Overcoming the Neutral Zone Trap challenges hockey’s norms, pushes its boundaries, and provides new ways of conceptualizing its role in North American culture. The editors of this engaging interdisciplinary collection use the metaphor of the neutral zone trap to explore the ways that hockey’s culture and structures work to exclude marginalized people. The book features both personal and scholarly accounts of agents of change—people, ideas, and events—that confront the challenges associated with making hockey a more inclusive space. By exposing assumptions about hockey culture, Overcoming the Neutral Zone Trap opens up critical discussions of previously underexplored topics as they relate to the women’s game, Indigenous participation, viable career pathways, masculine identities, hockey parents, mental health, and social media. This is a book for fans, players, organizers, and researchers alike.

Contributors: Angie Abdou, Kieran Block, Cam Braes, William Bridel, Judy Davidson, Jonathon R.J. Edwards, Catherine Houston, Colin D. Howell, Chelsey H. Leahy, Roger G. LeBlanc, Cheryl A. MacDonald, Fred Mason, Brock McGillis, Vicky Paraschak, Brett Pardy, Ann Pegoraro, Kyle A. Rich, Tavis Smith, Noah Underwood

Cheryl A. MacDonald is a sport sociologist at the Saint Mary’s University Centre for the Study of Sport & Health.

Cheryl A. MacDonald's profile page

Jonathon R.J. Edwards is Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies and Research and Associate Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of New Brunswick.

Jonathon R.J. Edwards' profile page

"While the collection skews academic, personal stories and interviews make the book appealing and accessible for casual readers, showcasing the inclusivity the book is championing..... Though it offers no easy answers, the book gives its agents of change a rare chance to break through the defence to their goal."

Alberta Views Magazine, May 2022

Cheryl A. MacDonald: "I hope readers take away an understanding that a lot of people experience hockey differently than we might often think. I think that sometimes folks take for granted that hockey brings Canadians together and that Canadians all have the same experience through their participation in hockey..." Sean Hatchard, Times & Transcript, January 11, 2022