WHL hires retired RCMP officer to probe claims of abuse, exploitation

Rick Westhead

TSN Senior Correspondent

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A month after two former Western Hockey League players and the mother of a third levelled claims of academic fraud, emotional abuse and exploitation during a state legislature hearing, the WHL has hired a retired RCMP deputy commissioner to conduct a review.

The WHL confirmed to TSN in an emailed statement Sunday that it has hired Craig Callens to investigate the allegations. Callens is a former RCMP deputy commissioner who oversaw the federal police agency’s operations in B.C. He retired March 1, 2017, after 32 years working in policing.

“The WHL is recognized as a world leader in player development and offers one of the finest player experiences in the game today, including a comprehensive post-secondary scholarship program,” WHL commissioner Ron Robison wrote in a statement.

“The WHL takes our commitment to our players and their safety very seriously. When two former players and a parent made allegations against certain WHL clubs, we took steps to create a review.”

Robison was not available for an interview. WHL spokesman Taylor Rocca wrote in a text message to TSN on Sunday that it would be up to Callens to determine the scope of the review.

Reached Monday morning, Callens said he would not  comment on the investigation and whether his findings will eventually be made public.

“I don't disagree that they're fair questions,” Callens said. “The fact of the matter is I won't be making any comment to the media.”

During a state senate hearing in Portland, Ore., on Feb. 28, former WHL players Tyler Maxwell and James McEwan testified about their time in the league. The hearing also heard from Kim Taylor, who spoke via telephone about her son Garrett’s experience in the WHL.

Oregon’s Senate Committee on Workforce was hearing arguments over whether the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks’ players should be considered amateur athletes. If they are amateurs, the team wants to be exempted from paying them the state’s minimum wage (currently $11.25 an hour).

Maxwell alleged that during his time with the Everett Silvertips, where he played from 2008-09 until 2011-12, he suffered a broken kneecap when he was hit by a slap shot during a game on Jan 24, 2009. Maxwell testified that he was refused X-rays after the injury, insulted by a team trainer for not being tough enough to keep playing and then forced to play on the broken bone for seven games.

According to the WHL’s website, Maxwell played in games on Jan. 28, 30, 31 and Feb. 4, 6, 7, and 8 and was taken on Feb. 9 to the Everett Bone and Joint Clinic by a team trainer.

“[Maxwell] says the knee swells and is painful,” says a medical report written by Dr. Jeff Mason. “He says he is able to play on it and he has a lot more symptoms after the game or in practice but he is able to function well enough at the game with tolerable symptoms.”

Maxwell obtained his medical records and shared them with TSN. The one-page report says X-rays taken the same day show a fractured knee.

Dr. Mason recommended “urgent” Open Reduction Internal Fixation surgery, meaning surgery was needed to realign the bone fracture to the normal position and steel rods or screws would be used to keep the fractured bones in the proper place.

Dr. Mason did not respond to emails or messages left at his office.

Maxwell, who scored 116 regular-season and playoff goals over three-plus seasons with Everett, said he had surgery Feb. 12, 2009, and was back on the ice within a month.

“They rushed me back to playing after four weeks and little therapy so I could play in the playoffs,” Maxwell said.

Maxwell also told the government hearing that he was given excellent school grades in exchange for autographed pucks.

“Teachers would say, ‘Score two goals and I’ll give you an A. Give me a signed puck and I’ll give you an A,’” he said. “I got Scholastic Player of the Year [for the 2008-09 season] and I took three courses my senior year.”

Maxwell provided TSN with a copy of his transcript that shows he took two courses in term one of Grade 12. He received a B in English and a C- in Algebra. In term two, Maxwell took one course, Government, and received an A-.

Senior students at Everest High School typically take six courses in an academic year, school principal Lance Balla said in an interview.

Maxwell won the WHL’s Scholastic Player of the Year award for its Western Conference and was a runner up for the overall league award, according to the WHL’s website.

