Ian Kennedy remembers Hazel McCallion’s contributions to ladies’s hockey and writes about Saroya Tinker’s upcoming present and the Edmonton Oil Kings’ satisfaction night time.
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Hockey Loses a Legend in Hazel McCallion
Hazel McCallion was often called a politician but in addition as a fierce advocate and pioneer in ladies’s sports activities. Primarily, McCallion, who handed away this week at 101, liked hockey. She performed hockey competitively within the Nineteen Thirties and Forties, and she or he was a driving power alongside Fran Rider to make the unofficial 1987 World Ladies’s Hockey Event successful. The match was a predecessor to the 1990 World Championships, the primary IIHF-sanctioned occasion for girls, and in addition for the 1998 Olympics.
In her honor, the 1987 world match championship trophy was known as the Hazel McCallion Cup.
“Hazel performed (skilled) hockey again within the day and impressed many gamers like myself,” Hockey Corridor of Fame member Hailey Wickenheiser said on Twitter following McCallion’s passing. “I’ve many fond reminiscences together with her over time. Flying again from Olympic Video games, Hazel was at all times one of many first ready at YYZ to greet the workforce. She was a power, a real chief and a private hero.”
Two-time Olympic gold medallist Cheryl Pounder echoed Wickenheiser’s thanks and reward for McCallion.
“Thanks Hazel for offering a path to my dream. Your voice, braveness and energy had a profound impression,” she tweeted.
Reward and adoration for ‘Hurricane Hazel’ got here in from throughout the hockey world, with legends and media weighing in on her impression.
Cassie Campbell-Pascall, one other legendary Canadian hockey player, called McCallion, “A real gem of an individual and chief who usually put so many different folks and causes earlier than herself. She did a lot for therefore many and her contribution to ladies’s hockey won’t ever be duplicated.”
Hazel McCallion, the longtime mayor of Mississauga, shall be remembered for the lasting impression she left on hockey and for her contributions to the expansion of the sport for girls.
Tinker Set To Host Present Highlighting Inclusion
Toronto Six defender Saroya Tinker is about to host a brand new 12-part tv collection specializing in people and organizations working to vary hockey tradition. The present, which is able to premiere on TSN later this yr, is named Breaking Down Obstacles.
“Whether or not that’s speaking in regards to the ladies’s recreation, speaking about disabled hockey and blind hockey, or speaking about range and inclusion within the recreation, we’re trying to showcase people who’re advancing hockey tradition and altering the sport,” Tinker mentioned.
Tinker is presently the chief director of Black Lady Hockey Membership Canada.
Satisfaction Evening Turns into Private
In current weeks, hockey has grappled with the subject of satisfaction nights, exhibiting assist for the LGBTQ+ neighborhood. Whereas the tales of Philadelphia Flyers defender Ivan Provorov and the New York Rangers’ choices to not put on pre-game Satisfaction jerseys have been extensively debated amongst media and followers, it’s usually a dialogue involving the LGBTQ+ neighborhood as a complete, which for years, was a inhabitants extensively underrepresented in hockey.
This week, nevertheless, the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings host a satisfaction night time on Friday. Most of the gamers have been teammates with Luke Prokop, the NHL’s first overtly homosexual prospect, who was chosen within the third spherical by the Nashville Predators in 2020. Prokop was traded to the Seattle Thunderbirds earlier this season.
“If Luke Prokop has taught me something, it’s that hockey actually is for everybody. I’m proud to be an ally to the LGBTQ2S+ neighborhood,” John Szabo, a former teammate of Prokop’s, was quoted as saying in an Oil Kings tweet.
“Friday night time is for our group and the hockey neighborhood to assist and present appreciation for the LGBTQ2S+ folks,” the Oil Kings quoted one other former teammate, Kolby Hay, as saying.
For each gamers, their statements have been accompanied by a video of them waving Satisfaction flags.
The open statements of teammates towards Luke Prokop, and the imagery hooked up, are unimaginable examples of allyship and the way organizations ought to try to have a good time the ever-expanding range of the sport.
Information Abstract:
- Rising the Recreation: Hazel McCallion, Saroya Tinker and Oil Kings
- Test all information and articles from the most recent NHL updates.