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Rick Westhead

@rickwesthead

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Journalist with TSN, CTV National News.
Author of We Breed Lions: Confronting Canada's Troubled Hockey Culture.

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I wrote about former NHL player and current media personality Paul Bissonnette and “piss bombs” in the paperback of my book We Breed Lions. New reporting in a new afterword. by @rickwesthead

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Arizona State University has agreed to part ways with hockey coach Greg Powers and hired Dave Hakstol, a former NHL head coach who was most recently an assistant with the Colorado Avalanche.
The move comes as ASU continues to investigate an Aug. 20 workout that left sophomore Matthew Mayich on life support.
Mayich, who is 21, collapsed during the workout after showing signs of disorientation. Seven players later wrote to ASU president Michael Crow, raising concerns about the workout and alleging Mayich did not receive water.
The athletes’ 26-page letter describes a session led by Tim Ziesel, an Army veteran and former Green Beret, on a day the afternoon high temperature was 104 degrees. The players alleged in their letter that Ziesel left before Mayich collapsed.
Powers was placed on paid leave two weeks ago, more than a month after Mayich collapsed. His departure follows calls for his removal from Mayich’s family lawyer and the seven ASU players, who were not identified in a letter from a lawyer to Crow.
The university’s investigation, led by former Arizona Supreme Court chief justice Scott Bales, remains ongoing. The Arizona State University Police Department is also investigating. by @rickwesthead

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How many more headlines will it take before we start holding people accountable?

With sexual assault, misogyny, and abuse of power continuing to dominate the news, We Breed Lions by Rick Westhead is a book everyone should be talking about.

This isn’t just a book about hockey. It’s about the culture we’ve allowed to exist, the people we’ve failed to protect, and the responsibility we all have to demand better.

One of the most important books Christina has ever read. Not because it’s comfortable, but because it’s necessary.

Available on Christina’s Staff Pick shelf in both Huntsville and Bracebridge 📚 taken in Cedar Canoe Books by @rickwesthead

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4 days ago

We’re delighted to be part of an important community conversation with the Town of Aurora. @townofaurora

On Saturday, October 17, Olympian and Generation Safe Founder Allison Forsyth @allisonforsyth and investigative journalist and author Rick Westhead @rickwesthead will come together for An Honest Conversation on Safe Sport in Canada.

This is an opportunity for athletes, coaches, parents, volunteers and community leaders to listen, learn and take part in a conversation about how we can help build a better and safer sport system.

📍 Aurora Town Square @auroratownsquare
🎟️ FREE – registration required

Join the conversation. Be part of what comes next.

Learn more and register by clicking on the link 🔗 in our BiO

#AuroraSportPlan #SafeSport #SportLeadership #AuroraSportsHallOfFame by @rickwesthead

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9 days ago

I am honored to be hosting and working with @rickwesthead, the @codeofmisconductthefilm producers, @thefridacinema and @cait.alexander with her non profit @endviolenceeverywhere (EVE), to present to you the first American screening + PANEL of CODE OF MISCONDUCT, feat. Rick, Cait, and more to be announced.

Dec 1, giving Tuesday, benefitting EVE.
We will have vendors, SA survivor non profit info booths, live self defense demos, and more.

More info coming soon 🔜

#doulblehockeystix #rickwesthead #hockeyculture #nhl hockeycanada5 taken in The Frida Cinema by @rickwesthead

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When Ray Kerr was 23, he returned home to Reno, Nevada, after dropping out of community college.
He found jobs sweeping floors at a local movie theater and stocking shelves at a 7-Eleven. Then, in an unlikely twist, a coach in California asked if Kerr wanted to give baseball one more shot.
Kerr said absolutely.
After stints at two community colleges and playing summer baseball in Alaska, the 32-year-old made it to the pros. He is now a breakout star of the MLB playoffs with the Atlanta Braves.
Kerr has talked about his upbringing. His father was often in jail, and his mother absent. For two years in middle school, he and his brother Richard slept in a tent their grandmother’s backyard in Sacramento. The brothers entered foster care system thereafter.
After signing with the Mariners for $5K after starring with his team in Alaska, Kerr debuted in MLB with San Diego in 2022. After a trade to Atlanta he missed two years following Tommy John surgery.
Kerr has become a key player for Atlanta this season. He started Game 3 of the wild card series against the Phillies and allowed one hit over 3 ⅓ shutout innings and he did not give up a run in 2 ⅔ innings against the Dodgers to even up their division series.
Awesome story. Easy guy to cheer for. by @rickwesthead

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12 days ago

“I am also speaking as Jane Doe.”

