Sunday morning coffee with a little musing: hockey culture = bully culture?

Posted on December 8, 2019 Updated on December 1, 2019

The firing of Don Cherry sure as hell caused a lot of buzz. As is the case with everything, there was a divide as to whether his firing was justified. His firing ended up being a topic of conversation on ‘The Social’ as well. Jess Allen spoke on it and when she told her story and made her comments I understood them to be ‘her experience’. Apparently I was in the minority as many felt she was generalizing hockey culture. And with that she and the network got tons of backlash demanding for her firing.. In the end she and the network put out an apology. I’ll be honest I don’t think she was generalizing at all but I also don’t think she was far off either. For a few years I saw first hand what she described as her experience. Were all the players bullies? No. Were all the parents bullies? No. But there were enough. Were they all privileged? No. But there were enough in that camp as well. And at the end of the day, all it takes is one bully for it to be a pblm. At the time I was coaching soccer and a good portion of the players were elite hockey players as well (As a sidebar, not one player of color). Players that trained year round. And one time when I had the ‘audacity’ to ask a parent to put an effort to get his kid to soccer practice as well during the summer I had this parent tell me that his kid didn’t need to practice soccer because he was ‘that good’. Saying this to me all the while poking me in the chest with his forefinger. So ya, someone had audacity but it wasn’t me. Bullying and privileged culture was and is alive and well in hockey. That’s but one example so you might think I shouldn’t make a mountain out of a molehill but that wasn’t the only example. If I were to document all my experiences, this post would last for days. But at the same time I also need to call a spade, a spade. This exists in all walks of life.
Anyway, the same people who called out the Don Cherry firing an unnecessary over reaction were now calling for the firing of Jess Allen for speaking her truth and her experience. Cancel culture at its best.