Social Problems in Canadian Ice Hockey: An Exploration Through Film

While celebrated as a highly popular sport in Canada, there are many social problems existing within and around Canadian ice hockey. These problems are often overlooked and rarely depicted in academic and journalistic research on sport. These social problems include, but are not limited to: extreme violence resulting in injuries and death, hazing rituals, multiple types of sexual violence, drug abuse, financial corruption, as well as various forms of prejudice and discrimination. Prompted by pop-cultural depictions in films, this paper further identifies and explores social problems in Canadian ice hockey revealing the realism embedded within various seemingly fictional films.