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.
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WEEKLY RECAP: Friday, November 24, 2023
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From The Point: Founding of the PWHL should be good for women’s hockey, but not this local
Matt Vensel, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Nov. 24, 2023
Last week, many of the best female hockey players on the planet took the ice for their first training camp practices with their teams in the new Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL), a unified league founded this summer and trumpeted as a tremendous development for the future of women’s hockey.
Anjelica Diffendal, a Pittsburgh native and now former pro player, was not among them. Instead, she is back home, retired and figuring out what is next.
Diffendal is one of the dozens of women’s players who were left in the cold after the Premier Hockey Federation was bought out and dissolved in June, paving the way for the founding of the PWHL. That league debuts in January.
Ice and Fire: Youth hockey has a big impact on local economy
Brent Leischner, Miles City Star, Nov. 24, 2023
Miles City youth hockey players are burning up a lot more than just the ice. With the 2023-24 season just underway, their events also help to light a fire under the local economy during a traditionally slow time of the year.
John Laney, executive director of the Miles City Area Chamber of Commerce, has nothing but good things to say about Miles City Youth Hockey. That is because those coming to Miles City for hockey meets and tournaments leave a lot of their money in the town, which is good for the local economy.
Since hockey has been “built up,” going from a mostly recreational sport a decade or so ago to becoming competitive, teams have come to Miles City to compete.
He estimates that the average coach and player spends $130 a day and fans spend about $170 per day.
Surrey is officially home to BC’s first free hockey program for newcomer and diverse teen girls.
Hockey4Youth, LinkedIn,. Nov. 23, 2023
Via CTV News Vancouver (cameraman Peter): “Surrey is officially home to BC’s first free hockey program for newcomer and diverse teen girls. A school bus carrying 27 students from Princess Margaret Secondary arrived at North Surrey Sports and Ice Complex [on Monday] afternoon.
[Monday] was their first practice and the girls will hit the ice once a week until April. The program is being put on by Hockey 4 Youth Foundation with support from the Canucks for Kids Fund.
“Our mission is to foster social inclusion for newcomer and diverse teens, in this instance girls, and youth who face barriers because hockey is an incredibly exclusive sport and we know the joys that can come from playing this game,” said Hockey 4 Youth founder, Moezine (Moe) Hasham.
On top of learning hockey skills, these girls will get to know new friends and their community.
The Toronto-based charity is planning to expand this program to Vancouver, Vernon, Prince George and Vancouver Island.”
Why the PWHL is launching with temporary jerseys — and without team names or logos
Hailey Salvian, The Athletic, Nov. 22, 2023
When the PWHL released its first-ever jerseys last week with a basic boilerplate design for all six teams, the fan response on social media was swift and overwhelmingly negative.
“No identity or personality,” one fan wrote.
“They couldn’t design logos for the teams?” said another.
The response is understandable. Sports fans love their jerseys, and women’s hockey fans have been waiting for a women’s professional hockey league like this — a place to watch all the best players in one spot — for years. Not to mention fans of the now-defunct Premier Hockey Federation had spent the better part of eight years getting attached to the creative branding of original teams like the Boston Pride, Buffalo Beauts and Metropolitan Riveters.
But now the league that has been touted as the most professional in the history of women’s hockey is launching with jerseys adorned with city names diagonally across the chest. There are no logos; the teams don’t even have names yet.
What gives?
According to Amy Scheer, the PWHL’s senior vice president of business operations, team branding was too important to fit into the league’s tight schedule to prepare for launching Year 1.
Lightning-backed event introduces newcomers to sled hockey
Jefferee Woo, Joey Knight, Tampa Bay Times, Nov. 21, 2023
A sled hockey marathon of sorts concluded Sunday with the final games of the 13th annual USA Hockey Sled Classic at Wesley Chapel’s AdventHealth Center Ice. The four-day event, featuring 30 sled hockey teams associated with NHL clubs, included dozens of games held at various skill levels.
