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Bruce Dowbiggin

How Friends In High Places Protected A Felon

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The current controversy over Hockey Canada’s handling of sexual abuse allegations— exacerbated by HC’s Scott Smith handing out gold medals to Canada’s world champion women’s team— is not the first time the organization has been plunged into disrepute.

When it was revealed in the mid-1990s that Hockey Canada’s director of international hockey Alan Eagleson had serially defrauded, cheated, embezzled and betrayed the trust of his clients and members the revelation hit like a thunderbolt well beyond the hockey community. Pitiful pensions for Gordie Howe, self dealing at Hockey Canada, stealing players’ disability insurance were just a few of the disgraces for the original NHL Players Association director.

But an upcoming new book reveals that, despite the public outrage about his behaviour, Eagleson was protected and coddled by the highest echelons of Canadian business, politics, justice and media— right up to the Canadian prime minister’s office. In John Turner: An Intimate Biography of Canada’s 17th Prime Minister (Sutherland House) author Steve Paikin recounts how Turner would explode on anyone speaking ill of the convicted felon.

“He’s my f***ing friend,” Turner would say. “He made a mistake, and I won’t f***ing hear any more of this… I don’t want to f***ing hear of it.”

Made a mistake? Eagleson’s Bernie Madoff act covered a quarter century of hundreds of acts of self dealing and fraud— all buried by compliant media and reluctant police. We had a front-row seat for the charade from 1991, the year former star player Carl Brewer and his partner Sue Foster began pulling back the curtains on his former agent and union leader for us. (For more, see our two books Defence Never Rests and Money Players at brucedowbigginbooks.ca)

Together with the late Russ Conway of the Lawrence Eagle Tribune we uncovered a pattern of Eagleson putting himself— and the NHL— ahead of his solemn duty to the players he represented. Whether it was pocketing the disability insurance of former client/ Vancouver GM Mike Gillis or seizing Hockey Canada travel benefits from the players who sacrificed for Team Canada in 1972-91, Eagleson rarely let a deal go by without carving out something for himself.

His law office— complete with downtown Toronto parking— was paid for by the NHLPA. He orchestrated fraudulent bargaining sessions between the NHLPA and the league. He lent union money to business partners, receiving prime real estate in the Collingwood, Ontario, area. He received a flat in downtown London, England, from insurance executives. And much, much more.

He made a mistake, Mr. Turner?

The entire process was backstopped by intimidation. When he sued us unsuccessfully for libel, Eagleson was never shy about letting people know he was supported by Turner, Supreme Court justices John Sopinka and Bud Estey, business executives like Hal Jackman and a raft of political pals from his days as an Ontario Conservatives party hack. And that the NHL was his pal, not his adversary.

If you were a player who got too inquisitive, a nosey agent or a media member with questions about where the money was going you knew you could lose your job if you got too close to the truth. While reporters like TSN’s Rick Westhead are now justly celebrated, we were ostracized in the tight hockey community of the 90s for taking the word of Bobby Orr over Eagleson on how the great player had been cheated out of an 18.5 percent ownership stake in the Boston Bruins.

Even when the U.S. Department of Justice and Canada’s Justice ministry finally indicted Eagleson in 1994, he received comfort and counsel from Turner in his fight to avoid extradition to Boston (where the charges were announced). Paikin writes that Turner urged defiance, calling the DOJ “the worst bastards in the world… They’ve got unlimited time and resources. Stick that big chin of yours up front and defy them.”

Paikin quotes the present-day Eagleson, now 89, saying Turner “boosted my morale in the worst time of my life. His friendship means all the world to me.” Turner backed that up by supplying a character letter for Eagleson at his sentencing in Toronto in 1998.

How about those hockey heroes who played for the nation? Who brought excitement to generations of Canadians? Who suffered injuries and mental health issues without a proper union or agent representation? What did they get? It was all chump change to Turner. And, apparently, to a long list of political, media and business leaders at the time.

When Eagleson was released after serving a laughable four months in the Mimico, Ont., jail (his U.S. judge had told him he’d have received five years “not less a day”in his Boston court) Turner staged a “Freedom Lunch” for the just-released felon at the Senator Restaurant in downtown Toronto. According to Paikin, the dozen Al Pals who showed included the crême de la crême of Ontario: former premier Bill Davis, Roy McMurtry, Paul Godfrey, David Smith, Hal Jackman, Bud Estey and Darcy McKeough.

