By Sebastian Zucchet
Content warning: This story contains mention of hazing, sexual assault and related subject matters.
When people talk about Canada, hockey is sure to be one of the first things mentioned. The sport is a cornerstone of this nation, celebrated by millions and uniting us all when Team Canada is playing. It’s even proven to have a political influence, made more evident this past February at the 4 Nations Face-Off. As Canada was set to face the United States (U.S.) team in the finals, political tensions were ongoing between Canada and the United States due to Trump’s placed 25 per cent tariffs and his plans to make Canada the “51st state.”
Canada’s seven NHL teams, featuring some of the most passionate fan bases across the league, have brought great fortune to the country as well as the many Canadian players who have made their mark in hockey across the globe. From Wayne Gretzky to Sidney Crosby and now Connor McDavid, the country has produced superstars who have earned our reverence.
Greatness, however, is not the only hockey has produced with something more sinister lurking underneath—a culture with significant issues that need solving.
In recent years, numerous cases surrounding sexual assault and hazing have come out of hockey environments, most notably junior hockey, pulling back the curtain on the actions of players and organizations such as Hockey Canada. Unfortunately, many of these cases resulted in no one being punished.
On March 5, yet another sexual assault allegation surfaced against former Mississauga Steelheads players, regarding incidents which occurred in 2014. With so many stories coming to light and likely more untold, there is a dark underbelly to our winter national sport that needs serious attention and implementing protective measures to prevent more unconscionable harm to those impacted by harassment, abuse and bullying.
Every kid who grows up playing hockey probably has dreams of making it to the NHL and winning the Stanley Cup. A lot of those kids will go on to play at a high level and maybe even junior or university hockey—institutions where hazing has become a common occurrence as 55 per cent of people in student organizations have been hazed according to a study from the University of Alabama.
In some cases, hazing is viewed within some teams as a sort of “initiation” and typically involves older, more veteran players preying on younger rookies. One notable incident in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) involved former NHL players Steve Downie and Akim Aliu in 2005.
When Aliu was a rookie with the Windsor Spitfires, he and some younger teammates were forced to strip naked and cram into a bathroom at the back of a coach bus during a road trip. However, Aliu was determined not to buy into the culture of silence that exists in junior hockey.
After fighting with Downie—one of the older players on the team—at a practice, Aliu came out and spoke about the fight, citing the hazing incident as the main source of tension between the two. Both players were suspended, allowing in-team fighting to become the story over the fact that there was hazing occurring in the first place.
According to a story in The New York Times on how the Boston Globe exposed the Harvard women’s ice hockey team for fostering a harmful environment, hazing and assault can take a huge toll on a victimized player’s mental health and well-being—especially if they feel they can not confide in someone out of fear of being shunned or falling back on their career.
In some cases, there is an apparent sense of entitlement from older and veteran players and in all cases, there are signs of toxic masculinity. Statistics from The Sport Information Resource Centre found that at least one in three coaches in Ontario are aware of hazing rituals that take place between players on their teams and a majority of them believe it’s part of team building or believe it’s OK. A coach is meant to guide young players and help shape their future, but if a player feels they cannot go to their coach for help when experiencing something traumatizing, where can they go?
One of the most notorious scandals in sports is Kyle Beach’s sexual assault allegations against former video coach Brad Aldridge while they were part of the Chicago Blackhawks organization in 2010.
Beach was a first-round pick of the Blackhawks in 2008 and a reserve player during their 2010 Stanley Cup run. In 2021, allegations arose that a player—eventually revealed to be Beach—was sexually assaulted by Aldrich during that time.
This sent shockwaves around the NHL and the hockey world for over a year as Beach’s courage to tell his story—on TV with TSN reporter Rick Westhead in 2021—proved to be impactful. Organizations subsequently took action with others being moved to tell their story or take legal action, including another player from that Blackhawks team, referred to as John Doe.
This case led to general manager Stan Bowman resigning and former head coach John Quenneville—then coaching the Florida Panthers—stepping down and being kicked from the league. However, they, along with former Blackhawks executive Al MacIsaac, were reinstated by the NHL and Bowman was hired soon after by the Edmonton Oilers, only further proving a culture lacking accountability.
This is only one example of higher-ups in the sport taking advantage of their power and others willing to turn a blind eye to avoid scandals, as well as reluctance to help someone who is supposed to be a part of the team “family.” Incidents of abuse and sexual assault take away from the intended camaraderie between the team, but the more severe consequences are that victims outside of the sport do not get the justice they deserve a lot of the time.
At the 2018 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Junior Hockey (WJC) Championships in Buffalo, New York, Team Canada cruised to a gold medal win. The team’s win was widely celebrated around the country, leading to most players on the team becoming regular NHL players after their displays at the WJC.
Yet, four years later in 2022, Westhead reported that a young woman was suing Hockey Canada, alleging she was sexually assaulted by eight people—including five hockey players—who played with the 2018 world junior team.
By this point, most of the players were NHL regulars, and as of June 2024, they have all been removed from the league. They will attend court each on one count of sexual assault in April of this year. This investigation took the hockey world by storm and showcased the corruption, lack of accountability and culture of complicity within Hockey Canada.
The CBC reported that Hockey Canada had spent $8.9 million in sexual abuse settlements since 1989, which does not include the $3.5 million used for the previously mentioned 2018 debacle.
When major organizations are letting people down by trying to cover issues up, how are players and staff members supposed to trust them and feel safe when being involved in the game they love?
There are now hotlines in place for players who feel they need to speak to someone about an incident they have been involved in within sports teams, whether it is hazing or any other kind of abuse.
It takes a lot of time and courage to come forward and share traumatic experiences, especially when the sport works to excuse offences in favour of talent. This was demonstrated within the Hockey Canada and Blackhawks cases and is likely part of why cases like the 2014 Steelheads incident are being revealed over a decade after the alleged assault occurred.
The problem isn’t going away. It is hard to see how it could if those at the top of the food chain are willing to hide sexual assault or that those further down it are suffering in silence.
Hockey is filled with magical moments remembered for a lifetime, as well as some of the greatest athletes on the planet. But something needs to be done about this part of hockey culture—and fast. We hockey fans can only hope for a shift in culture into a game that is more respectful and inclusive of everyone—one we can be proud of.
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