Highlighting the action was a Try Sled Hockey for Free event Saturday afternoon. The no-cost clinic introduced 20 participants to the sport, an adapted version of ice hockey for athletes whose disability may inhibit them from playing conventional hockey. Among the clinic instructors was Lightning sled hockey veteran Monica Quimby, a member of the U.S. women’s development team.
Hockey mom’s post highlights ‘broom closet’ for girls change room
Girls on boys teams often asked to change in cramped spaces, parents say
Andrew Lupton, CBC News, Nov 22, 2023
The handwritten sign taped to the arena door said “Girls dressing room.”
But once the four female players took a look inside, they could only laugh. Only about four-by-eight feet in size, the room had no sink, no plumbing fixtures and not a single hook to hang a coat or towel.
Instead of a bench, there were a few plastic chairs. Where there would usually be a rubber floor to protect players’ skates, there was only bare concrete, stained a rust-coloured brown.
“It was essentially a broom closet with four stacking chairs,” said Liz Page, president of the Point Edward Minor Hockey Association. “I’m not sure that four hockey bags, four chairs and four girls would have even fit in there.”
Page is a mother of one of the four girls on the Point Edward Black Hawks under 15 team, which played at the arena last weekend for a Silverstick qualifying tournament in the municipality of South Huron. There are four girls on the team, boys fill out the rest of the roster.
Page posted the video on Facebook and later gave permission for journalist Tara Jeffrey to share it on her X account, the social media platform better known by its former name Twitter.
SMASHVILLE Set To Showcase NCAA Women’s Hockey
Robert Morris, Boston University, and Minnesota State will face-off in Nashville this weekend at the SMASHVILLE Women’s Collegiate Hockey Showcase.
Ian Kennedy, The Hockey News, Nov. 22, 2023
The SMASHVILLE Women’s Collegiate Hockey Showcase is set to hit the Ford Ice Center Bellevue in Nashville, Tennessee this weekend featuring Boston University, Minnesota State University, and Robert Morris University.
The teams will play a round robin style tournament against each other vying for the guitar trophy, which last year went to Northeastern University.
“The SMASHVILLE Women’s Collegiate Hockey Showcase is an event that is always circled on our calendars,” Nashville Predators senior manager of diversity hockey Jennifer Boniecki said in a team news release. “We are so privileged with hosting some of the best talent that the NCAA has to offer. These three games will showcase some incredible hockey and offer young athletes the opportunity to watch and aspire to play in this event in the future.”
Matt Petgrave and Adam Johnson’s Fatal Mid-Game Ice Hockey Collision Has a Wide Impact
Mallory Moench, Time, Nov. 21, 2023
On Nov. 18, ice hockey fans gathered to watch the U.K. team Nottingham Panthers return to the ice for the first time for a memorial game, in honor of their teammate, Adam Johnson. The American athlete died on Oct.28 after his neck was cut by a skate blade during a mid-game collision with opponent Matt Petgrave in Sheffield, England.
Matt Petgrave and Adam Johnson’s Fatal Mid-Game Ice Hockey Collision Has a Wide Impact
The incident has led to the arrest of a man on suspicion of manslaughter, who has since been released on bail, and has reignited safety debates surrounding the sport.
Here’s what we know.
Brian Burke says leading the women’s hockey union was the job he ‘always wanted’
Sports Business Journal, Nov. 21, 2023
PWHLPA Exec Dir BRIAN BURKE has been supporting women’s hockey “behind the scenes for more than a decade” — first as an avid fan, then a board member for a former league, “promoting the game and helping with connections,” according to Rachel Brady of the GLOBE & MAIL. Burke said he believes in the game and “the cause and the people who play it.” Burke: “I worked in the NHL for 35 years. I never thought I’d get a shot to work with the women, so when I got the chance, I thought, ‘I’m taking it.’” Brady noted Burke will “advocate for the players.” He will “make sure they’re treated fairly by the PWHL” in accordance with the CBA that the players and their “pro bono lawyers negotiated before he was hired.”
German hockey player Yannic Seidenberg gets 4-year doping ban
Associated Press, Nov. 21, 2023
BONN, Germany — Yannic Seidenberg, who played on the German national hockey team that won silver at the 2018 Winter Olympics, has been banned for four years in a doping case.
