TORONTO — After Theo Fleury alleged this week that he was molested by a previously convicted sex offender — former coach Graham James — I have to ask the question: Is it time to substantially alter the Canadian junior hockey system?
We in the United States are used to the occasionally sordid sports story, but not much has turned my stomach as much as what Fleury said happened to him for years because of James. The former Avalanche winger is coming out with a book today titled “Playing with Fire,” in which he details what he said was James’ sexual abuse during his junior days in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.
The story hasn’t made much of a ripple south of the border so far, and it surprisingly hasn’t been a major topic so far this week in Canada.
For one thing, many hockey insiders were already familiar with James’ 1997 conviction for molesting one of Fleury’s junior teammates, Sheldon Kennedy, and that Fleury was the likely second victim Kennedy said was still out there.
But the ramifications of this story should be bigger, and one of them must be that minors should not be under the control of adults with vested sports interests.
Fleury said he was 14 years old when James started insisting he spend nights at his house, and would sneak into his room at night. Fleury kept everything quiet, of course, as James instructed. If he had gone public, as an unknown kid, Fleury would have no doubt been labeled “a problem” who carried too much unwanted publicity to any future team. His tremendous pro career probably never would have happened.
The other major pro sports leagues don’t allow minors to play on teams that make money off them.
NHL teams don’t make money off junior teams either — not directly anyway — but the most traditional route to the league still is through the major junior system.
That means hundreds of boys, playing in small towns where the junior teams are often the big cash cows, are under the control of coaches who can wield tremendous power on their lives.
Fleury and Kennedy were two of the brave ones who came forward — but still not until their careers were over or almost there. How many other victims of Graham James or others like Graham James are still out there? And how many more might there be in the future under the current system?
My strong hunch is, more than one.
