The CI Aggregator is a compilation of recent stories regarding the hockey world, The Carnegie Initiative, our Board members, other industry influencers, similar organizations doing work to change the culture of the game, related issues, and anything aligned with our important mission to make hockey more inclusive, supportive, and welcoming to all.
A new edition is posted each Friday.
Please feed us news! We welcome submissions to be considered for the weekly “CI Aggregator. Send stories to “[email protected]” with “CI Aggregator” in the subject line.
WEEKLY RECAP: Friday, September 29, 2023
Scroll. Read. Click on headline for full story.
USports Influence Evident In PWHL New York
Between the PWHL Draft and free agent invites following, PWHL New York could have six or more USports alumni, and their head coach, in training camp.
Ian Kennedy, The Hockey News, Sep. 29, 2023.
When the puck drops in the bright lights of New York, the franchise will likely have the largest USports impact of any PWHL team. USports is the top Canadian university league, as NCAA Division I is in the United States.
At the draft, New York selected Jade Downie-Landry, a McGill University graduate, and Alexandra Labelle, a University of Montreal alumni.
It was not surprising, given the team’s hiring of long time University of Alberta head coach Howie Draper, to see New York continue this trend into free agent invitations.
High hockey IQ and hard work: How Brianne Jenner became a leader in Canadian women’s hockey
Jenner has a new mountain to climb with PWHL’s Ottawa team, in a league she helped build from scratch
Karissa Donkin, CBC Sports, Sep 28, 2023
It was a perfect pass from Brianne Jenner destined for the stick of her long-time teammate, Canadian captain Marie-Philip Poulin, that ended a nearly 10-year golden drought for the national women’s team at the world championship in 2021.
A few months later, at her third Olympic games, Jenner brought home a gold medal and was named tournament MVP after scoring nine goals, tying the Olympic record in the process.
And a few months after that, Jenner scored the only two goals needed for Canada to win a second consecutive world title, the first time the Canadian team had accomplished the feat since the early 2000s.
“I think Jenner’s hockey IQ and the way she thinks the game is incredible,” said long-time teammate Emily Clark. “She makes passes that I don’t think anyone else in the building sees but her.”
WQED premieres documentary on Pittsburgh Penguins’ Willie O’Ree Academy
Herald-Standard, Sep. 28, 2023
Willie O’Ree paved the way for young players of color in hockey, leaving behind a legacy of increased opportunities on the ice.
On Thursday, Oct. 5 at 8 p.m., WQED will premiere “Equity on Ice: The Willie O’Ree Academy.”
Produced by Beth Dolinar and Dave Forstate, the program, with narration by Brian Cook, focuses on the Pittsburgh Penguins’ mentorship initiative for young ice hockey players of color. The academy is named for O’Ree, the man known as the “Jackie Robinson of Professional Hockey.” O’Ree, a Canada native, made his National Hockey League debut with the Boston Bruins in 1958, becoming the NHL’s first Black player.
U.S. National Sled Hockey Team Roster for IPH Cup Announced
First event of the season set for Oct. 2-8 in Ostrava, Czechia
USA Hockey, Sep. 28, 2023
USA Hockey announced today the 20 players which will make up its U.S. National Sled Hockey Team for the International Para Hockey Cup in Ostrava, Czechia, Oct. 2-8. The roster includes 17 players who were members of the 2022-23 squad that won gold at the 2023 World Para Ice Hockey Championship in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.
“We look forward to starting our season,” said Dan Brennan (Colorado Springs, Colo.), general manager of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team. “Our team has a great mix of young players and returning veterans and we look forward to a great tournament in Czechia.”
The four-team IPH Cup field includes the U.S., host Czechia, Canada and Team IPH, which will be largely comprised of players from European countries.
Declan Farmer and Team USA among first PARA SPORT Awards winners
Team and player awarded for Beijing 2022 success at ceremony to celebrate those who contributed to strengthening the impact of Para sports worldwide
PARA SPORT and World Para Ice Hockey, Sep. 28, 2023
The accolades keep coming for USA’s Para ice hockey team following its gold-medal victories at both the Beijing 2022 Paralympics and 2023 World Para Ice Hockey Championships A-Pool.
