NHL Network’s Kevin Weekes launches silent protest against league

Former NHL goaltender Kevin Weekes has given a platform to one of the biggest and most revered minor hockey associations in the world one too manytimes. Weekes, a broadcaster with NHL Network, is a Toronto, Ontario native and grew up playing in the famous Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL|), a league that has boasted graduates like Connor McDavid, Mitch Marner, Max Domi and Darnell Nurse in recent years and many, many more historically.

But the GTHL is now under fire after allegations that it has not handled acts of prejudice and racism in an appropriate way. Weeks has had enough and has decided to launch a silent protest agains the league until action is taken. His approach: shut up.

“I’m not mentioning the GTHL on the air if I can help it until there is reform,” Kevin Weekes said in an interview on Saturday with TSN. “I’m on TV almost 200 days a year, on four different shows on the league network. I like to give credit both to players and to the organizations that help develop them. 

“I talk about a player’s time in the GTHL and that’s a free commercial for them. At this point, I’m not as proud to say I played in the GTHL. I’m not here to aid and abet. I won’t be complicit.”

TSN reported last week that the GTHL executive board refuses to disclose the number of racism-related incidents that occur during its games, despite a call from several current and former NHL players to do so. 

The league stated its position two weeks after 16-year-old player Myles Douglas told TSN In Depth that he was the target of racist insults in at least half of his games this season.

Weekes said it’s “sickening” that the GTHL won’t make information regarding suspensions public. He’s calling for a change and is also calling for the league to implement and enforce mandatory season-long suspicions for anyone who uses a racial slur.