Puck Equality: The NHL and Women Fans
Less than five days after Los Angeles Kings defenseman Slava Voynov was arrested and posted bail for domestic violence in November 2014, he was back on the ice practicing with his team despite a ban. Instead of enforcing the ban, the National Hockey League charged the team $100,000 for letting him play and let it go.
The Los Angeles Kings were the defending Stanley Cup champions that year, the same year the NFL faced a blowup over its domestic violence issues. At that point, the NHL could have created a solid, strict zero-tolerance response to any domestic violence charges within the league.
Instead, NHL officials did nothing. Nothing meaningful at least. Nothing about the King’s Voynov. Nothing about Semyon Varmolov, the Colorado Avalanche goalie who was also arrested for domestic violence around the same time. Most recently, however, they not only did nothing meaningful, but also nothing at all when Patrick Kane, self-proclaimed and fan-encouraged main star of the Chicago Blackhawks, was accused of rape in 2015.
Yes, the NHL administration did not punish Kane, even in the face of a police report detailing him as the lead rape suspect. Many people have questioned why the NHL responded in this manner — including the assumption of Kane as the star player and the Blackhawks as one of the league’s sweetheart teams — but none is so convincing as the argument that these cases are the tip of an iceberg that floats rampant in the NHL.
The problem, critics say, is sexism is a part of hockey culture.
Defensive analyst Izzie Rezucha-Brown concurs.
“The way [the NHL] and the Blackhawks have dealt with the Patrick Kane situation has made me feel very uncomfortable,” she explains. “To me, this has shown that the NHL does not respect women in any way and just wants to make money.”
It’s an unfortunate observation, and one that rings true in the hearts and minds of many women NHL fans. Between the epidemic of domestic and sexual violence within the league, as well as a culture that uses “like a girl” as an insult, it’s not hard to find evidence pointing towards a sexism problem in the NHL.
Yet, in comparison to other sports leagues, the NHL doesn’t get near the amount of bad press. Is there a sexism problem?
“Yes,” Rezucha-Brown confirms, without a trace of hesitation. “I think because professional sports are so male-dominated, there’s a lot of sexism present.”
Rezucha-Brown is not alone in her view. Many women fans echo that same sentiment.
“Between mocking women’s sports and invalidating women fans, I’d say it is definitely a problem,” Abigail Ames says. She’s been a hockey fan for most of her life and agrees the sexism present in the so-called “hockey culture” is a huge turn off for many, including herself.
“I consistently feel that I cannot talk about the game in the presence of men because my opinions are often challenged,” she says. “As if I could not possibly understand how the game is played.”
Indeed, women hockey fans feel like they must pass a test to be deemed fit to like hockey, and these tests are usually administered by men as a sort of gatekeeping ritual.
Sierra Pidoli has had to fend off these tests every time she talks about hockey with other fans.
“The first response I get is usually a scoff or laughter and a ‘just because you think a player is cute doesn’t mean you’re a fan of the team,’” she says. “And when I insist that I am, that’s followed by a thousand questions like, ‘Name at least 10 players on the team.’”
Recounting these events leaves her distressed, but accusations towards the women fans’ prowess are not the only thing they have to face. Once female fans pass the spontaneous test, they’re still under scrutiny.
“We women fans always get the “You like him because he’s hot” treatment,” says Carol Reese, a veteran goalie analyst. Speaking about this seems almost resigned to her.
“Well, they also insinuated the only reason I like [a player] is because he’s attractive,” she sighs. “No one would ever say that to a male fan of a player.”
The word given to women fans is “puckbunny,” which only serves to devalue and deride them. Every female fan knows someone who has been called that in total seriousness.
“It is immensely humiliating and infuriating to be degraded in this manner,” Ames says.
It’s a theme that continues the more women fans speak about sexism in the NHL. Often, they’re shut down completely, accused of being overly emotional.
“I have to be extremely aggressive to have [men] acknowledge that I have said anything worthwhile,” Ames explains. “And then I am brushed off for being emotional.”
The sexism ingrained in hockey culture seems to be the dead end where most women fans are stuck. But how did this wall get built? Some men suggest that women are inserting themselves in a sport not meant for them, an opinion critics call sexist in itself. Others, however, point out the consistent misbehavior of the players themselves may be fostering an atmosphere wherein sexism is not only acceptable, but perhaps mandatory.
