The commissioner of the NHL has picked an unusual topic to address: global warming.  

Gary Bettman says the sport of hockey is threatened by climate change and says something needs to be done.

Bettman is worried the world will lose its heritage and tradition of playing outdoors in both North America and Europe.

Greg Redquest is a former NLH, goalie now with the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack. He enjoys playing hockey indoors but misses the outdoor experience.

“It was so much fun,” says Redquest. “I like feeling like your face was frozen, or how you're sweating it turns into ice and you know you're bundled up but you never got cold.”

But our winters are warming up. Environment Canada says the average winter temperature in Simcoe County in the 1970s was about -8. And now it's about two degrees warmer.

Average winter temps in Simcoe County:

  • 1970s: -8C
  • 1980s: -6.7C
  • 1990s: -6.5C
  • 2000s: -6.1C

And the number of cold days we get that are good days for making ice has dropped significantly.

  • 1970s: 76 days
  • 2000s: 59 days

This past winter was an exception with 93 cold days.

Zach McCullough is a pro player with the East Coast Hockey League. He remembers growing up here and skating on Kempenfelt Bay.

“It just feels like that you’re Canadian,” he says, “like that's what you do. You put your skates on and go skate on a frozen pond… It would be a terrible thing not to be able to that anymore.”

Eric Jacoby-Hawkins is with the Green Party of Canada. He's glad the NHL is thinking about climate change, but wants the league to do more than just put out a report.

“There are ways to schedule the games and flights with the players better,” he says. “Plan the flights better.”

Dave Phillips with Environment Canada says this trend puts more than just outdoor rinks in jeopardy.

“People are recognizing that it’s something you used to be able to count on, you can't count on anymore,” he says. “Climate change is an important issue – it’s not just something that is going to affect the artic or other parts of the world. There is something we need to do about it.”

Bettman says the league is making efforts to reduce waste and conserve energy at all the arenas. But one problem that's yet to be solved is travel. The league’s 30 teams fly about 3.2 million kilometres every season.