Forward Declan Farmer was awarded Best Male Winter athlete and the USA was named Best Team at the first-ever PARA SPORT Awards at a ceremony in Bahrain on Wednesday (27 September).
The PARA SPORT Awards celebrate those whose efforts have contributed to strengthening the impact of Para sports worldwide. In addition to awards for summer and winter sport athletes, there were categories for coaches, International Paralympic Committee (IPC) members, and volunteers. The timeframe considered to be eligible for winning an award was from 1 January 2022 to 30 April 2023.
The award ceremony was held alongside the IPC’s General Assembly and Conference, which is taking place between 27 and 29 September in Manama, Bahrain.
Northeast Sled Hockey League returns to CT this weekend for first time in 5 years
Austin Mirmina, New Haven Register, Sep. 28, 2023
After a multi-year hiatus, the co-ed Northeast Sled Hockey League will make its long-awaited return to Connecticut this weekend with a tournament at the town’s newly renovated skating rink.
The two-day tournament, which marks the start of the NESHL’s 2023-2024 season, will be the first time that the sled hockey league has played games in the state in more than five years. It also will be the first major event hosted by East Haven’s Pasquale G. “Patsy” DiLungo Veterans Memorial Ice Rink since it reopened in Nov. 2022, highlighting the town’s commitment to embracing people of all abilities, officials said.
Historic hockey stick on display at N.S. museum highlights Mi’kmaw roots of the game
By Skye Bryden-Blom. Global News.September 28, 2023
An historic hockey stick has returned home to Nova Scotia and it’s highlighting the Mi’kmaw roots to the game.
An historian has unlocked the origins of the Caruk Stick, tracing it back to Canada’s hockey boom in the late 19th century. It has returned home to Nova Scotia and is now on display at the Birthplace of Hockey Museum in Windsor.
David Foster Carter calls himself the Hockey Holmes Heritage Detective and says the 127-year-old Caruk could be the oldest-known, Mi’kmaw-made stick.
He spent more than two years working on his assessment of the Caruk.
“The blade itself tells me it’s an exact measure that came out of Ontario Hockey Association rules for 1896,” he says. “It’s exactly 13 inches long and three inches wide — and that rule came into effect in 1896.”
Carter says the assessment helps to establish Nova Scotia’s roots in the game.
Hockeyville to provide tremendous boost to women’s hockey in Nova Scotia
Arena upgrades will turn Canada Games Complex into national hub for sport
Jon Lane, NHL.com, Sep. 27, 2023
Call it serendipitous, six degrees of separation, plain old good luck or something else that Kraft Hockeyville is coming to Sydney, Nova Scotia.
A community celebration will include a visit from the Stanley Cup and a preseason game between the Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators at Centre 200 on Sunday (4 p.m. ET; NHLN).
It’s because, said Cape Breton Blizzard Female Hockey Association president Christina Lamey, “hockey makes things happen.”
There are about 300 players in the Blizzard program, double the size since it became an independent Hockey Nova Scotia female hockey association in early 2020, yet they can’t get ice in local arenas because boys’ and men’s teams have priority at the major rinks. They’ve had to travel from their base in Membertou, Nova Scotia to neighboring communities like Whitney Pier (four miles away) and Eskasoni (24 miles) to play or just practice.
Lamey found an opening: Hockeyville and the $250,000 grand prize, which could be used to rebuild the dormant Canada Games Complex on the campus of Cape Brenton University. She partnered with the college’s women’s club hockey team and organizations with a combined 20 teams scrambling for ice.
After ‘lifeline,’ thousands of Duluth area youth hockey players will soon need ice
A new sports-oriented task force might lead the way to new or improved athletic facilities built with an already-approved half-percent tourism tax.
Christa Lawler, Star Tribune, Sep. 27, 2023
The city of Duluth will use up to $200,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act for a temporary ice chiller to maintain the ice sheet at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Arena — a short-term fix for the rink used by thousands of youth hockey players and figure skaters each year.
