THE CUTTING EDGES - A TEAM PLAYER’S MEMORIES
Vancouver’s Gay Hockey Team — New Book To Launch This Month

by Kevin Griffin
(click images to enlarge)

At the far end of the rink two figure skaters skated together towards me in graceful, powerful strides. I don’t remember much else because I was so taken with what was in front of me: two men figure skating as a pair.

**the story of vancouver’s gay hockey team will be published this month.**

I’d never seen anything like that before. It was a hot, muggy day in June at a rink on Coney Island, and I felt as if I was part of something historic. I was there because I wanted to watch the first competition by same-sex pairs at Gay Games IV in New York in 1994.

As they got closer, I could see more. They both had a giant X, in what looked like black electrical tape, on their faces that crossed at their lips. That’s when I had what I can only describe as a ‘wow’ moment and realized what I was seeing.

The X’s referred to ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ the policy change to allow lesbians and gays to serve in the U.S. military. It meant officials couldn’t ask queer soldiers and sailors about their sexual orientation but then lesbians and gays couldn’t talk about it either. The two figure skaters had connected their athleticism on a skating rink with what was going on in the world outside. It was thrilling to see.

I witnessed the performance (For the record, the two figure skaters were Trevor Kruse and Darren Singbeil from Toronto) because I was, in a sense, also performing on the same ice rink but in a much different way. I was a player with The Cutting Edges, the hockey team from Vancouver competing at the Gay Games. The only reason I was there was because Daniel Gawthrop, a good friend, asked me if I was interested in getting involved. I had the good sense to say yes. I’m so glad I did.

I had stopped playing hockey years before because of my experiences in the intramural league at the University of B.C. My memory is probably exaggerating this but it seemed there was more fighting than playing. I hated it. I played one season and vowed never again.

I didn’t realize it then but saying yes to Dan helped me repair my relationship with hockey. Organizing and playing on a team with other gay men (as well as players who didn’t care if they were on a gay team) brought down the walls I’d built separating gay and hockey. I was starting to feel good again about hockey.

From the outside, you couldn’t tell my internal world was being rearranged. You also couldn’t tell from looking at our team record in New York. We played our best with eight players but managed only one tie in five games.

I can say honestly that we had a great time playing hockey as part of an international multisport event with thousands of lesbian and gay athletes from around the world. It was a lot of fun. The experience gave a core group of players the confidence to think about keeping The Cutting Edges alive beyond the Gay Games.

When we got back to Vancouver, someone passed on the information that an adult hockey league at UBC was looking for a team. To secure a spot meant going to a meeting to plan the 1994-95 season. We were still barely a handful of players so the responsibility fell to me.

The league meeting was basically a bunch of guys seated around a table having a few beers and talking about referees, rules, goalies (there never seemed to be enough of them), and how much each team had to pay. In due course, the discussion came around to the next season and new teams. It was my turn to speak up.

No one around the table knew my own history of hockey at UBC. I’m pretty sure they didn’t know that I was about to come out in a hockey environment that, to use a current but very apt phrase, I felt wasn’t a safe space. They also wouldn’t have known that I strongly believed the team had to be honest with everyone from the start.

**author dan gawthrop, ready to hit the ice!**

“We’re The Cutting Edges,” I said. “We’re a gay hockey team.”

The response was silence. It was long enough to indicate I’d said something entirely unexpected. I remember a few downward glances. There was no support but most importantly, no opposition. If we had the money to pay for a team, we were in.

As far as I was concerned, it was a success. We had a place to play for our first season.

Then the hard work began. We needed players. How were we going to find more gay hockey players? It was much more of a challenge before the Internet.

We had been fortunate enough because of Dan’s writing on hockey to get some unexpected national media coverage on Hockey Night in Canada before we played in New York (See Related Links below). We couldn’t count on that happening again.

We had no choice but to use old-fashioned methods, such as talking to potential recruits in gay bars (always enjoyable) and putting up notices on bulletin boards. I remember going around to usual gay gathering places such as Little Sister’s Bookstore and the West End Community Centre to pin posters saying “Gay Hockey Players Wanted,” which included little tear-away phone numbers at the bottom.

During the first season, word spread that we were a gay team. On the few occasions when other players got a little hot-headed, the referees were really good about not tolerating any abuse. The other teams came to realize that we were there to play hockey just like them. I was also relieved that fighting was a thing of the past in the adult league we played in.

As I look back, I can hardly believe that it all took place 32 years ago. So much has changed. I no longer play hockey. Instead, I keep active by doing yoga with my partner Leon.

I’ve kept abreast of The Cutting Edges as it has grown and transformed. What was once mostly a gay men’s hockey team is now an LGBTQ+ association with four teams and maybe one more.

Dan has written a wonderful book about his own experiences playing hockey with The Cutting Edges and how that fits into a bigger story about queer hockey. He’ll be launching Cutting Edge: Hockey as Queer Culture, published by Arsenal Pulp Press, on Thursday, Sept. 10, 7 to 10 p.m. at The Junction on Davie Street. Please come and join us as we celebrate LGBTQ+ hockey and The Cutting Edges.