The German National Anti-Doping Agency said Tuesday that the German Court of Arbitration for Sport had imposed the ban on Seidenberg, who can appeal.
The 39-year-old Seidenberg was a forward on the German team that surprisingly reached the gold-medal game in 2018 before losing to the Russian team. The ban does not affect that Olympic medal.
The NADA said Seidenberg was positive for testosterone in an out-of-competition test and alleged he also used another banned substance, DHEA. A criminal investigation by Munich prosecutors is “still pending,” NADA added.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle let loose with victory dance during ice hockey game
Meredith Clark, Yahoo Sports, Nov. 21, 2023
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped out in Canada for an ice hockey game date night.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attended the Vancouver Canucks game against the San Jose Sharks in British Columbia on 20 November. Harry took to the ice where he made the ceremonial first puck drop, before returning to his VIP box seats to watch the remainder of the game.
The royal couple appeared to let loose as they cheered for the Canucks, who beat the Sharks 3-1. When the Canadian ice hockey team scored a goal, Harry and Meghan were caught doing a victory dance from their seats at Rogers Stadium.
Laila Edwards Makes History As 1st Black Woman On U.S. Hockey Team
Jovonne Ledet, Macon.binnews.com, Nov 20, 2023
Laila Edwards is making history in U.S. hockey.
The hockey star recently became the first Black woman to join Team USA’s senior women’s national team, per Essence.
“It’s an honor to be the first Black woman on the national team, but this team’s been around for a long time,” Edwards said in a statement. “And not to sound ungrateful, but it would have been nice to have someone that looked like me on that team before me. I’m glad that I’m able to be that someone for another little Black girl out there.”
“It’s about time,” Edwards also told The Athletic. “Now young girls can look at the highest level and see someone that looks like that. It adds extra motivation and inspiration. I like to be a role model for anyone, but more specifically for young people of color.”
“It’s overwhelming, but in a good way,” she continued. “It’s a privilege to be able to call something like this overwhelming. I’m very proud to be in this position.”
Dowd, Lindgren combine for adaptive hockey experience for local youths
Capitals teammates join together to create ‘core memory’ skating opportunity for children from So Kids SOAR program
Tom Gulitti, NHL.com, Nov. 20, 2023
Washington Capitals center Nic Dowd and goalie Charlie Lindgren have a mutual interest in helping children through the charitable foundations they created with their wives. So it made sense for them to team with So Kids SOAR to host an adaptive skate at MedStar Capitals Iceplex on Monday.
More than 50 children participated from the So Kids SOAR (Strive, Own, Achieve and Realize their potential), a Washington, D.C.-based organization which provides free adaptive athletic, recreational and skill-building activities for youths with physical and developmental disabilities.
“My wife and I, this is something that we’ve talked about,” Lindgren said. “We want to help the community in any way we can. I think right now it’s primarily a focus on kids and adaptive sports, but any sort of event where we can show up and bring a positive impact to put a smile on someone’s face, that’s what it’s all about.”
This was the first event for Lindy’s Lineup, which Lindgren and his wife, Mikkayla, a pediatric occupational therapist, founded earlier this season to provide opportunities for children in adaptive sports or in special education classrooms.
Boston To Host ‘Beyond Their Years: The Incredible Legacies of Herb Carnegie And Buck O’Neil’
The film tells the story of sports and social justice icons Herb Carnegie and Buck O’Neil
Sean T. McGuire, NESN, Nov. 20, 2023
The documentary “Beyond Their Years: The Incredible Legacies of Herb Carnegie and Buck O’Neil” will be showcased at AMC Causeway 13 theater in Boston on Nov. 28.
“Beyond Their Years” tells the story of sports and social justice icons Herb Carnegie and Buck O’Neil, a hockey and baseball player, respectively, who were excluded from competing in the highest professional leagues because of their race.
