Ex-NHLer Theo Fleury stops by Iqaluit to talk sexual abuse

Theo Fleury, former professional hockey player, autographs his book for a fan in Iqaluit at the Frobisher Inn May 22. (PHOTO BY DAVID MURPHY)

Theo Fleury never thought he would come to Iqaluit, but wouldn’t mind returning to see more some day.

“I would love to come back,” said the ex-NHL star in an interview with Nunatsiaq News as he gazes at a white-out blizzard from inside the Frobisher Inn dining room — “when I can actually see it.”

He’s bundled in a black tribal laden sweatshirt with blue jeans. His voice is deep and rough but talks confidently and doesn’t stop, like your average shopkeeper or cab driver.

“I met [president of Fleury’s business] Carey [Fraser] a year ago. We were sitting at that table the other night and I said — can you imagine we are in Nana-vit a year later,” said Fleury, butchering the name Nunavut, making it sound like a foreign food dish.

What’s surprising about Fleury is despite his accolades in previous years — a Stanley Cup ring in 1989 and gold medal at the Salt Lake Olympic Games in 2002 — he doesn’t mind sharing the turbulent side of his past.

In fact, he’s made a job of it.

“Hockey was the vehicle that gave me a voice so that people would listen to what I have to say,” said Fleury. “The more that I share my story, the more that I interact with people that are struggling, the better my life gets.”

Fleury’s troubled story began in junior hockey when he was sexually abused by his coach Graham James, who later plead guilty to charges laid by Fleury after his 2009 tell-all book, Playing With Fire, exposed James.

But the sexual abuse weighed heavily on Fleury’s life, and subsequent drug and alcohol abuse, followed by mental health issues, haunted his career.

Now, however, he’s put hockey and the bad times behind him and he’s travelling the country, telling his story of sexual abuse.

Fleury made stops here in Iqaluit and at Cape Dorset, speaking to hockey schools and survivors of sexual abuse along the way. He said the reception from everybody has been fantastic.

“If we inspire one single person to change something about their life, then that’s why we’re here,” said Fleury. “And we usually accomplish that everywhere we go.”

Fleury said the story he tells to students is common, but uncommon.

“The uncommon part is the Stanley Cup and the gold medal. But the common part is that I’ve suffered from mental illness. I’ve been sexually abused. I’ve faced tonnes of adversity like all these people,” he said of Nunavummiut.

“But, you know, it’s funny because the [staff] we are travelling with come up to us afterwards and go, ‘people said, he’s jus like me, he’s just like me.’”

This commonality Fleury portrays lets people open up about sexual abuse, and helps “elavate the conversation” as Fleury and Fraser put it.

“We average about 125 emails per week, people revealing to us for the first time they’ve ever told anybody. We get it from all over Canada and North America,” said Fraser.

“For me, my life has completely changed because I know that I’m not alone. Most victims of sexual abuse, they think they’re the only ones in the world they think this is happening to,” said Fleury. “They carry around this deep dark secret that they can’t tell anyone because they are afraid of the reaction by other people.”

“And there’s eight million people in this country that have been sexually abused. Eight million. That’s an incredible stat. And that’s just the ones that we know of.

“So [when] I say it’s the biggest epidemic on the planet, it is. Because I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”

Fleury said he’s never written a speech in his life, and said he’s always changing it as he goes along, but the message stays the same.

“It’s about moving forwards,” he said. “Life isn’t rocket science. It’s pretty simple. You work hard every day so you’re a good example for your children for your friends, people that are around you.”

His final message for the people of Nunavut suffering from some adversity was one of hope.

“Don’t quit before the miracle. We all have miracles, we just gotta go find them. So it can be something simple, or it might be something extremely complex. But we all have miracles.”