Its “burn the witch” vibe is getting out of hand As Justice Minister in the 1960s, Pierre Trudeau articulated the essence of liberal tolerance with his “government has no place in the bedrooms of the nation.” Sixty years later, PET’s son Justin would like to amend that to “the government has no place in the…
To appease the attention-deficit mob, the league may replace them with the heroes of the post-expansion era The concept of dumping the league’s history in favour of blog talking points for Millennials has taken root. If the attention-deficit mob – which loves changing the names of universities or toppling statues to suit the mood –…
There’s no going back since Bieksa joined the crew in 2020 The recent news that the NHL is contemplating an 84-game regular season is a testament to the bankruptcy of ideas at NHL HQ in New York City. Perhaps they felt it necessary after the shellacking the league absorbed for its “non-binary” proclamation. And its…
His rural values run smack-dab into the urban Woke It would be no exaggeration to say that Carey Price has been the most popular pro athlete in Quebec for the past 15 years. The Hart Trophy and Vezina Trophy winner is probably the greatest goalie in his generation. Since his epic performance in the 2021…
So why aren’t there any trans men in the NHL? Imagine the Academy Awards coming out in favour of returning The Dreamers to their home country. Or the Tonys advocating a repeal of gay marriage. That’s the equivalent of the NHL’s Twitter site tweeting, “Trans women are women. Trans men are men. Nonbinary identity is…
Seasoned pro players offer insights into early lessons that helped them stick around in the big leagues
If, as an old adage suggests, the National Hockey League is the hardest professional league to make but the easiest to stay in, the staying part might come courtesy of lessons learned back when the players played for fun, according to a University of Alberta study looking at the acquisition of psychological skills and characteristics of players…
The WE Charity scandal shows that our rules surrounding charitable work and fiscal reporting are too lax
The WE Charity scandal inspired the questions but so many other charities should be affected by the answers. In August, the House of Commons standing committee on finance called employees of Charity Intelligence Canada to the stand. Ninety minutes of testimony from managing director Kate Bahen and director of research Greg Thomson demonstrated the need…
This athlete-led movement needs a face – or two. Ideally, we have one Black sports figure and one white sports figure taking the lead
I was driving home recently and listening to a talk show about the social unrest in my country, the United States. The host was white and the guest was Black. After a couple minutes of discussion, the guest asked the host a powerful question. “Have you ever woken in the morning and started to worry…
New research has implications for reopening arenas to fans during COVID-19 pandemic
When one of the big four professional sports leagues in North America expands into a new market, it brings with it an increase in influenza-related deaths, according to a sport management researcher looking to inform the conversation around getting sports fans back in stands in the midst of a pandemic. “We wanted to find out…
Marketing wins outweigh limited economic benefits for city, province and Oilers, according to U of A sports management researchers
If Edmonton is selected as one of the two host cities for the 2020 National Hockey League playoffs, the big winners will be the province's health-care system and its ability to attract talent, according to a pair of University of Alberta sports management researchers. However, with no fans in the stands and participants all but…