‘What happens in the room stays in the room’: conducting research with young men in the Canadian Hockey League

In this paper, I examine the process by which I conducted interviews with 19 young elite-level ice hockey players who competed or were competing in the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). I explore some of the methodological issues that arose while conducting these interviews and engaging with the various gatekeepers that facilitated my access to these interviewees. I relate these issues to the broader field of qualitative methodologies and specifically work that examines the challenges when a woman researcher conducts interviews with men. Through this analysis, I investigate the ways that men’s elite-level hockey structures itself as a closed community allowing outsiders only restricted access to the institution and its players. I also discuss some of the contradictions in the research process, particularly as they pertain to access to players and what they will disclose during the interviews. By focusing on the interview process, I study the ways that a specific style of masculinity (and to a lesser extent, femininity) is produced through the interviews. I argue that one of the ways that a particular gender dynamic is produced within North American men’s and boys’ elite-level hockey is by allowing women (and others not associated with elite-level hockey) only limited and guarded participation.