Concerned Hockey Fan

https://concernedhockeyfan.tumblr.com/hockeycanadatrial

[concernedhockeyfan]

Hansen describes many fans as essentially being controlled by their fandom. "For some reason, I think it does define a lot of people who identify as fans that winning and losing is somehow a self-reflection of their own worth," he says. "Fans are willing to sell their soul, sell their integrity, sell their self-respect and dignity, to win a game."

From "Loving Sports When They Don't Love You Back"

[concernedhockeyfan]

Players know hockey culture is considered toxic. Here's how some are making it better

Across Canada, at big and small arenas, hockey players are pursuing their NHL and college hockey dreams, but they’re doing it under a growing Hockey Canada cloud amidst calls to change the toxic culture that some say makes elite players feel they can get away with anything – on and off the ice.

[concernedhockeyfan]

Do you agree?

[lettucemakar]

Been kinda trying to not engage with the Hart stuff and also no one really needs another thinkpiece about him lol. but the way it's been being handled in the playoffs has been really bothersome, I feel? burr under the saddle that's getting worse

The league obviously has never been some kind of moral effigy that's suddenly and inexplicably gone downhill. they've always had pieces of shit that they protect.

But I think there is a difference between "this guy is a piece of a shit but he's a good player so we're gonna sweep it under the rug, put our media on it so people either don't believe it or didn't know it happened. a dirty open secret we ignore." and what's happening now, of "this guy, very publicly, was on trial for a felony, and admitted, under oath, to things that are completely unacceptable. and we're going to purposefully, publicly, let him continue to play immediately. we're gonna mention it all the time, so everyone knows, and act like him getting away with it was a burden on him, and that you should be proud of him for getting away with it. Celebrate it." How good a player is has nothing to do with their moral character, and him being a good goalie should be completely irrelevant to this conversation. But even with that, it has felt like it's less "he's good despite his character," and more "he's good and we enjoy his character." There is no despite.

Same with Quenneville, where I just kept hearing about his "comeback." His comeback from what? Minor consequences of ruining two kid's lives by knowingly employing/recommending their molester? That's inspirational? But they literally are telling us that they think it is.

it's like a Trump-era brag, where they're showing who they are and are loudly proud of it, instead of it being this dirty underbelly. Maybe it's just a curse of announcers, but announcers represent the league, and it's also been socials, player interviews, and frankly, reporters.

and it being so obvious makes watching and engaging with it humiliating, in a way.

[concernedhockeyfan]

Code of Misconduct is now available in the United States.

When you are finished that documentary (and feeling okay), please watch this documentary about hockey culture that was released in 1996 (TW: SA and Hazing).

Laura Robinson also released a book about hockey culture in 1998 called Crossing the Line. The sport has a long history of abuses that are swept under the rug. Keep the conversation going!

[concernedhockeyfan]

Brett Howden Lowlights

No matter how many goals he scores, I will never forget what Brett Howden did (and didn't do).

TW: SA / Hockey Canada Trial

“Dude, I’m so happy I left when all the s--t went down,” Howden’s June 26, 2018, text message said. “Haha. Man, when I was leaving, Duber was smacking this girl’s ass so hard. Like, it looked like it hurt so bad.”

"All we have to say is "someone brought the girl back to the room. We were all in there ordering food and then this girl started begging from everyone to have sex with her. Nobody would do it. But then as time went on she gave 3 guys head. Once things started to get out of hand we all left and got her out." “Yeah or no?” he wrote moments later.

Cunningham later told Carroccia that Howden was covering for Formenton when he told Robitaille in 2018 that they probably didn’t have sex in the hotel room bathroom. Cunningham pointed out that Howden also admitted in 2022 that Dube had asked him four years earlier not to tell Robitaille about the slap.

“Nobody forced her to do anything. If anything we should put allegations on her f--k,” he wrote a few moments later.

“As I was leaving with a couple guys I remember hearing her crying and I didn’t know like why. I was like okay, this can’t be good, but I don’t know what happened, so I just went to my room,” Howden later told Robitaille in the same interview.

“When did the crying happen?” Robitaille asked.

