Toronto law firm to conduct cultural review of Niagara IceDogs
Published
The Ontario Hockey League has hired a Toronto law firm to conduct a cultural review of the Niagara IceDogs, following multiple complaints of inappropriate behaviour involving team staff.
“Recently the League received some complaints regarding the organizational culture of the Niagara IceDogs,” the OHL wrote in a statement to TSN on Tuesday. “The league takes these matters very seriously and has launched a third-party internal investigation into the allegations.
“In addition, we have appointed Brodie Barrick, the league’s director of player recruitment and player support services to be on site to work with and support team ownership, leadership and players on matters related to our players first program.”
OHL commissioner Bryan Crawford confirmed to TSN on Tuesday that the OHL retained Turnpenney Milne LLP on March 3 to conduct the review. The law firm practices exclusively in the area of workplace law.
Crawford told TSN that the nature of the concerns raised are not sexual or criminal in nature. An IceDogs spokesman declined to comment.
Turnpenney Milne was hired by the Canadian Hockey League in 2021 to investigate the policies, procedures and programs of major junior hockey teams and leagues in connection with an abuse, hazing and misconduct class-action lawsuit filed against the OHL, Western Hockey League, and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.
The investigation comes three years after the OHL indefinitely suspended IceDogs’ general manager Joey Burke and head coach Billy Burke following an investigation into a text message conversation. The Burkes and team also faced a combined $150,000 fine, the OHL said.
The 2022 investigation dealt with allegedly offensive language used in a group WhatsApp conversation. In May 2022, Bill and Denise Burke, Joey and Billy's parents, sold the IceDogs to Brantford, Ont., entrepreneur Darren DeDobbelaer. While Wayne Gretzky was announced as a minority shareholder of the IceDogs when DeDobbelaer bought the team, he no longer owns a stake, Crawford said.
A year later, in May of 2023, the OHL fined the IceDogs $100,000, took away a first-round draft pick, and suspended DeDobbelaer as general manager for two years following an incident involving IceDogs players Joshua Rosenzweig and Landon Cato, who were both banned by the league.