“Gentlemen,” Paikin quotes Turner as saying, “Whatever debt Alan Eagleson owed to society has been paid in full.” According to the book, the lunch was an annual pick-me-up for Eagleson till Turner’s passing in 2020. For this and other reasons, Eagleson— who has split time between Collingwood and England after his disgrace— is unrepentant about his behaviour. As the book reveals he’s still eager to exploit any media opportunity to resurrect his profile.

Thankfully, not everyone was dazzled by him: Eagleson was removed as a member of the Order of Canada and resigned from the Hockey Hall of Fame where he had been inducted in the builder category. The NHL has wisely kept him out of its business since. Few, if any, current politicians seek him out. TV has whited-out his name.

But for those who think there are rules for “us” and rules for “them”, the Eagleson saga is perfect example of privilege serving itself.

Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster (http://www.notthepublicbroadcaster.com). A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada’s top television sports broadcaster, he’s a regular contributor to Sirius XM Canada Talks Ch. 167. Inexact Science: The Six Most Compelling Draft YearsIn NHL History, , his new book with his son Evan, was voted the eighth best professional hockey book of by bookauthority.org . His 2004 book Money Players was voted seventh best, and is available via http://brucedowbigginbooks.ca/book-personalaccount.aspx

BRUCE DOWBIGGIN Award-winning Author and Broadcaster Bruce Dowbiggin's career is unmatched in Canada for its diversity and breadth of experience . He is currently the editor and publisher of Not The Public Broadcaster website and is also a contributor to SiriusXM Canada Talks. His new book Cap In Hand was released in the fall of 2018. Bruce's career has included successful stints in television, radio and print. A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada's top television sports broadcaster for his work with CBC-TV, Mr. Dowbiggin is also the best-selling author of "Money Players" (finalist for the 2004 National Business Book Award) and two new books-- Ice Storm: The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Vancouver Canucks Team Ever for Greystone Press and Grant Fuhr: Portrait of a Champion for Random House. His ground-breaking investigations into the life and times of Alan Eagleson led to his selection as the winner of the Gemini for Canada's top sportscaster in 1993 and again in 1996. This work earned him the reputation as one of Canada's top investigative journalists in any field. He was a featured columnist for the Calgary Herald (1998-2009) and the Globe & Mail (2009-2013) where his incisive style and wit on sports media and business won him many readers.

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Bruce Dowbiggin

The Game That Let Canadians Forgive The Liberals — Again

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With the Americans winning the first game 3-1, a sense of panic crept over Canada as it headed to Game 2 in Boston. Losing a political battle with Trump was bad enough, but losing hockey bragging rights heading into a federal election was catastrophic for the Family Compact.

“It’s also more political than the (1972) Summit Series was, because Canada’s existence wasn’t on the line then, and it may be now. You’re damn right Canadians should boo the (U.S.) anthem.” Toronto Star columnist Bruce Arthur before Gm. 1 of USA/ Canada in The 4 Nations Cup.

The year 2025 is barely half over on Canada Day. There is much to go before we start assembling Best Of Lists for the year. But as Palestinian flags duel with the Maple Leaf for prominence on the 158th anniversary of Canada’s becoming a sovereign country it’s a fair guess that we will settle on Febuary 21 as the pivotal date of the year— and Canada’s destiny as well.

That was the date of Game 2 in the U.S./Canada rivalry at the Four Nations Tournament. Ostensibly created by the NHL to replace the moribund All Star format, the showdown of hockey nations in Boston became much more. Jolted by non-sports factors it became a pivotal moment in modern Canadian history.

Set against U.S. president Donald Trump’s bellicose talk of Canada as a U.S. state and the Mike Myers/ Mark Carney Elbows Up ad campaign, the gold-medal game evoked, for those of a certain age, memories of the famous 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the USSR. And somehow produced an unprecedented political reversal in Canadian elections.

As we wrote on Feb. 16 after Gm. 1 in Montreal, the Four Nations had been meant to be something far less incendiary.  “Expecting a guys’ weekend like the concurrent NBA All Star game, the fraternal folks instead got a Pier Six brawl. It was the most stunning beginning to a game most could remember in 50 years. (Not least of all the rabid Canadian fanbase urging patriotism in the home of Quebec separation) Considering this Four Nations event was the NHL’s idea to replace the tame midseason All Star Game where players apologize for bumping into each other during a casual skate, the tumult as referees tried to start the game was shocking.

