I’m grateful to have the support of everyone at
@hometownhockey_
who encouraged me say what was in my heart last night.
Some thoughts on the NHL’s broken culture.
The Blackhawks betrayed Kyle Beach, a survivor of sexual assault, in 2010.
Logan Mailloux, who distributed a sexual photo without consent, was drafted by the Habs in the first round in 2021.
In case anyone thinks the NHL’s priorities have changed, they have not.
Him: “how can you work out in a mask?!”
Me: “Well our national women’s hockey team played an entire Olympic match in N95s, so I think I can lift a couple weights like this.”
The last time I talked to a psychologist about anxiety was last summer. The last time I talked to my therapist was a week and a half ago. The last time I felt acute anxiety was today at 4:25 am. I am 1 in 5... and it’s okay if you are too.
#BellLetsTalk
My truth: I’m having more bad days than good right now; more moments than I care to admit where I don’t feel like a great mother, daughter or friend.
But it helps me to say this out loud, and admit that I need support sometimes.
It’s okay to be human. ❤️
#BellLetsTalk
Make no mistake: what we’re discovering now is and always was part of hockey culture. If you’re a fan, parent, media member, stakeholder, rights holder, sponsor, exec, player or coach and you love this game, COMMIT to fixing it. It’s going to take so much more than words.
99% of the negative tweets coming at me regarding today’s women’s hockey news are from men. The choruses of “no one wants to watch that!” are predictable and incorrect. The real question here is: what about the drive to level the playing field makes y’all so angry?!
#ForTheGame
Men ask how to be good allies all the time. Well here’s how: when the
@IIHFHockey
cancels the women’s U-18s for the 2nd year in a row, join us in our outrage. Use your voices and demand better, for women and for the sport. Especially the hockey men with with big followings.
It’s been over a week since the news came out, and I can now confirm that I am no longer with Sportsnet, having parted ways on good terms.
I wanted to share some thoughts on my time with Hometown Hockey:
This is a good time to remind us all that when someone asks who “your favorite hockey player” is, it doesn’t have to be an NHLer.
#investInWomen
#PayWomen
#WomensHockey
Hi. My name is Tara. I have anxiety and a panic disorder. I’ve been good at keeping the panic stuff in check lately, but during covid, my anxiety has been off the charts.
I’m a mom who tries hard, a damn good singer, and a dedicated advocate. Oh, and I’m on TV sometimes. ❤️
Hi. My name is robin lehner and I’m bipolar 1 and have ptsd.I take medicine and I have a psychiatrist that I talk to once a week.I’m in the nhl program and on top of that I’ve fought trough hell to be here. And I’m pretty good at stopping pucks.Not perfect. Bless you all 🙏🐼❤️🤫
RT if you’ve taken the first dose of AstraZeneca, are TOTALLY aware of the risks involved, and would take the second dose in a heartbeat!🙋♀️💉
@fordnation
@celliottability
Of all the things I’ve posted on social media (and I mean all), nothing has angered people more than a post suggesting there are racist undertones to the trucker convoy. Meanwhile, there is plenty to substantiate this. Curious that this is the hill people want to die on.
I just heard a male sportscaster refer to the Women’s World Cup as “their version of the World Cup”. Um... nope, it’s not a version of. It’s the actual WOMEN’S WORLD CUP. Full stop. C’mon.
#FIFAWWC
Took me a long time to realize that so many women throughout my life who've been labelled "difficult" were actually just claiming their rightful seat at the table.
Pretty sure I'm one of those, and I'm okay with it.
When an NHL team is debating signing a player who has caused irreparable harm, there shouldn’t be pause for thought. It’s not like Miller stole a chocolate bar from 7-11 one time; these are trauma-inflicting events and patterns.
How can it not always be a hard NO. Baffling.
People are clinging to the side of airplanes to try to escape the taliban in Kabul, yet in North America having to wear a mask is stepping on your “freedom”? Have some perspective.
I like him, I really do. I hope he is healthy and doing well. But he is a bigot and had no place on national television with a national platform. It wasn’t the poppy incident, it was everything he proclaimed over 3 decades. Come. On. Stop with the deification.
They had the summer of 2020 to prepare, they didn't. They had the winter break of 2020 to prepare, they didn't.
They had the summer of 2021 to prepare, they didn't. They had the winter break of 2021 to prepare, they didn't.
Now here we are.
BREAKING:
@ongov
to announce (imminently) schools will go online for the next 2 weeks. As bitter a pill for some who will struggle mightily during this time, this will afford some needed time to upgrade safety measures, defuse the surge of Omicron.
Thread:
I see Don Cherry is trending yet again. I have never weighed in, but I want to now.