Consider the case of Mary, whose last name has been redacted for her privacy and security, and her ex-boyfriend, a goalie in the minor leagues. For two long years, she was the victim of domestic violence at his hands. Now, a year away from him, she has found the courage to begin to be an activist for domestic violence victims, even in the face of the case she brought against him going to trial.
“You get it from all sides. The ice girls, who are required to skate around scantily clad half the game, are regarded as objects, or sluts. The women victimized are told to shut up. It’s why it took so long for me to report what happened to me,” she says.
She doesn’t like to think about it.
“It’s like, you see the way the spouses and partners of players are sort of trophies,” she says. “You see how male fans catcall girls who are just there to scrape the ice. It really makes you feel like nothing, like an object almost. And the fact that [redacted] is still playing with his team, even though the whole team and many fans know what happened — it’s disheartening.”
It’s clearly difficult for her to talk about this very much, but she feels it’s important.
Fans know what happened to her, though they don’t know her name, and the reactions were unpleasant. Some called for her to be jailed for interrupting the game, and some told her to shut up if she didn’t like it.
“I can see where players are showing fans this type of behavior is appropriate,” Mary finishes shakily. “It’s learned behavior, and who better to teach it than the players?”
Who, indeed?
The NHL’s evidently lax policies in regard to players getting arrested on domestic violence charges have many women seething and pointing at the NHL as a web of sexism that traps many women fans.
“Even though the charges [against Kane] were dropped,” Rezucha-Brown points out, “the NHL and Blackhawks publicly stated they were fully behind Kane during the trial.”
The Kane case has plagued her since its inception. She’s talked of it often, though her opinions are shoved to the side.
But still she persists, because, she says, it’s the most obvious case.
“Neither the NHL nor the Blackhawks remained unbiased, or waited for the results of the trial before releasing an opinion,” she says. “Or punished Kane for being involved in an active investigation.”
It’s a very good point. Alexandra Jurczak, a huge Blackhawks fan, says the incident with Kane — and the NHL’s response to it — was troubling to her.
“At the time, I felt that it might have been a little hasty for the NHL to say that it ‘stood with Kane’ especially with how soon after the news broke,” she says. “But the NHL preventing Kane from playing may have also been a little hasty.”
So what can be done about this culture of sexism sold by the National Hockey League? It’s the toughest question by far.
“I’m not quite sure,” Pidoli admits, an answer shared by many in a sort of daunting way. What is there to do, when everything that has been tried so far has failed? Recently, the San Jose Sharks, a team that has one of the longest consecutive arena sell-out records, added ice girls in an attempt to attract more attendees to sold-out games. That seems a step backwards to many, including Reese and Rezucha-Brown.
“Please do away with all ice girls/ice dancers,” Reese suggests.
“And state publicly that the NHL is doing so because they are extraordinarily sexist,” Rezucha-Brown says. “The NHL could also suspend or punish any players who are involved in domestic abuse cases.”
It’s almost between a puck and a goalie. Speak out against the sexism that seemingly runs the National Hockey League and your reward is often being ostracized and humiliated, but remain silent and all that remains is to endure the degradation awarded to women who dare to like hockey.
There isn’t a clear answer to solve the sexism problem in the NHL. It’s a tough issue that requires the cooperation of everyone to fix. Not all, however, seem to agree that there is a problem.
“There isn’t a problem,” Bruce, a junior leagues coach who requested his last name not be used, says. “It’s just, frankly, a male sport. When chicks stop inserting themselves where they don’t belong, they’ll be happier. Just ask [Gary] Bettman. Chill the f*** out and maybe this will stop happening.”
Gary Bettman, NHL commissioner, couldn’t be reached for comment.
So, is there a problem, like countless women fans, analysts, and even players attest? Or is it something much simpler and less dire, like Bruce claims?
It’s hard to say. However, despite everything, women fans should be encouraged to keep attending games and events and to make their presence known.
“The goal of sexism is to take things away from me solely based on my gender,” Ames says. “It’s exhausting to put up with but, especially under this pressure. I don’t want to and won’t let baseless and ignorant assumptions dictate what I love and how I love it.”
