NHL to mandate workplace training for all players and staff

In response to the foundation-shaking sexual assault cover-up suffered by Kyle Beach at the hands of the Chicago Blackhawks, the NHL announced on Thursday a four-pillared plan that the league hopes will prevent future abuse.

The key pillar – prevention – is centered around a mandatory, 90-minute digital workplace training program that will be instituted in 2022 for all players, staff members and executives – including team owners. The program will be constructed in conjunction with Sheldon Kennedy’s “Respect Group.”

NHL senior executive vice president Kim Davis outlined the plan to media on Thursday after making a presentation to the league’s Board of Governors at their first in-person meeting in two calendar years.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the plan was “unanimously endorsed” by the Board.

Davis said the NHL hopes to begin training in the first quarter of the New Year, with all players, staff and executives ‘certified’ by the end of the league’s fiscal year on June 30.

Davis was asked the No. 1 issue she’d like to see addressed and her answer was in the consistency of the training effort.

”As much as [training] doesn’t solve every problem, and as much as it is not by itself enough, it is important for us to go back and really establish a uniform baseline of understanding around the commons issues of what we’re talking about when we refer to respect, when we talk about issues of bullying, abuse, harassment and discrimination,” Davis said. “So there is no ambiguity about what we mean and what we stand for in the league as it relates to these issues.”

Here’s the thing: 90 minutes in a tailored and interactive online platform will not wipe away 90 years’ worth of inappropriate behavior and innuendo that has been enabled by hockey’s culture of silence.

It’s a vicious cycle that Davis acknowledged contributes to mental health issues, substance abuse, racism and sexual violence that has gripped the game.

But for the NHL, it is a start.

“That baseline will then form the launching pad for us to be able to then continue to build on all of the practices that we have,” Davis said. “To create that consistency from the very top of the organization to the bottom of the organization and for us to be able to certify to the point of accountability … I think that’s going to be an incredibly important step in our process.”

Questions still remain. Kennedy has been an expert in this field for 25 years, since speaking out about the unimaginable abuse suffered at the hands of Graham James. He has been a huge voice in what was a vacuum for so long, partially because the NHL never took him up on his expertise. Why did it take until Kennedy said in November that the NHL never contacted him for the league to finally engage and lean on him for best practices? Few people on the planet are more qualified than Kennedy – with direct and valuable knowledge on the inner-workings of the game.

Kennedy was unable to attend the Board of Governors meeting, but sent a tweet shortly after the league announced Thursday’s plan, which included his partnership.

“It’s going to take all of us pulling on the rope together to achieve our goals,” Kennedy wrote. “Thank you Kyle Beach and others for your voice. I am confident the NHL will take a leadership role for the whole hockey ecosystem.”

That is part of the plan. After rolling out the mandatory training for the NHL level, the league plans to pass the program on to others in the hockey ecosystem, including the AHL, ECHL, CHL, NCAA, Hockey Canada, USA Hockey, USHL and both women’s professional leagues, the PHF and PWHPA.

After prevention, the other three pillars of the NHL’s “Respect Hockey” plan include reporting, counseling and accountability. The league plans to organize an annual “Respect Hockey Summit” with all of the stakeholders to discuss culture challenges and best practice.

As for reporting, Bettman acknowledged reports are still streaming into the league’s anonymous hotline in the wake of the Beach scandal.

”Nothing of the magnitude, at least base on what we’re aware of today, that we saw 11 years ago,” Bettman said. “And to the extent that we’re getting reports, we follow up on the ones that require investigation are being investigated.”