“Despite public calls for mutual respect, the sustained booing of the American national anthem and the Team Canada invocation by MMA legend Georges St. Pierre was answered by the Tkachuck brothers, Matthew and Brady, with a series of fights in the first nine seconds of the game. Three fights to be exact ,when former Canuck J.T. Miller squared up with Brandon Hagel. (All three U.S. players have either played on or now play for Canadian NHL teams.)  

“Premeditated and nasty. To say nothing of the vicious mugging of Canada’s legend Sidney Crosby behind the U.S. net moments later by Charlie McEvoy.”

With the Americans winning the game 3-1 on Feb. 15, a sense of panic crept over Canada as it headed to Game 2 in Boston. Losing a political battle with Trump was bad enough, but losing hockey bragging rights heading into a federal election was catastrophic for the Family Compact. As we wrote in the aftermath, a slaughter was avoided.

“In the rematch for a title created just weeks before by the NHL the boys stuck to hockey. Anthem booing was restrained. Outside of an ill-advised appearance by Wayne Gretzky— now loathed for his Trump support— the emphasis was on skill. Playing largely without injured Matthew and Brady Tkachuk and McAvoy, the U.S. forced the game to OT where beleaguered goalie Craig Binnington held Canada in the game until Connor McDavid scored the game winner. “

The stunning turnaround in the series produced a similar turnaround in the Canadian federal election. Galvanized by Trump’s 51st State disrespect and exhilarated by the hockey team’s comeback, voters switched their votes in huge numbers to Carney, ignoring the abysmal record of the Liberals and their pathetic polling. From Pierre Poilievre having a 20-point lead in polls, hockey-besotted Canada flipped to award Carney a near-majority in the April 28 election.

The result stunned the Canadian political class and international critics who questioned how a single sporting event could have miraculously rescued the Liberals from themselves in such a short time.

While Canada soared because of the four Nations, a Canadian icon crashed to earth. “Perhaps the most public outcome was the now-demonization of Gretzky in Canada. Just as they had with Bobby Orr, another Canadian superstar living in America, Canadians wiped their hands of No. 99 over politics. Despite appeals from Orr, Don Cherry and others, the chance to make Gretzky a Trump proxy was too tempting.

We have been in several arguments on the subject among friends: Does Gretzky owe Canada something after carrying its hockey burden for so long? Could he have worn a Team Canada jersey? Shouldn’t he have made a statement that he backs Canada in its showdown with Trump? For now 99 is 0 in his homeland.”

Even now, months later, the events of late February have an air of disbelief around them, a shift so dramatic and so impactful on the nation that many still shake their heads. Sure, hockey wasn’t the device that blew up Canada’s politics. But it was the fuse that created a crater in the country.

Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster  A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada’s top television sports broadcaster, his new book Deal With It: The Trades That Stunned The NHL And Changed hockey is now available on Amazon. Inexact Science: The Six Most Compelling Draft Years In NHL History, his previous book with his son Evan, was voted the seventh-best professional hockey book of all time by bookauthority.org . His 2004 book Money Players was voted sixth best on the same list, and is available via brucedowbigginbooks.ca.

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Bruce Dowbiggin

Don & Rick: Canadian Icons, Mixed Messages, Lasting Impacts

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“Well, Tim, this is our last show. . . . Thanks everybody for listening and toodaloo,” 91-year old Don Cherry allegedly on his final podcast episode.

Once upon a time in a public broadcaster far, far away there was an identity crisis. Who should we be as we enter the 21st century? We depend on government for our financing, but our audience relies on people who hate government.

At CBC that argument could be summed up by two figures on the TV network. Rick Mercer. Don Cherry. Both were brilliant communicators, masters of the craft of holding eyeballs. But they represented diametrically opposed audiences. Mercer was the glib political voice of This Hour Has 22 Minutes. Cherry was the bombastic voice of Hockey Night in Canada, as Canadian as the brown beer stubby.

Mercer was worshipped by the folks in the C suite and liberal media. With his searing walking shots he lanced egos and asked uncomfortable questions. He called out sacred cows. Yet there was never any doubt in CBC’s upper reaches about whose side he was on in the culture war at CBC. He was safe.