“That was when I was leaving the room I just heard her kind of weeping,” Howden told Robitaille. “I didn’t know what was going on. I just went to my room because I didn’t want to be a part of anything.”

Howden testified Tuesday that both Dube and Foote phoned him in the days after the alleged incident. “I don’t remember the conversation [with Dube],” Howden testified. “I just remember being asked to leave his name out of things.” “Who called who?” Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham asked. “I don’t remember,” Howden answered. “Tell us all the things you remember Dube telling you during that phone call,” Cunningham said. “I honestly don’t remember our conversation on the phone,” Howden answered, adding that he had a similar conversation, the details of which he also does not remember, with Foote.

“Did she say anything while she was crying that you heard?” Robitaille asked. “No, I didn’t hear anything,” Howden answered. “But Mikey [McLeod] showed that video of her consenting the next day. He said that was after she had her little episode. He’s like, ‘This is when was when she calmed down.’ So I don’t know if that means after she was crying and stuff. … what he said to me is he thinks she was embarrassed. that’s what I kind of thought and I think he kind of thought that. too.”

https://www.tsn.ca/hockey-canada/judge-rules-brett-howden-text-message-inadmissible-at-london-hockey-trial-1.2310910

Howden, who wore a hoodie and appeared to be speaking from an office, testified that he agreed to the players’ requests and didn’t mention Dube or Foote’s alleged actions when he was interviewed on July 3, 2018, by Danielle Robitaille, a Toronto lawyer hired by Hockey Canada to investigate the alleged sexual assault.

https://www.tsn.ca/hockey-canada/rick-westhead-crown-accuses-brett-howden-of-inconsistencies-in-testimony-at-london-hockey-trial-1.2309335

[allthefoolmine]

“I still love this sport. I don’t think loving it requires pretending any of this isn’t true. It requires sitting with the discomfort of both things being true, that hockey is one of the most beautiful, communal things I have ever given my heart to, and that it has broken and will break the people who play it in ways the law is only beginning to reckon with.”

~ “after the final whistle: cte and the law”

[concernedhockeyfan]

"Organized hockey is too often a safe haven for predators. This isn’t new. Convicted sex criminals have been signed before, as recently as 2018. But now feels worse than before. Now feels like gloating in the faces of the survivors."

[concernedhockeyfan]

It's concerning to see this trial and hockey culture in general go through this gender war. You have men sticking up for the accused, acting as if they've been done wrong by society. Acting as if them lying to cover for each other is okay. Acting like they are conquering heroes and role models. Defending their sport against the libs and gay people. "Get out of our sport," they'll say. They think the league is standing up to cancel culture and defending their lack of morals.

I feel the need to remind them that the league does not care about anyone. If the NHL did care, they wouldn't be pushing gambling on men to their own detriment. They would take head injuries seriously and actually punish players who throw dirty hits. They would take mental health and wellbeing seriously, and not just when it's convenient for them (take a look at some fans' reactions when a player goes on leave at the 'wrong' time).

All of this media manipulation is to get us to believe that cheering for Hart and Howden is some kind of feel good story, so we can continue to be mindless consumers of the NHL product. If the league can convince you that these men are worthy of admiration after how they treated that woman and avoided accountability, they can convince you of anything.

[concernedhockeyfan]

Something to look out for

Former pro hockey player Justin Davis explores the dark corridors of hockey culture to demonstrate that hockey isn’t broken — but it is as complex as real life. Through interviews with enforcers, players, coaches, agents, and journalists, Breaking the Ice takes stock of what hockey is and imagines what it might be.

Jon “Nasty” Mirasty and Zenon Konopka, two of the toughest men to ever play professionally, offer their contrasting opinions on the physical toll the game took on their bodies. Investigative journalist Rick Westhead and NHL super-agent Allan Walsh reflect on their long journeys inside and outside hockey, their vital roles as agents of change, and the opportunity to make the game better. Chris Nowinski, CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, discusses ongoing research into brain injuries, CTE, and the safety of playing contact sports. Steffany Hanlen, the first woman to become an NHL power skating and strength coach, provides insight into youth hockey and gives essential advice to any minor hockey parent. Finally, Andrew Long recounts the horrific event that changed his life forever and forced him out of the limelight and into the shadows.

