearance in her new role. Henderson was selected by the newly elected board led by Fraser after her predecessor Scott Smith resigned last October after the organization dealt with the alleged group sexual assault against members of the 2018 men’s junior national team.
“It has to be accepted by the leadership. And I think that’s where it fell,” Kennedy said. “There was good intention, but it has to be embedded in everything we do. We have to be purposeful.”
Hockey Canada has come under intense scrutiny over the past 18 months since allegations of sexual assault emerged in a lawsuit settled by the organization. In the lawsuit, filed in Ontario Superior Court in April 2022, a woman said she was attacked by eight players in a hotel room in London, Ontario after a Hockey Canada Foundation event in June 2018. The team included among the people charged with assault in the lawsuit.
In December, London Police investigators said they had reasonable grounds to believe that five members of the 2018 Canadian World Junior Ice Hockey Championships sexually assaulted the woman in a hotel room early in the morning of June 19, 2018. The police investigations are still ongoing. No charges were brought.
This storyline will surely be one of the themes highlighted during the conference as panellists explore systemic factors that have led to toxic situations emerging in the hockey world.
Carla Qualtrough, who has taken over the Cabinet post as Canada’s Minister for Sport and Physical Activity, will also deliver a keynote speech at the conference. TSN’s Kenzie Lalonde will moderate a panel on live hockey experiences with Kennedy, Émilie Castonguay, Melody Davidson and Bayne Pettinger.
Hockey Canada is scheduled to host the Beyond the Boards Summit on a regular basis.
“We know better today. And to know better is to be better,” says Kennedy. “We’re at stage two now and it’s about time we got it right. I don’t think it will be a summit and a solution. There has to be a commitment to change and a commitment to growth.”
(Photo: Andy Devlin/Getty Images)
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