Dear Hockey Canada members, you are going to be doing something very important over the next few weeks. You will set a new direction for hockey in Canada.
You know how important it is. You have been involved in hockey most of your life. At the age of 5, you were playing in the street with the neighborhood children. Your first sweater. Your first team. The National Hockey League (NHL) players and teams you’ve lived and died with. Your first NHL game. All the moments with your teammates: the big wins, the big losses, the big hopes. Great friendships. The things you learned about sportsmanship and team spirit, the emotions that are still deep inside you.
Even when you didn’t reach the top, you kept playing. Then, to your surprise, as a coach or a parent, or just someone close to the game, you discovered the satisfaction of watching others play, learn and love what they do. And now, having done all of that, you have become a member of Hockey Canada.
The people of your city, province or territory trust you, they have put in your hands not only the well-being of sport, but also that of their children.
Hundreds of thousands of them, across the country, boys and girls, with or without a disability. Women and men too. Like you, like me, whether it’s Sidney Crosby, Marie-Philip Poulin, Sarah Fillier, Connor McDavid or that 5-year-old – they’re all gamers.
Most Canadians don’t even know what you’re doing. They know the Hockey Canada name from Canadian teams at the Olympics, World Championships and World Junior Championships. They assume that you have something to do with the “state of the sport” in this country, with how we are doing, not just in terms of winning gold medals, but in the way we play, in sports health and safety. And with whom participates.
And, in a sport we’ve created, in a time when difference is everywhere and hockey offers common ground for so many people, how important it is that regardless of the obstacles – age, gender, ethnicity, cost, geographic location, even skill – everyone who wants to play has the chance to do so. Canadians want to know that someone cares about this sport. Your name is Hockey Canada. It must be you.
It is crucial to understand
You know what happened when the scandals involving World Juniors players broke, and what you, Hockey Canada, did and didn’t do. How everyone turned against you. How amazed you looked. The criticism was relentless and coming from all over, as if you were somehow the lightning rod for everything that was wrong with the sport. The public, governments, media, sponsors, everyone was after you. How unfair that seemed to you. And the more you reacted that way, the more you got hit on. You never seemed to understand. Hope you understand now. It is crucial that you understand this.
You are an important person in your community. Our Olympic, national and junior teams are important, and the vast majority of players who will never wear a Canada name jersey are even more so. You are important because hockey means a lot to a lot of people. Because it is part of our history, our pleasure, our pride. A part of us. It has to do with our children. So when something important happens, it matters to us. It really matters. You have to remember that.
You have a great job ahead of you.
You have many administrative and corporate responsibilities within Hockey Canada, but first and foremost, it is your responsibility to ensure that hockey in Canada is healthy and strong in all respects.
And in a few weeks, it’s your job to choose the best people to make it happen. Not just the ones knocking on your door. The best people, look for them, go find them. The public, government, media, corporations – everyone – are watching you.
And while you’re doing that, also keep this in mind: hockey doesn’t belong to you. It does not belong to the Minister of Sport or to the Government of Canada. It does not belong to the NHL, International Ice Hockey Federation, Junior Leagues, Minor Hockey Associations, their administrators, officials or coaches. Hockey belongs to everyone who plays it. We often hear hockey people refer to hockey as “our game”. I think it’s their way of trying to appear inclusive, like they’re being generous and caring in sharing it with others. But they don’t have to share hockey. It is hockey that is shared with them. With all of us.
Over the next few weeks you must remember this and also remember this for all the following weeks. Choose as the new Hockey Canada Board of Directors, as the new President, as the new CEO and as the new leader people who know it, who believe in it, who never forget it and who embody it.
I wish you good luck.