A Chronic Condition in Hockey

Last year when the NHL sexual assault scandal was making tabloid news, hockey fans questioned how several high profile players could’ve been involved in the incident. Cynically, I thought, how couldn’t they?

By the time I reached middle school, I was aware of the AAA hockey team’s group chat where intimate pictures of girls were passed between the members like they were playground toys brought in for show and tell day. I was weary of these boys, yet still felt like their presence loomed over us at every point and time. 

Recently, as I was discussing this with a friend, she recalled how the players on her boyfriend’s team had made a list, ranking their girlfriends by “hotness”. She said she felt like she was under a microscope. These were not isolated incidents, it was a testament to the deep-seated culture of sexism that runs rampant in hockey locker rooms. 

N. H., former OHL player and current QMJHL says that players have a certain “locker room talk” where it’s normal, and even encouraged to talk about women that way. 

Although he reassures me that the situation’s being turned around and headed in the right direction, he does mention that “it’s the same on every team” he’s played on. “When I started junior hockey I was sixteen playing with twenty one year olds. It’s kind of engrained in your brain at a younger age when you hear older guys say that kind of stuff,” he says. 

The hierarchical structure of hockey ensures that older boys who benefit from the patriarchy encode the younger ones to believe that they will benefit in the same way. This comes in the form of a protective “in group” for those who participate in locker room talk, encouraging derogatory speech, while ‘othering’ those who choose not to participate. 

The fear of being subject to mistreatment from your ‘brothers’ and the normalization of derogatory speech stifles any thought not consistent with the majority opinion. As a result, these sentiments are internalized by the players, who will continue to perpetuate the culture.  

Every woman I grew up with has been personally victimized by a male hockey player at some point in their lives. It is a symptom of a disease dressed up as locker room culture, really, and the recent comments made by the US Olympic team doesn’t help the case for male hockey players. 

Although Heated Rivalry may have created an illusion of equality in hockey, the real life situation isn’t as peachy. But as N.H. told me, times are changing, and hopefully for the better.