Social media has been chock-a-block with posts published by women who are sharing stories about their own sexual assaults in the wake of a story coming out of Cornell University.

The story centres on a former Cornell student identified in court records as Jane Doe. In a civil lawsuit filed in September, she alleged that 7 members of a fraternity drugged and sexually assaulted her at their frat house in October 2024. None of the men have been charged and all have denied wrongdoing.

While Cornell says it conducted a comprehensive investigation when it first learned of the allegations, new reporting is raising questions. According to media reports, Jane Doe told a Cornell investigator: “I can say with 100 percent confidence I was raped.” She also said there was “really no escape.” Yet a report sent to prosecutors by the investigator omitted her explicit allegation that she had been raped.

Critics of Cornell say the male students involved escaped with essay-writing assignments as their only punishment. Cornell insists it shut down the fraternity chapter.

(The story is eerily similar to what I have seen while reporting on sexual violence and abuse in Canadian sport. A survivor comes forward. An organization says it takes the allegation seriously. An internal process begins. Findings and sanctions remain secret. Leaders cite privacy. The public is asked to believe the matter was handled properly.)

This is no longer only a Cornell story.

What is unfolding has the elements of something larger: serious questions about how allegations were handled; alumni exerting influence; a student journalist who stayed on this story for years; politicians now demanding answers. NY governor Kathy Hochul on Thurs. said new information has undermined public confidence in the original investigation and appointed state attorney general Letitia James as a special prosecutor on the case.

One lesson I take from Cornell: institutions rarely volunteer the information needed to evaluate their own performance. Pressure creates transparency, and transparency creates the possibility of accountability. by @rickwesthead

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16 days ago

A 15-year-old Nova Scotia hockey player pleaded guilty in youth court in Truro, N.S., on Tuesday to sexually assaulting a younger teammate with a mini hockey stick during a party and sleepover in Oct. 2025, a team-building event that was held so players could get to know each other.

According to an agreed statement of facts read in court, the victim was 13 at the time and a rookie on an under-15 team. With parents gathered downstairs, the 13-year-old rookie was upstairs, laying down on his stomach on a bed and using his phone, when two older players, who were 14 at the time, pinned him down and pulled down his pants and underwear.

One boy who has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go on trial in February, allegedly pushed a mini hockey stick between the 13-year-old’s buttocks. The rookie shouted for the players to stop and started crying. He later told police the assault lasted 15 to 20 seconds but it “felt like forever.”

The court heard that the victim wanted to tell his parents but didn’t know how to raise the subject and he didn’t want to get anyone in trouble.

The two older players subsequently tried to pull down the pants and underwear of two other players but were unsuccessful.

The teammate who has pleaded guilty can be compelled to testify during his teammate’s criminal trial. Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, the possible outcomes range from an absolute discharge to a period of custody.

The victim’s father eventually learned of the assault and reported it to the RCMP. Four youths were initially arrested, but only two were charged. by @rickwesthead

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A lawyer who says he represents seven unnamed members of the Arizona State University men's hockey team has sent a letter to school president Michael Crow disputing ASU's official account of the Aug. 20 workout that left teammate Matthew Mayich in a coma.

Phoenix attorney Tim Casey alleges the seven players, who are unnamed because they fear retribution from the ASU coaching staff, are calling for an independent investigation, the suspension of the coaching staff, and the appointment of an interim coach before the season opens Oct. 2.

Casey sent the letter to Crow on Monday and also copied to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes.

