‘We’re on the right track’: O’Ree-winner Grandy reflects on Rink Rebels’ impact

Doug Grandy is at the Rattlesnakes Hockey girls’ summer tournament in Quebec this weekend and on Saturday night, the coach watched Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final with the four teams he travelled with from Fredericton, N.B. During the broadcast, the group — along with the millions of others watching the game — heard the news announced: Grandy, co-founder of the Rink Rebels female hockey organization, had won the NHL’s Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award.  

To say the Rink Rebels group went berserk when they discovered Grandy won the award — it annually recognizes someone who’s positively impacted their community, culture or society through hockey, and is named after the first Black player to break into the NHL, who also hails from Fredericton — would be an understatement. 

Grandy and his best friend and co-founder, Ryan Burns, just about fell out of their chairs when they first found out Grandy was receiving the award more than a week ago, but they had to keep it under wraps, save for a close circle, until the NHL made it official. 

“It’s just such a big honour and accomplishment, and things have gone so fast for us over the last two years [since the organization was founded],” says Grandy, who’ll be awarded $30,000, which he’ll apply to Rink Rebels programming and also donate a portion of to local charities. “It was one of those moments, like, all the late nights, all of the conversations, all the moms and dads we talk to, and everything that we do in the background, it was just: ‘You know what? We’re doing the right thing. We’re on the right track.’” 

Rink Rebels programs feature non-competitive, inclusive teams for girls of all levels with a focus on fun, while promoting belonging and inclusion. They include mentors, like Burns’s daughter, Ava, a local high school player, who help participants both on and off the ice. The organization’s programs and camps run in spring and summer, funded in part by sponsors and with help from the city, and they’re run by volunteers like Grandy, who’s a firefighter. 

His daughters, 14-year-old Ally and 12-year-old Blakely, were part of the inspiration for Rink Rebels. A couple of years ago, Ally said to her dad: “I have nowhere to play hockey. I’m not good enough to play AAA. Where can I play?” 

“Let’s make that place,” he thought to himself. And so, he did.

In August, Rink Rebels will host their biggest event, the Friendship Tournament, which will see a trio of PWHL players in attendance in Olivia Wallin, Abby Hustler and Marlène Boissonnault. There’ll be food trucks, dunk tanks, a mini-putt course set up outside Willie O’Ree Place, and more — in addition to hockey games. The tournament has grown 10 teams bigger this year compared to last, and Grandy was able to secure more ice time and sponsors. 

“We’ve got all kinds of fun stuff happening and, again, it’s not about the hockey,” the 42-year-old says. “It’s about getting together as a community and really enjoying being together, the friendship of it all.

“For me, if a girl walks out after our programs and they’re a great hockey player, that’s fantastic. But if they walk out and they’re ready for life, they’re ready for the next chapter because we’ve given them confidence or strength or mental fortitude, that is worth more than being a better hockey player in my eyes.” 

Grandy hopes to one day partner with a league like the PWHL to help further the message of inclusion in the sport. “I think it’s much needed, the different look at hockey, making sure girls feel more welcome around rinks,” he says. “That, to me, is the ultimate goal: to make it bigger and get more girls involved.” 

The girls already involved are fired up to see their Rink Rebels organization recognized. “I see these kids that we’ve worked so hard to provide a good place for and then seeing them be happy for what we’ve done — it’s pretty incredible,” Grandy says. 

Not long after Grandy found out he’d won the Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award, he told his wife, Fallon. They were in the car driving to dinner that night with Blakely and Ally when Grandy shared the news with his daughters. 

“My youngest was happily in tears, and Ally was just like ‘Oh my god! Oh my god!’” he says. “Their arms came up in the front seat to give me a big hug while I was driving. My wife teared up a little because she was like, ‘That’s what you do it for, right?’”