I like(d) Don as a person, because like many of us, he wasn’t just one thing. But I loathed his perspective, more and more as the years went by.
To my dearest home province of Nova Scotia, my heart breaks for you today... What a senseless act. Profound condolences to all affected.
I love you, NS. I join you in your sorrow. 💔
If you are the first car waiting to turn left at an advanced green light, when that light turns green, it is your duty to shoot out and make that turn like a goddam canon. Am I right??? 🚦🚙
Re the NHL’s decision not to let players use Pride Tape: aside from the obvious hesitation to align with anything “controversial”, one of league’s best hopes for growth is allowing players to show their personalities. Policies that take away a their right to do so are backwards.
Good god. Stop kvetching about masks and save some lives. Far less “convenient” to have sick babies who can’t get an icu bed than it is for us to put a thin piece of fabric over our faces when we go to the grocery store.
Do they make all the “stick to sports”, “keep politics out of sports” and “women shouldn’t be commenting on sports” people in a factory? Because they are all literally the same guy.
I had my first panic attack on live TV in 2007, and still very much wrestle with anxiety. Sometimes, underneath my smile on
@hometownhockey_
, is someone trying to keep a panic attack from surfacing. There are many faces to mental health issues - I'm one of them.
#BellLetsTalk
Here’s the thing. No team drafts a player without the consultation of many. This was not unplanned or without permission. That a team of leaders thinks this is okay is a massive culture problem.
#HockeyIsForEveryone
🤪
Spent my life being asked if my middle name was “Kamala, like the wrestler?”
Now I can say “No. Kamala, like the gd Vice President of the United States of America!” 🙌
Twitter is voluntary. You want to be on it? Great. You don’t want to? Great. You don’t like what I have to say? Mute me! Following my tweets and accusing me of “forcing my views” on you? Um… this is precisely where people go to state their views. It’s TWITTER.
#TheMoreYouKnow
I’d you need a story to restore your faith in humanity today, this is it.
@StLouisBlues
captain Ryan O’Reilly’s mom donates her kidney to the arena manager who let her kids skate before and after hours. ❤️
I wonder how many days I was contagious before testing positive for Covid, and how many baristas, servers, shopkeepers I might have infected had I not been wearing an N95. Food for thought as mask mandates are lifting.
Hey, is sexual harassment in sports over? Feels like we stopped talking about it real quick.
We all have stories. One of mine involves someone in player development offering me inside intel on potential NHL draft prospects if I went home with him.
Happens. All. The. Time.
So very proud of my friend
@Ron_MacLean
for using his platform to challenge the NHL’s ban on
@PrideTape
. I hope they listen.
“The stifling of expression — that is tyranny. The forced smiles all around to protect private interests is not democracy. “
When the problem is systemic within the NHL, you shouldn’t have the NHL deciding to whom and how the punishments get doled out. That’s why police forces have civilian watchdog agencies. Too many buddies absolving buddies of responsibly here.
Trust is not valued. Integrity is not valued. Women are not valued. This is truly gutting on so many levels.
Lisa is and always will be among the best in the business.
On
@PierreVLeBrun
’s question as to whether or not the league will reach out to Sheldon Kennedy (
@ShelKenn
says they have NEVER done so), Bettman dismissively and arrogantly notes that “Sheldon’s experience was not at the NHL level”.
I am still picking my jaw up off the floor.
I’m not an NHL rights holder, Damien. And I’ve never been afraid to to speak my mind regardless. So yes - I join you in asking the Chicago team to change their logo, their name, and most urgently, to examine their policies when it comes to reporting sexual assault. Good?
So
@TaraSlone
since you called me out last week, or tried to, can I get your support on CHI changing it’s racist NHL logo? Hopefully you won’t find it too tricky as an NHL rights holder…..
The predictability of responses to any criticism of hockey culture is laughable.
1. You’re a man hater (nope, I just hate misogynists, bullies, rapists and racists.)
Support women.
Believe in women.
Advocate for women.
Celebrate women.
Elevate women.
Hire women.
Include women.
Listen to women.
Amplify women.
Appreciate women.
All women.
Every damn day.
#ChooseToChallenge
#IWD2021
Hannah Waddingham is asked by a male reporter to “show leg”.
Caitlin Clark is literally sexually harassed during a presser by a male reporter.
These are women deserving of respect and reverence.
Media outlets, train your men. Good lord. 🤦♀️
Cheers to those just discovering that the
@CanadiensMTL
play in Montréal, a city where French is the official language, in Canada, a bilingual country. Santé! 🍻
#bilingue
I want to thank everyone for their support over the last 48 hours.
