Line Change

Hockey and Pride. The topics have been tied together, but more for division than the opportunity to promote inclusion. In this conversation, host Ian Kennedy and guest CJ Jackson discuss the PHF, Toronto Six, and most importantly, the concept of Pride, self expression, and being able to participate in sport as your authentic self. It's a conversation rooted in kindness and hope at a time when the news for LGBTQ+ athletes is negatively spiralling.

Alina Muller is undeniably one of the best hockey players in the world. A five-time Patty Kazmaier nominee playing for Northeastern University, Olympic Games MVP for Switzerland, and a newly signed professional player for the PHF's Boston Pride. In between that, she managed to earn a masters looking at brain rehabilitation. Sophie Shirley is a national champion with the Wisconsin Badgers, who played last summer for Canada's national development team, a top performer and candidate to crack Canada's senior national team. She is also set to play for the Pride next year. Only a few short years ago, talking about players like Muller and Shirley signing professional contracts paying liveable wages would have been a pipe dream. Now, it's a reality. In this episode host Ian Kennedy chats with the duo about their hockey careers, choosing the PHF, and more.

Jacquie Pierri is a professional hockey player, with experience in the CWHL, SDHL, and EWHL. Pierri has a masters, focusing on the sustainable engineering of refrigeration systems in arenas. Climate change continues to impact hockey, particularly barrier free access to outdoor skating spaces. On this episode of Line Change, host Ian Kennedy chats with Pierri about the impact of climate change on the sport we love, and what the NHL and arenas across the globe can begin to do to fight global warming, and reduce the impact the sport has on our climate.

Canadian national team member, Olympic and World Championship gold medallist Laura Stacey continues to break down financial barriers to sport through her Sticks in for Charity Road Hockey Tournament. The cost to enter sport is one factor that turns some families away, and Stacey wants everyone to have opportunities to play the games they love, just like she had. Laura Stacey spent this season in the PWHPA playing for Team Adidas, and hopes that soon, the wait will be over for more opportunities for professional women's hockey in North America. To learn more about, or to donate to Stacey's Sticks in For Charity, visit her website https://laurastacey7.ca/

Loren Gabel is the PHF's most valuable players. Kali Flanagan was named the league's top defender. The Boston Pride teammates are also both former members of the PWHPA and were both members of their respective senior national teams. Gabel played in the World Championship for Canada, while Flanagan won Olympic gold and World Championship gold as a member of team USA. Host Ian Kennedy discusses their careers, joining the PHF, the growth of women's hockey, and much more on this episode of Line Change.

Women's hockey is growing rapidly across the globe, not just in Canada, USA, Finland, or Czechia, but in places like Israel and Serbia. On this episode of Line Change, the IIHF's Zsuzsanna Kolbenheyer joins host Ian Kennedy to talk about the IIHF's #InspireTheNext campaign, barriers for women in sport, and some potential growth opportunities for the women's game, including a women's World Junior Championship and World Cup. Zsuzsanna Kolbenheyer is a member of the IIHF Council, and was a long time member of Hungary's national women's ice hockey team. If you love women's hockey, this is a must listen.

In this episode of Line Change, host Ian Kennedy is joined by PHF commissioner Reagan Carey who discusses the continued growth of the PHF, their successes in year eight, improvements coming in year nine, potential expansion on the horizon, and the state of professional women's hockey. Currently, the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) is North America's only professional women's hockey league. In the last two years they've expanded to Toronto and Montreal, and their salary cap is set to jump to $1.5 million next season. The growth of women's hockey is ongoing, and the PHF is at the heart of it. Watch on Youtube https://youtu.be/oWK7sranrVQ

Pride. Rainbows. In arena events. The current initiatives are failing to bring inclusion and equity for LGBTQ+ people in hockey. In fact, homophobia and transphobia across society are creeping toward an all-time high, or perhaps, people are simply feeling emboldened to share their bigoted views. So where does hockey go from here? Brock McGillis, hockey's first professional hockey player to come out, an LGBTQ+ advocate, and one of the founders of Alphabet Sports Collective, has some ideas. Brock and Ian discuss the issues facing LGBTQ+ people in hockey, and more importantly, how to fix these issues, and build a more diverse, inclusive, equitable game for all. View on YouTube https://youtu.be/Py484Qg9d8Q

Fergie Jenkins is in the Baseball Hall of Fame, won the Cy Young, is in the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, and has a statue of his likeness outside Wrigley Field, where his number 31 also hangs retired by the Chicago Cubs. Before his MLB stardom, Fergie Jenkins was a hockey player, dreaming of becoming the next Willie O'Ree and playing in the NHL. While fate took him in a different direction, Jenkins still has fond memories of his hockey days. In this episode of Line Change, host Ian Kennedy and Fergie also talk racism, and the Chatham Coloured All-Stars baseball team, a historic club his father, Ferguson Jenkins Sr. played for in the 1930s. Line Change talks hockey, social issues, and features change makers in the game we love. Host Ian Kennedy writes for The Hockey News and Yahoo Sports. His words have appeared in the Globe & Mail, Toronto Star, The Guardian, and Deadspin, and his book, On Account of Darkness: Shining Light on Race and Sport is out now.

On this episode of Line Change, host Ian Kennedy talks to Hockey Canada’s first ever vice president of diversity and inclusion, Irfan Chaudhry. Embroiled in scandal and suffering from a toxic culture, Hockey Canada has lost the trust of Canadians. Chaudhry and Kennedy discuss Hockey Canada’s loss of trust, what went wrong, and where Canada’s governing body for hockey goes from here.