Girls' hockey confronts sexual abuse case

An unexpected twist in the latest case of a minor hockey volunteer charged with a sexual offence against a young player: The former coach is female and the victim, a 14-year-old girl.
The Fairbanks, Alaska, Daily News-Miner has the story.
There have been cases like this before - the worst being Canada's Graham James whose victims included future NHLers Theo Fleury and Sheldon Kennedy - but this is the first I remember reading involving girls' hockey, a female coach and female victim.
Hopefully Alaska minor hockey has a program like Speak Out - and take it seriously.

Referee, coach faces sexual assault charge

Minor hockey coach and referee in Fairbanks, Alaska,  faces sexual assault charges.
Not to pass judgment on the charges, but it is another, too frequent, example of why parents and organizations have to pay attention.

Canada's loss at World Juniors no big deal

Here's a memo for anyone upset about Canada losing 6-5 to the Russians at the World Juniors: Canada's best teenage hockey players are already in the NHL, not playing for the national team in this tournament.
The best teens from Russia, Sweden, the U.S. et al haven't yet proven themselves to win pro jobs.
Imagine if the Canadian junior team had included players such as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, born in 1993, and already a dominant player for the Edmonton Oilers? Ditto Tyler Seguin of the Boston Bruins.
All due praise to the Russian kids, and best of luck in the gold medal game. But remember, despite the loss, Canada still is the world factory for producing elite teen hockey players.

When referees support fighting in kids' hockey

Fighting in minor hockey happens and is usually not a big deal with appropriate penalties dished out - usually involving suspensions.
But what happens when referees are not with the program, either through flawed on-ice judgment or bad position which prevents them from seeing events transpire?
And what happens when a kid trying to follow the rules and is unwilling to fight finds himself being assaulted on the ice?
It unfolded before my eyes last night as our undermanned juvenile team played in yet another lopsided recreational game. Nothing big was on the line, few really cared who won or lost. It's nothing more than an hour of exercise, little different than a high school gym class.
A forward skates after a loose puck, he's tripped by an opposing player and slides into the feet of the goalie who's come out of the net to play the puck. The goalie is upended, one of his teammates makes a b-line for the forward lying on the ice and starts tugging at his helmet cage, trying I suppose to dislodge it to better hit his face. The forward has never fought in hockey, tries to cover up and wait a seemingly long time for the adult referees to pull off his attacker.
The penalties? Both players get 5 minutes even though it was an on-ice assault, not a fight. Even though a trip resulted in the collision with the out-of-crease goalie.
The secondary penalty? Questions from teammates why the forward didn't fight back.
He didn't fight back because he was playing by the rules and trusted the referees to do the same.
Meanwhile, he's out shopping for a new cage as the one from last night is now mangled, an additional monetary penalty for wanting to play by the rules in game that's only, supposedly, about fun, friends and fitness.
Next time I see Hockey Canada's president on TV wringing his hands about declining enrolment and reaching out to kids to stay in the game, I might suggest he check with the referees and ask them why they think kids leave.

Ferguson Hit

The recipient of this check in teenage Ontario Jr. B hockey ended up in hospital in London where he underwent major facial reconstruction - a plate and mesh - and also suffered a concussion. Afterwards, the Strathroy Rockets player who delivered the check put his hands together and mocked the injured player "sleeping". He's been suspended indefinitely. Was this injury the fault of the player who delivered the check, the injured player for skating with his head down, or the league for not mandating full cages on helmets to protect the faces of kids who, most likely, will never play professionally?
Here's the link to the excellent Sarnia Observer story about the incident.