I need to note that I am privileged to have the platform I do. But really, I was echoing what many of my colleagues, specifically my BIPOC colleagues, have been saying all along. Pay attention to their voices.
US-Canada women’s gold medal hockey game on NBC averaged 3.54 million viewers. That’s more viewers than any NHL game this season. And second most watched hockey game in United States since 2019.
What people like this clown may not realize is there would be no
@spittinchiclets
without Dave Portnoy. I’ve known him 15 years and believe him and his version of the events in his life. Doesn’t change the fact he’s 5’7” at most and has to stand on his tippy toes for pictures
This girl got a Red Hot Chili Peppers tattoo on her ankle in 1991, and an
#AstraZeneca
shot in 2021. Only one of these things was a good idea.
Yay team
#GenXZeneca
!!! 💉👊
I love you, NS!!! ❤️🏒
“A minor hockey organization in Nova Scotia has withdrawn its entry from a national competition for funding, saying it is throwing its support behind a small P.E.I. town that lost its rink to a fire a few days after Christmas.”
He had some good points, probably, once upon a time. He has tons of charisma, which is why he stayed on air for so long. But this incessant and nostalgic elevating of Don as some figure who we should look to as a hockey and political leader? Come ON.
Them: Stick to sports!
Me: The cancellation of the Women's U18s shows a continuing disparity between men's and women's sports.
Them: Shut up about women's sports!
So she can say what she wants to say.
So she can look how she wants to look.
So she can love who she wants to love.
So she can learn what she wants to learn.
So she can do what she wants to do.
So she can see what she can be.
Happy
#IWD2020
, everyone! ❤️✊
Last night I felt something from the greater hockey community I hadn’t before, and that was the sadness of the sport they love letting them down. None of us want to give up on hockey. But it’s time to
#DoSomething
. 💔
#BlackLivesMatter
#ChangeHockeyCulture
About to wrap this
@Barbie
before I give it to my little nephew for Christmas. He’s not paying too much attention to hockey yet, but when he does, I want him to know what a hockey player looks like. 🏒👇
McDavid spoke for the first time since the NHL & NHLPA decided NHL players will not be attending the
#Beijing2022
Olympics.
"The whole thing is so disappointing... I think we do need to find a way to get a best-on-best tournament done at some point here."
Full answer here:
What about a middle aged woman with a pretty good job in the industry. Can I post a half naked photo on the internet?
I give advice to young women all the time. I tell them to be true to who they are, and to keep the women who support them close by. You are not one of those.
Keegan Mitchell, a junior hockey player in Prince Edward Island who publicly criticized officials for their response to a racial slur aimed at his teammate, has now been indefinitely suspended by the league for violating its social media policy.
Listen, I live in Toronto and I love it here. But leave it to this place to have the only sports journos alive who are incapable of celebrating Patrick Marleau’s incredible accomplishment. Ontario’s rep getting worse and worse.
On a serious note, the guy who tweeted about my butt (or lack thereof - see below), did so in response to a photo I posted with some of the most incredible women in sport. If that doesn’t highlight the work that still remains to level the playing field, I don’t know what does. ✊
Just watched this for the third time, and remain struck by how passionate and articulate Jackie was in this moment. Thank you for your voice,
@Jackie_Redmond
. Those of us who work in hockey need to continue to demand more from the league, and you have done that.
On Toews:
It’s not about how Bowman treated YOU. It’s about how Bowman (and others) treated Kyle Beach. You don’t get to minimize his experience in ANY way just because yours was different.
I’m sorry nobody spoke up for you back then, Kyle.
But we’re speaking up for you now.
Canucks President, Hockey Operations and Interim General Manager Jim Rutherford announced today that Émilie Castonguay has been named Assistant General Manager.
Castonguay becomes the first female Assistant General Manager in team history.
DETAILS |
I've probably asked a hundred NHL alumni about scoring their first goal, and they ALL say there's no feeling like it. It is gutting to think that K'Andre Miller might have had that memory tarnished.
On Dec 6, 1989, these 14 women were murdered. For BEING WOMEN.
Today is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. The epidemic of violence against women and femicide is far from subsiding.
Say their names. Remember them.
#December6
#polytechnique
So much love and support after a lame comment by a troll last night. Thank you, my Twitter family! You pulled this girl right outta the dumps! Here’s to lifting people up instead of trying to keep them down... a much better way to live. ❤️🙏
#gratitude
Vaccines are a big part of the reason our life expectancy is over the age of 35. Vaccines save lives. Public health measures save lives. Get the vaccine.
Since many of us will be keeping our distance from the gym for a while, I'm thinking
@Sportsnet
should start airing the 20 Minute Workout from the 80's. Thoughts?