According to Casey’s letter, players say the workout that left Mayich fighting for his life lasted more than 75 minutes, not the approximately 45 minutes described in a report published by a school VP. Players also claim Mayich never received water. The letter states there was one water break offered, but that lasted only seconds and reached only the first eight players to finish a bear crawl drill. Mayich was still crawling when the break ended.

Players cited in Casey’s letter say Tim Ziesel, a former Green Beret, used extra exercise as punishment, and that Mayich showed visible signs of distress well before the final exercise in which he collapsed. They say he crawled on his hands and knees, appeared disoriented, and at one point leaned on a teammate to stay upright. by @rickwesthead

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Canadian wheelchair basketball player and two-time Paralympian Vincent Dallaire has lost his challenge of an 18-month suspension for sexual maltreatment.

A Sport Integrity Canada investigation found that Dallaire sent unsolicited nude photographs, including photographs of his penis, and sexual messages to two adult female athletes between 2020 and 2025. He also offered to pay one of the women for nude photographs and continued sending sexual messages after being warned about his conduct and blocked.

Dallaire admitted sending inappropriate messages and acknowledged that his conduct constituted sexual maltreatment. He asked the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada to reduce his suspension to three months, citing his lack of previous discipline, cooperation and remorse.

The arbitrator rejected his challenge, finding his misconduct was repeated rather than isolated and that Dallaire demonstrated “a fundamental lack of understanding” of consent.

The decision noted that Dallaire had said: “I don’t think anyone said it had to stop or that anyone complained.”

Sport Integrity Canada responded that consent requires an explicit yes, not simply the absence of a refusal. Dallaire remains suspended from sport until July 16, 2027. He must also complete up to 10 individual counselling sessions focused on consent and ethics in communications. by @rickwesthead

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Join us for an evening in conversation with award-winning investigative journalist Rick Westhead (@rickwesthead), author of We Breed Lions: Confronting Canada’s Troubling Hockey Culture. Westhead’s reporting exposed systemic failures within Canadian hockey and sparked a national reckoning about abuse, power, and accountability in sport.

Hosted by @goodnightout_vancouver and @salalsvsc,
Westhead will be joined by award-winning prevention educator Stacey Forrester Salal Medical Support Worker Carly Norton and moderator Jeevan Sangha. Drawing on insights from We Breed Lions, the conversation will move beyond individual cases to examine the cultural and systemic factors that contribute to harm, including power dynamics, organizational culture, institutional responses, and barriers to accountability.

🗓️Thursday October 22nd, 2026
⏰7:00PM
📍UBC Robson Square
🎟️Capacity is limited, tickets available at the link in bio! by @rickwesthead

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Reporters attending an Arizona State University media conference Wednesday were asked to limit their questions for the school’s head hockey coach to the upcoming season.
That request came even as 21-year-old Canadian player Matthew Mayich remains in critical condition more than a month after an incident during a team training session in extreme heat.
A number of reporters complied. Katie Strang of The Athletic did not. She pressed the coach for answers about what happened and who should be held accountable.
The media conference came after ASU released a preliminary report on the Aug. 20 incident. It found that the hockey team’s coaches did not properly vet a former Green Beret before inviting him to lead the workout and did not submit a required training plan to the school for review.
The report also found that emergency guidelines for treating heat illness were not followed after Mayich collapsed. He was left lying on the ground while staff draped him in wet towels, even though ASU policy calls for immediate immersion in ice water.
Organizations often say they cannot or will not discuss sensitive issues. The same thing happened when I first called the Chicago Blackhawks in 2021 to ask about Kyle Beach’s sexual-assault allegations. But an organization’s reluctance to answer questions does not relieve journalists of their responsibility to ask them. Our job is to pursue the questions that need to be answered, especially when the stakes are high.
And if an investigation is going to command public confidence, many experts in the safesport sector say it should be conducted by an independent third party, not by the organization examining its own conduct.
I appreciate colleagues like Katie who do this work professionally and persistently, even when they are targeted with abuse from bots and people hiding behind burners. Accountability journalism is rarely comfortable. That is precisely why it matters. by @rickwesthead

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