Should kids skip hockey for parties

Toronto Star's Parent Central has a nice piece today about kids missing hockey for parties.
It's a tough call, whether its family, friends or other activities such as church.
Most parents follow the money, making sure kids choose the activities that cost the most - which of course would be minor hockey.
But there are many hockey games, but only one family Christmas event. And keeping connected socially through birthday parties with non-hockey playing kids is important.
Then again, there are times when hockey must trump all. Like the time our team of 11-year-olds was entered in a tournament a couple of hours away. The father of one of our best defencemen had missed the memo and booked a family vacation to Florida, thinking his son wouldn't be missed too much before the playoffs.
But things started to look grim when the team's best forward proclaimed he wanted to stay home so he could attend his girlfriend's birthday party - at age 11! His dedicated dad soon talked to him about dedication to his team.
By the way, he's still playing minor hockey, this season for his high school team. Don't know what happened to his 11-year-old squeeze.

Long, losing winter

Not sure how to survive this season because in minor hockey, luckily, I've never been here before.
Our kids have played on losing soccer teams before, but this is the first time in 11 seasons of minor hockey I've had a son who's playing on a team that can't win. Not just a losing record here. We're talking about a team that cannot expect to win a game, period.
It's a bit of a change from one year when he was on a team that went undefeated through the regular season or won an Ontario championship (of which there are many at several different levels and in many geographical areas). Nor is it like the Ontario "A" teams he was on which hit above their weight in a league of "AA" teams.
This is juvenile hockey where everyone plays (that's good) but the painstaking process of analysis, assigning points for skills and creating house league teams of equal skill went out the window. No draft, no thought. Just a divvying up of names based on where they played before and clusters of friends who wanted to hang out together for the winter, including a team of guys born in 1992 who wanted to be their own team.
It's taken as seriously as spring 3-on-3 leagues, which means it's only exercise.
Oddly, the many part-timers got clustered on my son's team meaning the coach is constantly asking for players from two other neighbourhood teams to volunteer to play and fill out the minimum roster and avoid defaulting. That's actually kind of good - the influx of talent makes the games competitive, but still not winnable.
Unfortunately, the schedule was written with conflicting or back-to-back games which means asking a lot of kids to play for their team, then help another.
Life's further complicated by two kids, the coach's son and the single goaltender, can't now play because they're hurt.
Juvenile hockey has only recently returned to London and I'm not sure what the best way to organize it is. Obviously people on winning teams where the kids who paid their fees are actually showing up like the current setup.
Part of me wished the team would be collapsed and the kids who really can make the time commitment to play distributed to the other teams. But that would mean less ice time in already quick 50-minute curfewed games.
Maybe we should just turn off the scoreboard and let them scrimmage.

New sexual assault investigation

On the heels, finally, of a conviction of former minor hockey coach Graham James against a teenage Theo Fleury, comes a new story about a minor hockey coach being investigated for sexual assault crimes.
This one's in British Columbia.
There may be nothing to it, and this time it likely doesn't involve future NHL players having their privates fondled, and worse, by their "trusted" coach.
Still, it's a reminder of why hockey volunteers take courses such as Speak Out.

Minor hockey costs add up

Sure, minor hockey costs a lot especially when families add the cost of hotel accommodation. But what else would you do with your hard-earned money?
Not sure what the tally is for our family's minor hockey exploits, but I'm pretty sure I could have had a new car instead.
Here's a take on the expense from the Globe and Mail.

London's gift to Washington

Dale Hunter spent more than a decade coaching some of the best teenage hockey players in the world with the major junior London Knights, Corey Perry, Patrick Kane and Rick Nash among them.
Now Hunter's back in the city where he gained fame himself - Washington, D.C. Hunter's taken over as the head coach, looking to embrace the lifestyle with the likes of Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin. I wonder if they'll break the ice with a beer or vodka. Someone needs to have taxis on speed dial in every city.
Hunter and his brother Mark have created a hockey goldmine in London, transforming a sleepy, ordinary major junior franchise only the diehards cared about into the centrepiece of this city. The Knights are likely the most valuable major junior franchise in Canada, regularly selling out the 9,100-seat John Labatt Centre.
An NBC sports website has a great piece on why Hunter made the move to the Capitals. Here's hoping he has great success as an NHL coach - and that the Knights rock on without him.