Cherry was the unpredictable occupant of Coach’s Corner, the bombastic voice of white anglo hockey culture. He was abrasive and unforgiving. His first-period rants beside his Topo Gigio Ron Maclean were must-watch for the demographic. They also, it seemed, constituted must watching for his critics.

[Confession: I was one of his critics, paid to be so. We tangled often over his act. He ripped me in the 2004 NHL playoffs, alleging I said he was insincere about kids with cancer. During the infamous 1987 World Junior brawl he said I was a coward who wouldn’t defend his own kids in a fight. etc. He sicced his bots on me. While I disagreed with much of what he said, I defended his right to say such things. My beef was mostly with HNIC which refused to allow any dissent to Cherry’s act on the show . It was a noisy one-note symphony.

Don was durable, holding his prime position for decades, putting himself above the title many Saturdays with headline material. In the sea of pearl clutchers at CBC he stood out. While the suits above recoiled at his Canadian Legion catechism, they also knew he was an asset they could play when they went for funding in Ottawa. “See, we have all sorts of political views on the network.”

When CBC lost its HNIC franchise to Sportsnet Cherry became someone else’s problem. Eventually the Woke folk at Rogers tired of telling him to knock off the politics and cultural stuff. He was let go in 2019 for saying what he’d always said. Maclean then put in the knife to save his own hide.

Mercer’s highly rated act continued unabated till 2018. One of his most popular gigs— the one most likely to appeal to posh Canadians— was talking to Americans about Canada. It was brilliant in its simplicity. Go to famous colleges and universities to plumb the depths of their Canadian knowledge. Likewise, buttonhole well-known American politicians.

The topics were many and ridiculous. Should Canada protect the famous location Joe Clark’s Hole? What should Canada do about its melting national igloo? Could they congratulate Jean Chretien on a rare political feat called a “Double Double” in which he received support from both sides of the Canadian parliament.

He asked Al Gore about Canada moving the capital city from Kingston, Ontario to Toronto (Gore thought it smart). He convinced tourists at Mount Rushmore that the mineral rights to the mountain had been sold to a Canadian firm that was getting ready to drill for oil in Lincoln’s forehead.

He asked Americans to condemn Canada’s practice of euthanizing senior citizens by setting them adrift on Northern ice floes. In a famous moment, future President George W. Bush failed to correct Mercer when he referred to Chrétien as “Jean Poutine”

Mercer always said he didn’t think Americans were ignorant. Eighty percent had the right responses and those never made it to air. For the rest it was just that they couldn’t resist an open mike and having a take on things they knew nothing about. He had affection for them.

For Canada’s Left, insecure in its northern faculty-lounge, that subtlety was lost. Mercer’s routines reinforced a smug anti-American attitude in the Liberals and NDP base. All they saw was a nation of nitwits. “Look, what bozos!” The orientation of the fashionistas turned away from the U.S. to supposed European sophistication and societal controls for climate, population growth and Covid. Hello, Mark Carney.

This bias was reinforced by the increasingly self-loathing voices on the cable news of the American Left. Every GOP figure from George W. Bush till Trump today became  a comic character. Canadian lefties adored it. As we’ve written often the snide attitude allowed Canadians to ignore that Americans were protecting them for free and keeping them rich.  And taking the overflow from Canadian’s prized healthcare system.

This arrogance culminated in the March election where the mere mention of Trump sent Canadians fleeing back to a Liberal administration that was moribund after a decade of incompetence. It has an echo in Toronto’s Hockey Hall of Fame again declining to award Cherry the Foster Hewitt award as a legendary TV journalist. Love him or hate him he’s earned it. It’s arguable whether the aging Cherry will even be around to be chosen next year.

For sure his political impact will resonate for long after he’s gone in the populist resurgence in western Canada and elsewhere. If only Rick Mercer were allowed back on CBC to cover it.

Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster  A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada’s top television sports broadcaster, his new book Deal With It: The Trades That Stunned The NHL And Changed hockey is now available on Amazon. Inexact Science: The Six Most Compelling Draft Years In NHL History, his previous book with his son Evan, was voted the seventh-best professional hockey book of all time by bookauthority.org . His 2004 book Money Players was voted sixth best on the same list, and is available via brucedowbigginbooks.ca.

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