After that, DECC officials plan to shift to non-ice events for the arena: conventions, concerts and other sports, according to communications director Lucie Amundsen.
The DECC Arena’s ice plant, installed in 1966, was shut down this past spring after a safety assessment. The plant created ice for the DECC’s secondary rink — a closure that did not affect Amsoil Arena, home of the University of Minnesota Duluth hockey teams, or the Duluth Curling Club. Both use different ice plants.
The temporary ice chiller gives the arena’s users a few years to find, or potentially build, a new facility — time they weren’t sure they would have this past March when the ice plant was shut down.
NHL LinkedIn Post. Sept. 27, 2023
Watch the full feature on YouTube.com/NHL
The fun aspect of the game is at the core of a new recruitment campaign launched by the Ontario Minor Hockey Association
Gilbert Ngabo, Toronto Star, Sep. 27, 2023
When pandemic restrictions eased and people started to slowly come back to their normal routines, officials at the Ontario Minor Hockey Association noticed a considerable decline in program registrations.
“Across the province, we saw a decrease of anywhere between 10 to 15 per cent of where we were before the pandemic,” said OMHA executive director Ian Taylor. The fall in numbers came from a combination of factors, including people who couldn’t join the programs during the lockdown months as well as changes in lifestyle and families finding other priorities for their kids, he said.
“Families have tons of choices these days. There’s a lot of places they can spend their time and money. We’ve got to remind them that hockey is a great sport and that it is fun.”
As the NHL lends an assist, top men’s players hope the new women’s hockey league thrives
Stephen Whyno, Associated Press, Sep. 26, 2023
Sharing the ice during NHL All-Star festivities and informal training skates and crossing paths at various Olympics over the past several years, some of the best men’s and women’s hockey players in the world got to talking. The state of the women’s game often came up.
For much of that time, the conversation centered on the lack of what many hoped would be a sustainable women’s professional league and the struggles many players went through to make a living. The tone has changed for the better since late June when plans were unveiled for a new league that starts play in January.
Suddenly, the North American hockey community was all on the same page and working together. The NHL is helping with scheduling and other logistics and will coordinate on crossover promotions and events. Men’s stars who have seen their female counterparts shine on the international stage are eager to watch and support the PWHL moving forward.
“You want to see them flourish,” Toronto captain John Tavares said. “They’re great athletes. They play a great game that we all love, and they do a great job at it and deserve that opportunity to have their own league and develop a history, a pedigree, a legacy — just like we have as men.”
From the Branches: Can hockey coaches stop being embarrassing for just one week?
Adam Selvig, Pension Plan Puppets Blog, September 26, 2023
Like, come on guys. Just as the Mike Babcock and Columbus, just as he did, and the Bill Peters in Lethbridge of the CHL left the news cycle we now have a new one, courtesy of the just arrived in town: Wenatchee Wild!
Hearing rumblings of an incident out of Wenatchee involving Kevin Constantine. More details to come….
— Hello Hockey with Tom Gazzola & Shawn Belle (@HelloHockeyShow) September 25, 2023
The rumblings didn’t last long, as the WHL announced hours later that Wenatchee head coach Kevin Constantine has been suspended.
Constantine was suspended on Sunday after the WHL’s independent reporting channel received a complaint regarding his conduct. Constantine is not permitted to have any contact with any member of the organization, including players, while the matter is being investigated.
So. Who’s next?
And while we’re on the subject of the CHL…
Tween Girls’ Hockey League cancels 2023-24 season, blames lack of city ice time
City officials say ice time was offered to TGHL, but was turned down
CBC News, Sep. 26, 2023
A tween girls’ hockey league launched by a Toronto mother has cancelled its 2023-24 season, she says, because the group couldn’t get access to workable, weeknight ice time nearby in North York.
Amy Laski, who founded the league so her daughters could play, told CBC Toronto on Tuesday the organization was forced to pull the plug on its season even after it appeared a reprieve was coming earlier this year.
“They’re really disappointed,” Laski said of the league’s players. “We’re hoping some kind of ice fairy comes along and is able to provide us with ice.”
