Dubas: Leafs creating curriculum for players to learn about equality issues

With teams, players, and the NHL itself all taking a stance against prejudice, bigotry and racism this week the hockey world has a been shaken up like never before. 

Players like P.K. Subban and Patrice Bergeron have stepped up to donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to charities like the NAACP, while others have come out in open support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Now, the Toronto Maple Leafs are stepping up as the first team to offer up education and anti-racism curriculum to its players.

“What the last week has shown us is that merely living a good life yourself and treating other people well yourself … that’s great, but it’s not quite good enough in order to enact change in the greater swaths of society,” Leafs GM Kyle Dubas said Wednesday on Sportsnet’s In Conversation with Ron MacLean.

“I think what we’ve learned, especially in the last number of days, is that with the Maple Leafs and with our players and with our staff … we need to be doing more on the anti-racism side of things. Not only with our statements and our words and our tweets and what we put out there but with our actions, and we know that people will be watching us and holding us accountable in that regard.”

Dubas then goes on to describe a “protocol” in which the team can help educate its players on things like prejudice, racism and hate and how they can get involved should they choose.

“What we’re trying to do now is build out a proper protocol where we can educate our entire organization - meaning the Leafs - on what organizations they can get involved with if they want … and how we can help them moving forward as well as what organizations can help best educate our group,” Dubas said.

So far, at least in its infancy, the initiative seems to be working.

“One of the most positive movements that we’ve seen internally … is that our players and our staff have all been reaching out and asking us what they can actually do rather than what they can say,” Dubas said.