Adam Johnson’s team-mates and fans pay emotional tribute to ice hockey star after death
Alex Ross, The Independent, Nov. 20, 2023
Supporters and team-mates of Nottingham Panthers ice hockey player Adam Johnson paid an emotional tribute to the star in the side’s first match since his tragic death.
The American, 29, died in hospital after being hit in the neck by an opposition player’s skate during a match against the Sheffield Steelers on 28 October.
On Saturday evening, the Panthers returned to ice with a Adam Johnson Memorial Game at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, where further tributes were paid to their former team-mate.
Also in the stadium was Mr Johnson’s girlfriend, Ryan Wolfe, who he was going to ask to marry him, it was revealed last week.
Fans started by leaving tributes outside the arena for Johnson, who also had a spell with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL and joined the Panthers ahead of the 2023–24 season. Then, during the warm-up, the players, wearing special game jerseys, were cheered.
The sell-out crowd then chanted Johnson’s name as the players made their way to the centre for a tribute.
Senators Community Foundation and Canadian Tire team up to donate equipment
Ottawa Senators Hockey Club, LinkedIn, Nov. 20, 2023
Last week the Senators Community Foundation and Canadian Tire Corporation made another impact for youth in the National Capital Region by donating an estimated 1,700 pieces of hockey equipment. Most of the equipment will be directed to Their Opportunity Minor Sports Corp. to distribute through their Indigenous Youth Equipment Program which sees over 1000 bags of hockey equipment donated to 20-30 Indigenous Communities throughout Ontario, with smaller portions making an impact for BGC Ottawa and Christie Lake Kids. Much appreciation to Canadian Tire, DYMON Storage and all of the wonderful volunteers who made this happen.
Thanksgiving on ice: An Erie hockey tradition lives on decades after its beginnings
Mike Copper, Erie Times-News, Nov. 20, 2023
When Sault Ste. Marie faces the Erie Otters on Thanksgiving, it will be the second time during the current Ontario Hockey League season the Greyhounds will compete on that holiday.
Impossible?
Thanks to Canadian and American traditions, no.
The Greyhounds initially won on Thanksgiving when they defeated the Windsor Spitfires 5-3. Those OHL franchises met the first Monday in October.
Or, as Canada has designated that specific day since 1879, Thanksgiving Day.
Atlantic City Ice Rink Bans Stockton University Head Hockey Coach
Harry Hurley, WPG, Nov. 20, 2023
This is straight from the you can’t make this stuff up department.
We have confirmed that Stockton University Men’s Ice Hockey Head Coach Alan Rhoads has been officially banned from being on the premises of The Atlantic City, New Jersey Skate Zone facility.
I have had the opportunity to get to know Rhoads. You would be hard pressed to find a more professional and polished individual.
As bizarre as this is going to sound … Rhoads’ banishment from the Atlantic City Skate Zone is because he attended a meeting in a room within the facility that was allegedly outside of the boundaries of Stockton University’s contract agreement.
Pandas on Ice: The story of America’s first women’s college hockey team
In the first episode of The Herald’s new podcast series “Pandas On Ice,” former Pembroke Pandas tell the story of how the first intercollegiate women’s ice hockey team in the country came to be.
Jacob Smollen and The Bruno Brief, The Brown Daily Herald, Nov. 19, 2023
Jacob Smollen
It’s an unseasonably hot late October evening, but inside the Meehan Auditorium, Brown University’s ice rink, it’s still freezing.
Game Audio
The music before the puck drop (1:05)
Jacob Smollen
It’s Oct. 28, 2023 and the Brown Bears are facing the Harvard Crimson — their third Ivy League conference matchup of the season.
Stadium Announcer
Fans, welcome to the ice: Your Brown University Bears!
Jacob Smollen
The game is also part of the team’s alumni reunion, commemorating 60 years since the women’s hockey program began at Pembroke College, Brown’s coordinate women’s college, in 1963. The Pembroke Pandas, as they would later be named, were then the first, and only, intercollegiate women’s hockey team in the country.
