The Hockey Canada BOD announcing CEO Scott Smith and the BOD will step down was “the easy part,” according to Bruce Arthur of the TORONTO STAR. Interim Chair Andrea Skinner had “already stepped down.” Sponsors were “fleeing, federal funding was frozen, [and] provincial associations were withholding registration fees.” If the lights “were going to go out anywhere it would have been the offices” of Hockey Canada after an electricity supplier “decided to pause their relationship, demanding cultural change.” A change of leadership was “inevitable.” A change of direction, “still isn’t.” Smith “only took over in earnest” July 1, but was the organization’s president “during the scandalous settlement” of the alleged 2018 group sexual assault. The standing committee is “inspecting the finances of the organization, from investment decisions to how money moves between the organization and its charitable foundation.” The interim management group is “a placeholder” -- no details have been provided yet, but the board is “apparently figuring that out” -- and Hockey Canada says that it and the board will “carry on with the improvements that are already in the pipeline.” But hockey culture likely “won’t be transformed by the independent governance report” from former Canadian Supreme Court Justice Thomas Cromwell. The action plan Hockey Canada announced this summer “might not, either.” Arthur: “Hopefully, the sport aims higher. Right now the calculus is simple: Hockey is wound into the national identity and into the cultural fabric of so many small towns” (TORONTO STAR, 10/11).
THE BIGGER CHALLENGE: SPORTSNET.ca’s Elliotte Friedman writes “who (individually or in a group) is best positioned to take us where we must go? This shouldn’t be rushed. You can’t get these hires wrong.” The “bigger challenge might be the interim,” because “many of these are volunteer positions and there’s worry people won’t be interested.” Friedman: “We will find out if that’s true.” One of the problems is “public-facing representatives have been so poorly prepared for their appearances, which comes with major consequences” (SPORTSNET.ca, 10/11).