The city says alternate accommodations for ice time were provided to the Tween Girls’ Hockey League (TGHL), but it was declined. Laski maintains the root of the issue is the way the city allocates ice time.
Jessica Campbell works alongside Kraken coaches, part of a flurry of firsts for women in the NHL
Kate Shefte, Seattle Times, Sep. 25, 2023
Her swishing blonde braid is a common sight on the Kraken Community Iceplex sheets during any kind of work with prospects. Whenever the future of the Kraken is in town, so is Jessica Campbell.
Before any cuts came, the Kraken and Calgary Flames split their training camp rosters and coaching staffs Monday night, with half taking part in a 5-3 Seattle preseason win in Calgary and the other half playing to a 3-2 Flames victory in a shootout at Climate Pledge Arena.
Coachella Valley Firebirds assistant coach Campbell was behind the Kraken bench in Seattle, part of a flurry of firsts for women in the NHL this week …
… Campbell’s turn came just one night after a historic night in Pittsburgh. Kori Cheverie, one of six inaugural head coaches of the fledgling Professional Women’s Hockey League, worked with the Penguins’ staff during development camp and training camp as a guest coach and became the first woman to stand behind the bench in that capacity during a preseason game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday.
Color of Hockey: Youth program grows game in Hispanic community near Aspen
More than 500 participants this season, about 20 percent representing heritage
William Douglas, NHL.com, Sep. 25, 2023
Carlos Ross thought it was a practical joke.
The former college hockey player received a LinkedIn message in June 2021, asking whether he’d be interested in moving from Buffalo to the Aspen, Colorado, area to coach in a new hockey program aimed toward getting more Hispanic kids involved in the sport.
“I thought it was my friends playing a prank on me,” Ross said. “I was, like, ‘This sounds a little too good to be true.'”
Ross is in his third season as hockey operations manager for Colorado Extreme, a diverse program in Carbondale, Colorado, that provides free ice time, equipment and instruction to children 10 and under. A program that started out with a handful of children in a tiny second-hand outdoor rink in 2021 has grown to more than 500 participants this season, about 20 percent of whom are Hispanic.
Colorado Extreme officials say they expect the number of kids to grow to 1,000 later this season when a smaller adjacent natural ice rink freezes.
Top Brother-Sister Pairings on Hockey’s Biggest Stages
From Jesse and J.T. Compher to Amanda and Phil Kessel, there are a handful of elite brother-sister pairings at hockey’s top levels. And there are more on the way.
Ian Kennedy, The Hockey News, Sep. 25, 2023
Sibling pairs have dotted NHL rosters for more than half a century.
Henri and Maurice Richard may be the most successful sibling duo in NHL history, but names like Esposito, Sedin, Sutter, Mahovlich and Niedermayer have dotted the history books of professional men’s hockey.
With the launch of the new PWHL, North America’s new professional league for women, there’s an opportunity for brother-sister pairings to jump into the conversation of the best professional hockey siblings.
Inside the making of Toronto’s new pro hockey team: ‘This is going to work’
They don’t have a name, or a home rink — yet — but Toronto’s new PWHL team is building something from scratch that will ‘last for a very long time.’
Dave Feschuk, Toronto Star, Sep. 24, 2023
It was, by any measure, a well-deserved promotion. Since taking over as general manager of Canada’s women’s national hockey team after its dispiriting loss to the United States at the 2018 Olympics, Gina Kingsbury presided over a turnaround that saw a gold medal at the 2022 Beijing Olympics bookended by victories at the world championships in 2021 and 2022.
So it surprised nobody when the 41-year-old Kingsbury was named Hockey Canada’s vice president of hockey operations in March, a role that expanded her responsibilities beyond the women’s game and into the men’s and para programs. She was the first woman to hold the job, which brought with it impending travel plans to the men’s Spengler Cup in Switzerland over the Christmas season and a stop at the men’s world championships in Czechia next spring.
“It was an exciting new role … I was looking forward to building a career (at Hockey Canada) and probably never leaving,” Kingsbury said. “Like, that’s a pretty permanent position.”
