In this episode of Skin in the Game, award-winning investigative journalist Rick Westhead joins John and Tim for a powerful and deeply reported conversation about his book “We Breed Lions” and the culture of junior hockey in Canada.
Westhead, a senior correspondent with TSN, has spent years uncovering stories that many in sports would rather keep hidden. In this episode, he explains what led him to investigate junior hockey, how a culture of silence and entitlement took hold, and why sending teenagers away from home to live with billet families can create profound risks when accountability breaks down.
Drawing from extensive interviews with former players, parents, and coaches, Westhead details patterns of hazing, abuse, and institutional failure — and the financial and cultural forces that allowed them to persist, including the exposure of secret settlement funds.
The episode also highlights programs like Coaching Boys Into Men that offer a path forward and points at how hockey’s next chapter might be one of healing and growth.
This is an essential listen for parents, coaches, athletes, administrators, and anyone who cares about the future of sport across all youth and amateur athletics.
