Rick Westhead

My book WE BREED LIONS: Confronting Canada’s Troubled Hockey Culture is out today.
Thank you to the team at @randomhouseca for believing in this book and thanks to Stephen Brunt for writing the forward.
I’m grateful to @TSN_Sports for its commitment to sports journalism and I appreciate the many people in the game who spoke to me about their love for hockey and their desire to make it better.
I'm donating proceeds from this book to Canadian organizations such as the London Abused Women’s Centre that are trying to end gender-based violence and others that are striving to make sports more accessible.
You can order the book via @chaptersindigo here:
indigo.ca/en-ca/we-breed…

Two years after a woman referred to publicly as "Anne Marie" detailed an alleged sexual assault in 2014 involving eight former members of the Mississauga Steelheads, Peel Regional Police have closed the case.
While police recently arrested a former Steelheads player, they told Anne Marie and her lawyer they would not move forward with charges because a Crown attorney who consulted on the case believed there was no reasonable prospect of conviction.
Anne Marie details, in her own words, the alleged assault, her decision to go to police years later, and what happened during an investigation that at one point appeared likely to result in charges.
She gave permission to quote sections of her journal, which she provided:

"Even if nothing moves forward, I want [player one], and I want all of them to know, I remember. I remember what they did, I remember how they treated me, talked to each other and acted so normal as if this was something that has happened many, many times before. I want them to know what they did to me. I want them to feel the fear I felt that night." – Dec. 1, 2025.

An independent appeal board has confirmed five members of Canada’s 2018 world junior team breached Hockey Canada’s code of conduct.
Hockey Canada said Alex Formenton has been reinstated immediately. Cal Foote, Carter Hart, Dillon Dubé and Michael McLeod remain suspended through November 2026, November 2027, November 2028 and November 2030, respectively.

The trial of a former Peterborough Petes billet mom who is charged with sexual exploiting a teenaged player has begun in Peterborough.
The woman, who was charged in February 2024, is represented by Juliana Greenspan, the lawyer who represented Cal Foote a year ago in the Hockey Canada trial in London, Ont.
The trial in Peterborough is expected to last about two weeks after the Crown withdrew a charge involving a second alleged victim, who was also a Petes player.
Details on the opening day of the trial from the Peterborough Examiner's @KawarthaVandonk, who is covering the case:
thepeterboroughexaminer.com/news/crime/pet…

As we move into fall, I'm booking more public speaking events to talk about establishing the right culture within sports organizations and teams and confronting an important question: What can we do to encourage boys becoming young men to become the best versions of themselves?
If you are interested in scheduling a book-signing/documentary screening and/or a public discussion this fall/winter, please send me a DM and help to spread the word.