Maybe so. But sometimes an opportunity comes along that proves irresistible. Which explained why on Monday afternoon at the CBC headquarters, Kingsbury, having announced her departure from Hockey Canada only a few weeks before, was making selections at the inaugural draft of the Professional Women’s Hockey League draft as general manager of the league’s Toronto entry.
Morgan makes history as new vice president of USHL
Becomes most senior female executive in junior hockey
Tracey Myers. NHL.com Staff Writer. September 24, 2023
Stephanie Morgan was working for a bank in 2016 but had other ideas of what she wanted to do professionally.
“I saw this job open up, in Chicago, it’s in hockey. I’m not a hockey girl. I didn’t play but I thought, ‘Let’s take a shot at this. Let’s see what it’s about,'” Morgan said. “Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that my career would’ve panned out to how it is today.”
Morgan, who joined the United States Hockey League as a staff accountant in 2016, was named the league’s executive vice president on Sept. 1. She’s now the most senior female executive in junior hockey, USHL president and commissioner Glenn Hefferan said.
“She has an incredible breadth of knowledge and skill set and demeanor and is incredibly wonderful to work with,” Hefferan said. “She’s so confident and she’s a big part of how the trains keep moving in the USHL.”
It’s an all-night performance about great women in Toronto history, and you can star in the show
This Nuit Blanche project relies on audience participation … but it’s totally OK if you just want to watch
Leah Collins, CBC Arts, Sep 22, 2023
If you want to catch a show on any given night in Toronto, you’ll probably find something in the Entertainment District. But on Nuit Blanche, skip the usual places if you’re looking for something truly epic. Like, 12 hours long with no intermission.
When the sun goes down on Saturday, Sept. 23, RendezViews — that parking lot-turned-patio at 229 Richmond St. W — will be hosting an all-night theatrical production called The 52: Stories of Women Who Transformed Toronto.
Organized by Myseum, a museum dedicated to Toronto history, and led by the institution’s executive director Heidi Reitmaier, the show is built around 52 monologues. Those original stories, which were penned by two dozen playwrights, are told from the perspective of trailblazing Toronto women past and present. There are monologues from authors (Margaret Atwood, Lee Maracle), an astronaut (Roberta Bondar), activists (Jean Lumb, Emma Goldman) and athletes (Bianca Andreescu, Angela James)
The promise of possibility: PWHL could transform landscape of international hockey
League could allow European players close gap with North American dominance, style
Karissa Donkin, CBC Sports, Sep. 21, 2023
Dominika Lásková was still in shock a few minutes after she was drafted to play for Montreal in the new Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL).
As she made her way to the stage to meet general manager Danièle Sauvageau, her Czech national teammates snapped photos of her, beaming with pride.
Selected in the fourth round of Monday’s inaugural draft, Lásková was the first of five Czech players to hear their names called. Players from eight different countries were selected.
“Being from Europe and being from Czech, I think it’s great for the little girls back home to see that there is a possibility for them to play [alongside] the best players in the world,” said Lásková, a right-handed defender who can also play forward.
Lásková won a championship last season with the Toronto Six of the Premier Hockey Federation, a now-defunct league that had players from at least 10 countries competing in 2022-23, per Elite Prospects.
But there’s never been a women’s professional hockey league with all the best players in the world, and that’s what the PWHL has set out to accomplish.
Why Ontario minor league hockey is looking for more diverse players
Ontario Minor Hockey Association launches campaign in English, Mandarin, and Punjabi
Tyler Cheese – CBC News. September 20, 2023
The Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) is hoping a new multi-language campaign will help spread the love for the game to families who didn’t necessarily grow up with the sport — and boost its numbers in the process.
The campaign wants to remind people why hockey, in all its forms, is Canada’s favourite pastime.
The simple answer? Because it’s fun.
That’s a sentiment that Arjun Kalirai, a 17-year-old Brampton 45’s player, agrees with.
“It kind of gets me away from my personal life and…I can zone out,” he told CBC Toronto. “Even if I have stuff going on, I’m glad hockey’s kind of an outlet for me.”