Hockey culture is long overdue for a reckoning. How close are we, really?

More players are speaking up and more people are listening. But will it lead to change?

It seemed, for a brief window of time earlier this week, that perhaps the NHL and hockey in general would be forced to reckon with the toxic culture that has long surrounded the sport.

There was, after the firing of Don Cherry from his revered Hockey Night in Canada spot, the sense that maybe — just maybe — NHL fans were going to witness the dawning of a new era in hockey, one that was more inclusive and less toxic. Cherry’s firing was still controversial, but there was also the sense that it was inevitable, that Cherry just didn’t represent the way we live now and that what we tolerate as a society had shifted significantly.

On the heels of Cherry, Toronto Maple Leafs fired head coach Mike Babcock and it felt like another revered domino had fallen. While it’s a decent bet that Babcock coaches again in the NHL soon, the Maple Leafs dismissing him can be read as acknowledgement that perhaps relying on the old way of doing things wasn’t producing the best results with modern players.

Babcock’s talented and young Toronto team has been listless most of the year, and his dismissal unleashed a story that gave us at least a glance at how he coaches and why the Leafs so often looked downtrodden on the ice.

Babcock’s exit prompted the revelation of a humiliating “motivational” incident he’d had with Leafs’ forward Mitch Marner during his rookie year.  Under the guise of confidentiality, Babcock got Marner to rate his fellow players by work ethic and then threw him under the bus to his teammates.

While Marner says he’s moved on from the incident, confirmation of Babcock’s actions empowered at least one other player to come out with his own far more disturbing story of locker room dysfunction.

On Nov. 25th,  former NHL player Akim Aliu connected Babcock’s actions to the behavior of current Calgary Flames coach Bill Peters. Akim alleged Peters, a Babcock protege, used racial slurs towards him in 2008, while they were both with the Chicago Blackhawks minor league affiliate the Rockford Ice Hogs.

The specifics of that incident, reported by TSN and confirmed by two other players, are appalling.

Per TSN, Peters called Aliu the n-word multiple times because he didn’t like the music Aliu was listening to.  Aliu’s allegations were followed by other reports of physical abuse against Peters from former Hurricanes player Michal Jordan while he was a coach there. Those allegations — later confirmed by Carolina Hurricanes current head coach Rod Brind’Amour — are disturbing.

Jordan shared that Peters had been physically violent towards him as a coach and told TSN that he’d been kicked “pretty hard in the back during a game” and that multiple players saw it.

On Wednesday night, Peters issued a weak apology admitting to the slurs directed at Aliu, but not the incidents of assault.  The Flames, for their part, have suspended Peters while they investigate these allegations.

Hockey culture has long been known for its strict allegiances to codes and hierarchies, and revered for its adherence to tradition. It values silence, conformity and, above all else, obedience. As shocking as the allegations against Peters are, it’s sad but not surprising that this behavior went unreported for 10 years.  There exists a huge imbalance of power between players and management, as Brind’Amour admitted, and, for young players especially, the decision to challenge a coach, even an abusive one, could cost them their career.

Brind’Amour also noted that current players have more power than they used to; Marner, for instance, will make nearly $11 million per year this season (and the next five.)

Real change in hockey, though, the kind that creeps all the way through the bantam leagues to the pros, won’t be achieved without a hard, painful look in the mirror, and will require everyone, from fans to players to the media, to examine the role they play in perpetuating these systems.

Even though there’s no disputing that Peters’ actions and words are reprehensible, players and fans are at odds, debating the culture of the sport, the nature of its toxicity and how deep it actually runs.  The funny thing is, we just had this conversation when Cherry was fired, though this time around, it feels far more serious and immediate.

The NHL — and hockey in general — has always been known for its stoicism and toughness, the ability of players to grit their teeth and just power through tough times. That attitude provides cover for all manner of sins and has for generations.

At this moment, only a few players have come forward with their own stories, but it seems clear that there are many more just waiting to be told. Wether or not players continue to share them will be the real test. One thing is clear though, people are listening, and more players are speaking up. Cherry, Babcock and Peters are signs of a shifting landscape. But that change won’t trickle down quickly enough unless more players and coaches speak out against a culture that should have died years ago.

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