After exposing the dark underbelly of junior hockey in his memoir, Conflicted Scars, Justin Davis is now determined to find a path forward by telling the stories of others. Breaking the Ice is an indispensable guide to parents of hockey hopefuls and players climbing the ranks of professional hockey.

Out October 20, 2026

[deniedbyskinner]

anyone who’s ever referred to themselves as a “future wag” needs to read crossing the line

[concernedhockeyfan]

Interviewer: “In Crossing the Line you talked about a “locker room culture.” What is it and what effect does that have on players?”

Laura Robinson: “The locker room subculture is a very dangerous one. It’s locked, it’s small, it’s inherently vulnerable, and it’s always highly charged because players are only in there before or after a game or practice. Anything can happen in a locker room, and often to stay on a team you have to go along with whatever happens, because if you’re a rookie it can only get worse if you don’t. I hope that these practices occur less often than they did when I wrote Crossing the Line, but I have little reason to believe that’s the case. I know initiations are outlawed, but of course that doesn’t mean they don’t happen. If you don’t go along with it, if you’re not the “bitch” for the week, then you don’t get to stay in that world. You constantly have to prove that you deserve to be a member. It’s also telling that the language [players] use is always feminizing. It’s clear that girls or women are lesser, because it’s an insult to be called a girl in this culture. It ends up helping to create a very misogynistic culture off the ice.”

[concernedhockeyfan]

"Hockey culture: it's a commonly used phrase inside the game, and it's meant to glorify sacrifice, dedication, toughness, loyalty, and a sense of identity. Hockey culture is used as a term of endearment that an everyday civilian would never understand. I always viewed this "culture" as something exclusive that I was lucky enough to experience. Those on the outside didn't have the privilege, and they couldn't understand our world and the baggage that came with it. Unfortunately, when you step outside of the game for a long period of time, you begin to see the toxicity of that culture. When the moment of realization occurred, when I finally understood that the world I dedicated my life to was full of racism, deviance, and bullying, it hit me like a brick."

from Chapter 11 of "Conflicted Scars" by Justin Davis

[concernedhockeyfan]

The old boys' network conceals serious issues behind closed doors because that is what a good teammate does. Hockey culture consists of protecting the organization at all costs. Where other sports demand that you start your management career in the minor leagues or that you start your career on the bottom rungs of the game when you retire, hockey often promotes those closest to the game into positions of power. These promotions and hires breed a sense of loyalty to those who hired you and to the closed culture and secrecy involved in McLennan's 5 percent. Would you ignore serious allegations and look the other way to protect the person who gave you a job with a $200,000 salary and that you're unqualified for? Have a look at where the people who report these allegations, those who break the hockey code, end up. The game seems to find room for the rehabilitation of those who stay silent and forgets about those who do not.

from Chapter 11 of "Conflicted Scars" by Justin Davis

[concernedhockeyfan]

Code of Misconduct affirms what many legal experts have long argued: that our justice system is not meant to work for victims of sexual assault. It seems futile to seek justice through the courts. That futility may be more pronounced for survivors where the perpetrators are hockey players, who are nationally revered.

A more original insight the film offers is how hockey culture creates a mentality in which no player is seen, or sees themselves, as mere individuals. Rather, they understand themselves as corporal extensions of one and other — both on the ice and in their sexuality — and that allegiance to the pack subsumes any individual judgement. This culture fosters the belief that women are to be hunted, and that all prey must be shared.

Given this distressing reality, the question at the heart of the film is: how do we possibly proceed with our national pastime as it exists, when we know what we know?

[bsaka7]

"E.M. vs Hockey Canada", Rick Westhead, We Breed Lions (Random House Canada, 2025), 4-5.

"The Problem of Pain" from TSN, as mentioned in the above excerpt

"The Cost of Glory: How Shea Weber and Carey Price cope with the toll of their careers" from the Athletic

[bsaka7]

"Rites of Passage", Rick Westhead, We Breed Lions (Random House Canada, 2025), 188-189.