Part Two: Hatter shares story of alleged hockey abuse hoping to help other victims

He first spoke publicly in December 2021 and since then has had many former schoolmates reach out to him.

“A lot of stuff happened back in the ’80s at Notre Dame there,” said Kenneth Wray, who attended Notre Dame from 1984 to 1987.

Wray also claims the hazing started the first day but took it as normal behaviour.

“Run to the store, go get his mail, make his bed and then there was the massages and the stupid stuff like that,” Wray said. “You had to do what an old boy told you to do or else you would get beat up by several old boys.”

It wasn’t until Wray was in his 20s that he realized it was abuse.

“There was a lot of stuff that happened there that just doesn’t jive and it’s kind of screwed me up as an adult,” Wray said.

Another former Hound, Rick Stolz, says everyone was hazed and “it’s just how things were handled back then.”

“In Todd’s defense, that year he was there was an exceptionally bad year,” Stolz said. “They made a bad choice of a house leader and there were a couple of old boys who probably shouldn’t have come back.”

Someone who understands Todd’s story is former NHLer Theo Fleury who also experienced sexual abuse in hockey.

He’s been a good sounding board for Todd.

“You’re kind of taking a leap of faith and putting your story out there but what I’ve learned and my research, this isn’t an uncommon occurrence,” Fleury said. “This happens in every aspect of society.”

Across the country, is a former sports policy and politics professor at the University of Toronto, Peter Donnelly.

His most recent work was focused on abuse in sports for children and adult athletes.

“I think we could use alternative initiations,” Donnelly said. “I think that would be really helpful.”

Through an experiment at U of T, Donnelly found that when athletes and coaches participate in a preseason camp doing activities none of them are good at, it produced some bonding.

“Some of the teams went ahead and held hazing ceremonies after the initiation ceremonies that were public, they reported that hazings were quite mild that they were already bonded with the older players,” Donnelly said.

Todd never had any of that.

Also since then, Hockey Canada has developed a Bullying Harassment and Abuse Policy. It states, “…there shall be no abuse and neglect, whether physical, emotional or sexual of any participant in any of its programs.”

If you or someone you know needs help, the Association of Alberta Sexual Assault Services has toll-free talk, text and chat services available at 1-866-403-800.

In Part Three of this story, coming on Thursday, details on the legal proceedings initiated by Todd.

by Teagan Rasche

Part Two: Hatter shares story of alleged hockey abuse hoping to help other victims

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