A while ago we talked about Georges Laraque’s, Phil Housley, and Igor Larionov veganism, as well as Scott Niedermayer’s animal rights involvement (all of that can be read here). I thought I’d take a I’d take another quick moment to briefly talk about some other ecological moves hockey players are making. Not surprisingly, they involve some of the same names.

In a recent “Olympic portrait” article on Scott Niedermayer in the Orange County Register, Niedermayer’s appreciation of nature is discussed, as well as his rural upbringing that fostered it. The piece touches on his decision to switch from his Toyota Prius to an even more ecological “zero-emissions hydrogen-powered Honda that he uses to commute from his home in south Orange County to Anaheim.” It also discusses Nidermayer’s attempts to influence some of his team mates:

“He has tried to get some of his Ducks teammates to ditch their SUVs for hybrids. How’s that going so far?

Said Niedermayer with a grin, ‘At least they know what they are.’ “

Here’s another recurring name — Recently exiled, ex-Canadien George Laraque announced in February that he was joining the Green Party of Canada, which certainly makes sense considering his wide involvement in other environmental and animal rights causes.

On year ago in March 2009, over 420 NHL players partnered up David Suzuki Foundation to purchase Gold Standard carbon offsets. Purchasing offsets has measurable benefit for the climate, and helps lessen the environmental impact the constant travel of NHL teams. 2009 was the second year the NHL Players Association participated in the program, and I imagine they will continue to do so in 2010.

Washington Capitals’ winger Matt Bradley is also involved in the environmentalist fight, acting as a leader among his peers to influence a greener culture within hockey. You can read an interview with Bradley via the National Geographic here.

Know of others? Comments are open. So is our message board.

Image courtesy of Ottawa Gay Hockey Association, used without permission (sorry!)

Former minor league hockey player and current hockey columnist Justin Bourne (son of Bob Bourne of Islanders fame) wrote a thought provoking article focused on homophobia among hockey players. It’s an interesting read, in which Bourne tackles not only homophobia, but misogyny and intolerance in general.

“It’s time to acknowledge we’ve been unfair to the gay community, that the culture of our sport can be misogynistic, homophobic and cruel. More important, it’s time to make a stand that we want it to change.”

Bourne offers some solutions, but hockey culture is part of a larger world culture which is just as intolerant. It’s hard to say how effective a gay rights movement in sports can be if it’s still rejected by the rest of society.

But if change is going to start anywhere, why not Hockey, eh?

Check out the article written for USA Today by clicking here.

Note from the Editor: This article is a repost. It was originally published at TheBigSister.net, a website aimed at young feminists. As feminism and other social justice issues are a staple of punk culture, we felt it appropriate to republish this article here at HockeyPunx.

I recently read that the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto recently changed the requirements for inducting women. Men and women used to compete against each other for spots, but now every year, four men and two women will be inducted.

Bill Hay, the Chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame said, “The new voting procedures address the basic principle and general view among the Board of Directors and Selection Committee that men and women ought not to compete directly against each other for limited places of Honoured Membership. It creates fair conditions for all candidates while reinforcing that the existing basis for selection and requisite standards of excellence be applied equally to both genders.”

I wasn’t sure how to feel about this at first. Some of the comments on the article I read about it thought it wasn’t fair. They complained that a really great male hockey player might never get in while a woman who wasn’t at all as good as he is would. I saw what this guy meant. And if a woman were inducted I wanted everyone to feel like she deserved it. I didn’t want people feeling like women needed special treatment to excel at a sport.

I’ve changed my mind though. It’s not giving women an advantage, it’s taking away the advantages that male hockey players already have. Women have a lot more obstacles to face than men do on the road to becoming a professional hockey player:

• A lot fewer women’s parents are likely to get their daughters involved in hockey at a younger age. A lot of professional male players have been playing since they were young kids, but women players are more likely to have to discover the interest on their own and start at an older age.
• I would imagine there are a lot fewer women’s high school hockey teams, so fewer women have the support and motivation to keep playing hockey that a team provides.
• Hockey is an aggressive sport. Men who excel at being aggressive are looked at positively…they’re seen as manly. Women are told they shouldn’t be aggressive though, and I’m sure many female hockey players have faced harassment for being too “tough.”
• Women don’t have as many or as easily accessible role-models to look to in hockey.
• Prime hockey playing age overlaps with prime child bearing age and that makes hockey a different kind of commitment for women. A male hockey player can easily be a dad, but a woman who wants to get pregnant has to delay or stop playing. It’s not like other careers where you can keep working until a few weeks before the baby pops out.

So I commend the Hockey Hall of Fame for their decision. Judging women separately is not giving them an unfair advantage. It’s simply recognizing that men and women become hockey players in very different conditions. The new rule judges people who face similar conditions in a similar manner.

In the punk rock world, veganism  is fairly commonplace (and almost mandatory in some circles), primarily as a political statement and alternative lifestyle. Simply put, veganism is a stricter form of vegetarianism that strives to avoid all animal products (meat, poultry, eggs, fish, dairy, leather, etc).

This practice, however, hasn’t quite spilled over from the punk scene into hockey rink. But you do occasionally find exceptions, such as Canadiens’ winger Georges Laraque. It was just earlier this year that Laraque decided to become vegetarian, but Laraque just recently this month announced he had made the full conversion to veganism, claiming the decision was made primarily for political rather than nutritional reasons.

Laraque stated he wanted to “break the stereotype that all vegans are skinny people with long hair.”

With around 1,170 career penalty minutes and a reputation as an NHL badass, some might be surprised to learn that he has a sensitive side when it comes to animals and animal rights. But that just makes him more of a bad ass.

 So, are there other hockey players with similar punk street cred? Scott Niedermayer, while not vegan, has been involved in animal rights actions through PETA (yes, I know, PETA is often more of an embarassment to animal rights more than anything, but at least it’s something). Not only is Niedermayer a Ducks defensemen, but he’s a defender of ducks, too (see what I did there?)!

In a letter urging the Chicago City Council to uphold it’s expiring ban on foie gras back in 2007, Scotty stated

“As an Anaheim Duck, I hate to see real ducks tortured so that a handful of wealthy chefs can serve their diseased organs. Please uphold this compassionate law.”

Former NHL players Phil Housley and Igor Larionov were also reportedly vegan. There are probably others in the club, but cursory google results don’t turn up much.

By the way, if you want more information on why one might become vegan, and to learn just how sustainable a lifestyle veganism can be, a good place to start is Vegan Outreach’s “Why Vegan?”