Player’s Own Voice podcast: American great Hilary Knight helps launch a league
Hockey legend sizes up the inaugural PWHL season ahead
CBC Sports, Nov. 14, 2023
Player’s Own Voice podcast is back with a bang. Season seven of Anastasia Bucsis’ long-running passion project kicks off with Hilary Knight, captain of the U.S. national hockey team, world and Olympic champion, the face of the American women’s game, and from a Canadian perspective, public ‘”frenemy” No. 1.
Knight dekes around all the old Can-Am rivalry talk and focuses instead on the game-changing debut of the Professional Women’s Hockey League, which will begin play in January…
USA Hockey Girls Hockey Weekend and IIHF Girls Hockey Weekend pushes the game forward
USA Hockey Magazine. Nov.-Dec., 2023.
SMILES AND LAUGHTER WERE ECHOING throughout rinks all across the United States in October as more than 800 girls participated in over 70 USA Hockey girls hockey events during USA Hockey Girls Hockey Weekend and the IIHF Girls Hockey Weekend.
Events from Buffalo, N.Y., to San Diego, Calif., helped introduce many girls to hockey for the first time, while numerous communities celebrated the women and girls involved in the great game of hockey.
In Quincy, Mass, Mayor Thomas Koch declared October 8, 2023, “Girls Hockey Day” during a celebration of hockey with Quincy Youth Hockey and Weymouth Youth Hockey…
Allen Americans Ready to Sack The Competition
Myles Jack And His Mother, LaSonita Jack, Are The First African-American Majority Owners In ECHL History
USA Hockey Magazine. Nov.-Dec., 2023.
Myles Jack spent the last six seasons causing havoc on the football field. Now the former NFL linebacker is teaming up with his mother, LaSonita, in building a strong ECHL franchise in Allen, Texas. “From the football field to the business world I have always brought passion and leadership to my teams. The opportunity to lead this franchise and serve our great fans is an incredible responsibility,” Myles Jack said. “I’m excited to bring a first-class, family friendly entertainment option to this community alongside our great partners.”
Summer Prep Leads To Perfection
USA Hockey Magazine. Nov.-Dec., 2023.
Members of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team saw their summer labor come to fruition at the IPH Cup in Ostrava, Czechia. In its first tournament of the season, the U.S. finished a perfect 5-0, outscoring its opponents 26-4 and clinching the tournament championship with a 4-1 victory over Canada. U.S. captain Josh Pauls [a member of the Carnegie Initiative Board of Directors] explained the Americans got off to a fast start this year thanks to the hard work the entire team put forth in the offseason.
Tom and Jerry Caraccioli, USA Hockey Magazine, Nov.-Dec., 2023.
In Ojibwe tribal language Anishinaabemowin there is no word for goodbye. It is a fitting way to think about Henry Boucha—an Olympic silver medalist, Minnesota hockey legend, NHLer, Ojibwe Tribe member and Native American advocate who passed away this fall. Boucha, 72, whose Ojibwe name OgichidaaMakwa Dodem means “Warrior,” completed the Ojibwe’s “Four Hills of Life” on Sept. 18. The “Four Hills of Life” encapsulate lessons about life, challenges faced, growth and change throughout its different stages—childhood (spring), adolescence (summer), adulthood (fall), and old age (winter).
The “four hills” of the proud Ojibwe Tribe member and U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer’s life centered around two things—his Native American heritage and hockey. The “fall” and “winter” seasons revolved around advocating Native American heritage, rights and providing a much-needed voice, and his “spring” and “summer” seasons were filled with the sport of ice hockey…
Bob Batz Jr., USA Hockey Magazine, Nov.-Dec., 2023.
SHAUN SUISHAM may be famous because of his previous career as a kicker in the NFL. Nowadays, though, Suisham has Super Bowlesque goals for girls hockey in Western Pennsylvania.
Suisham can often be found at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex just north of downtown Pittsburgh. This is home field for Suisham these days after retiring from the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2016.
Earlier this year, Suisham’s 12U Pittsburgh Penguins Elite AAA girls team, which includes his daughter, Stella, gathered for a team meeting and to watch some film before a night of off-ice and on-ice training…