'It’s about leaving the sport better than I found it': Sports sociologist talks Hockey Canada scandal

In May, it was revealed Hockey Canada had settled a lawsuit with a woman who alleged she had been sexually assaulted by several Canadian Hockey League players, including members of Canada’s world junior team in London, Ont., in 2018.

Since then, other allegations of group sexual assaults involving hockey players have surfaced. It was also revealed that Hockey Canada maintained a fund for uninsured liabilities, including sexual assault claims.

The allegations have prompted calls for leadership changes at Hockey Canada. Several corporate sponsors have also pulled support from the men’s programs.

Tuesday, Hockey Canada announced that Chief Executive Officer Scott Smith is out, "effective immediately."

As well, the entire Hockey Canada board of directors has agreed to step down.

For sports sociologist Dr. Cheryl MacDonald, the re-examination of hockey culture is long overdue.

“I think I was one of the least surprised people,” MacDonald tells CTV Atlantic, noting a book was published on the subject in 1998.

“On the one hand, I’m frustrated that it’s only coming to light now, but on the other hand, better late than never.”

MacDonald, who works at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, has spent a decade studying masculinity, sexuality and hockey at the major level and beyond. She recently published the book “Overcoming the Neutral Zone Trap: Hockey’s Agents of Change.” Through her work, she came to understand how team dynamics in competitive men’s hockey often drive the culture the sports community is reckoning with now.

“I think sometimes there’s value in that argument that perhaps it’s only a small group in that population that is misbehaving,” MacDonald said. “But at the same time, there’s a much larger population that stays silent on it out of fear of being excluded or losing their jobs depending on the level.”

MacDonald starts with working at an individual level with hockey players in order to change toxic aspects of the sport’s culture.

“Especially at the high performance level, we focus a lot on winning, we focus a lot on player development on the ice,” she said. “I think that we could do a whole lot more at all levels to focus on making sure that they’re good people, making sure they understand empathy and compassion.”

But MacDonald wasn’t just helping hockey players re-examine their role in the community -- she also had to rethink her own. She came to learn how hockey culture influenced the way consent was being used in her personal relationships and how she may have overlooked sexism because she thought it was normal.

“I think that it’s hard to criticize something you love, and certainly when you’re a sports fan and a sports scholar, it can be tough to sit in that space because you don’t want to criticize something that you love so much,” MacDonald said.

“But at the same time, I would argue, if we really do love it then we want to make it better and more enjoyable and safer, and so we have to unpack it and we have to acknowledge the problems, no matter how big or small, in order to do better.”

Now, MacDonald works with the Maritime Hockey League on an intiative to get women working in hockey operations.

“For me, at this point, it’s about leaving the sport better than I found it.”