Hockey PEI applauds new national maltreatment rules

Thanks to a new Hockey Canada rule, there is now a more direct process for dealing with maltreatment during hockey games on P.E.I.

Maltreatment includes all kinds of abuse, including racist, sexist or homophobic comments, insults and intimidation, both on and off the ice.

"I think it's really going to highlight the numbers, the true numbers, and I think it's really going to give us direction to see where some of the maltreatment or discrimination areas lie within the game of hockey," said Connor Cameron, the executive director of Hockey PEI.

The addition to the Hockey Canada rulebook is called Section 11 - Maltreatment, and it spells out everything from how to recognize it, penalties to issue, how to report it and the process that will follow.

"Certain things happen in rinks and people just aren't exactly sure how to deal with it," said Cameron.

"So with this new rule and the resources and education tools that Hockey Canada is committed to putting out around it, I think it's going to be a really great thing."

I think it will help the players. I think it will help the referees. I think it'll help the coaches deal with different things, too.- Connor Cameron, Hockey PEI

Cameron said Hockey PEI already had processes in place to deal with incidences of maltreatment, but this new national reporting system will make things even clearer.

"Hockey PEI is ahead of the national standard in terms of discipline and ethics," he said.

Hockey PEI reported about 10 incidents of maltreatment last year, said Cameron.

He said one of the differences with this new process is that referees will be able to call a penalty within a game.

"I think our officials the last number of years have been asking for some sort of, you know, avenue in the rule book to call some of this stuff," he said.

"They'll be able to make the call on the ice, but also add in after the fact a little bit more information. And that'll just give us a little bit more teeth. And hopefully what that'll do is paint a little more clear picture for us in terms of what exactly happened and how to deal with that."

Cameron said all Hockey PEI officials will receive training in the new reporting system before the 2021-2022 hockey season starts.