A Year Later, What has Hockey Learned?

By J. Coyden Palmer October 13, 2022

As the NHL began its 105th season Tuesday night, one begins to wonder has and will hockey culture ever change? While there is a lot of positivity about one of the world’s greatest sports, it has a despicable track record of racism, sexism, sexual violence and bullying. Last year, Evan Moore and Jashvina Shah wrote the book “Game Misconduct: Hockey’s Toxic Culture and How to Fix It.” It was announced recently that the book will have a second edition, as the first book documented multiple cases that will make your stomach turn.

Moore, a journalist, Chicago Public Schools graduate and hockey lover from the city’s South Side, said he was not too surprised with the reaction to the book. At first there were a lot of people accusing Moore and Shah of trying to bring down hockey. Now however, he thinks those who have read it with an open mind and pure heart, understand the points the book is making.

“We think it is changing hearts and minds,” says Moore. “Even before we put the book out, unfortunately it’s been evergreen with the Blackhawks scandal, what’s going on with 16-year-old Mark Conners being called the N-word at a tournament and a recent column in the Toronto Sun by Steve Simmons about a Black player.”

In “Game Misconduct,” Moore and Shah write about how the NHL had a de facto practice of excluding Black players from the league from 1961-1974. Even though Willie O’Ree, broke the NHL color barrier in 1958, when he retired in 1961, there were no Black players in the league again for 13 seasons. Even as the NHL expanded to 12 teams in 1967.

More recent history shows racism alive and well in some parts of hockey culture. Former NHL coach Bill Peters hurled racial slurs at Akim Aliu, then a Blackhawks prospect when he was a member of the AHL's Rockford Ice Hogs in the 2009-10 season. Peters said, "I'm sick of you playing that n— s—," referencing Aliu’s choice of music in the locker room. Two of Aliu’s teammates corroborated the story publicly. Peters resigned when the story became public in 2019.

“People who read the book have listened with empathy and reached out to us and are in the process of changing their minds and changing the minds of others, which is why we consider the book a success,” Moore said.

It is not just racism, the book focuses on however. In the second chapter, the focus is on the structural organization design of hockey itself and how it is flawed. Three main regulatory bodies of hockey “Game Misconduct” highlights are the NHL, USA Hockey and Hockey Canada. The complexities of the multiple junior leagues, minor leagues, NCAA and leagues in other countries make the pathway to a pro career in the NHL not as straightforward as in other sports. Moore and Shah believe this is one of the main obstacles in changing hockey culture.

“Hockey’s structure in North America is confusing…and that leaves areas with foggy jurisdiction and a question mark regarding who is responsible for creating and enforcing the policies designed to combat bigotry and make hockey safe and inclusive,” Moore and Shah write.

Last season, the Chicago Blackhawks were the posterchild for many of the issues brought to the forefront in “Game Misconduct.” Last November, the findings of an independent investigation found that former Blackhawks prospect, and first-round draft pick Kyle Beach was the victim of a sexual assault by an assistant coach on the franchise’s 2010 Stanley Cup winning team. Brad Aldrich served nine months in prison for sexually assaulting a 16-year-old high school player, after he left the Blackhawks organization. The news got worse when the public learned that now fired General Manager Stan Bowman, then head coach Joel Quennville and others within the Blackhawks brass knew about Aldrich’s conduct and did nothing about it. Owner Rocky Wirtz, who there were no indications knew of what was happening, didn’t make himself look to good during a townhall event with fans and media last year. When reporters attempted to question him about the results of the investigation, he became snarly and disrespectful to the journalists, even cutting off his own son Danny Wirtz, who was attempting to answer the questions. Quennville was also fired from his job as head coach of the Florida Panthers as a result of the investigation and will have to appeal directly to the NHL commissioner if he ever wants to coach in the NHL again.

Moore and Shah believe that the public can also do their part in changing hockey culture for the better by holding athletes, coaches and organizations responsible for their actions or in some cases inactions. They state that oftentimes:

“We place our athletes on pedestals and think because they are good at a sport, they can never do anything wrong. It makes us run to denial instead of accepting the truth that, say, our favorite player may have assaulted someone…Players who are especially good at a sport are most likely to be given passes.”

Other suggestions are for changes in the prep school and hockey academy models. Rituals that involve bullying and homophobic language should also be discouraged. Limiting the control of coaches’ power over a player’s career is also a potential landmine that the authors think should be changed. Moore and Shah have successfully used a sensitive and incisive approach in their writing to tackle some tough issues that need to be addressed if hockey truly “is for everyone.”   

“Game Misconduct” can be purchased via Triumph books for $28. It was named one of the best new sports books in 2021, in addition to being one of the best books about hockey.