“It’s a joke that I won that award,” Maxwell said.

For winning the award, Maxwell said he was given a trophy by the Silvertips and a plaque by the WHL.

Balla, who has worked at the school for two years, said he has not been contacted by the WHL or the Silvertips since Maxwell testified on Feb. 28 and said that he would investigate Maxwell’s claim if he receives a credible complaint.

“If a teacher gave good grades for pucks, it’s a fireable offence,” Balla said. “It’s definitely against policy and might be illegal under state law… If there’s any merit I would have to follow up. If [Maxwell] is leveraging this accusation, I would need to both contact my superiors and launch what I could of an investigation. Because it took place 10 years ago I don’t know what that would look like.”

Kim Taylor, whose son Garrett played two seasons for the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Prince Albert Raiders, alleged that her son was released from the Hurricanes early in the 2009-10 season by being pulled off the bus prior to a road trip.

“He was told to go through the bus and find his equipment bag, and then report to their Junior A team in Canmore,” Taylor said. “He’s a kid from San Diego. He was given no gas or food money, and the team didn’t tell anyone from our family that our son had been cut. They just left him there.”

Taylor said because of experiences like that, Garrett began to suffer panic attacks that evolved into obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). He was institutionalized for 72 days, care that was paid for by his father’s insurance. Taylor said Garrett’s time limit for accessing his scholarship money expired while he was being treated.

She said she did not ask the WHL for an exception to use that money.

“I had no trust in them by that point,” she said.

Taylor said she was first contacted by Callens on Saturday morning and that she plans to ask him about the scope of his investigation. She wants to know whether his report will be made public, whether Callens has the ability to demand teams turn over written correspondence and emails related to her son, and whether he’ll have the ability to pursue allegations that were not raised during the hearing in Oregon.

For instance, Taylor said she’d like to discuss the WHL’s billeting policy with Callens.

After he was released by Lethbridge, Garrett was subsequently signed by Prince Albert.

“He was placed with a billet who would cook a pot of pasta in the morning and leave it on the stove all day with a bottle of spaghetti sauce next to it,” Taylor said. “That was dinner.”

Taylor said she didn’t speak up publicly when her son played because she didn’t want to hurt his chances to advance to the NHL.

“Why don’t parents talk? Because it’s a culture of secrecy,” she said. “Teams hold all the cards. The have the power to make or break players. So families keep quiet because they don’t want their kids labelled as a problem or risk being blackballed.”

McEwan estimated he was in 75 fights and suffered numerous concussions during his four seasons with the Seattle Thunderbirds and Kelowna Rockets.

He said that because he pursued a pro career in the East Coast Hockey League after junior hockey, his scholarship money was gone and that he had to pay for his own treatment for depression, mood swings and suicidal thoughts. He also had to go into debt settlement.

McEwan said his contact, like many in the WHL, stipulated the teams and league would cover the costs of one year of schooling for every year he played in the WHL. McEwan played two seasons with the Seattle Thunderbirds and two seasons with the Kelowna Rockets. But because he went on to play in the ECHL, his scholarship was voided, he said.

McEwan said he was never examined by a doctor after his fights in the WHL.

“I'd get hit pretty hard where I would black out, or hit on the button, right on the chin, and fall down,” McEwan said. “I was hit so hard sometimes my vision would go upside down for a little bit and then come back, or a green veil would come down.”

Raised in the Okanagan region of B.C., McEwan said he learned how to fight and thought it was a noble pursuit from watching former NHL coach Don Cherry’s “Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em” hockey highlight videos.

“I know I chose to do it and I thought I was doing a good thing at the time,” McEwan said. “As a kid I saw Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em fights and thought, 'Here’s two good guys going at it and nobody gets hurt.'  I really did believe that. I thought the risks would be a broken nose, or black eyes. I never thought the risk would be brain damage and I hear the young guys come up now and they’re not concerned about brain damage either, because they aren’t warned about it.”