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Scott Hunter and Carter Vaughn started the Gay Avengers, but they were two Americans who’d barely been out of North America.
It was Matti Jalo who had the idea. Everyone knew the English slurs. So many Canadians in the league meant they knew the French slurs too. But the European slurs were not always being noticed.
With the help of Ilya Rozanov, Matti Jalo, Luca Haas, Oscar Lundin and a handful of other like minded foreign players they started running language workshops to make sure players knew when slurs were being hurled on the ice.
Despite Crowell being very opposed, the next off season similar workshops were held for on ice officials. A few of the sin bin attendants went to them just so they’d know how many different ways “cocksucker” was being said around them.
It meant a bit less bigotry and abuse on the ice, but it also meant that players were talking to each other about their languages, and it wasn’t before long Ilya couldn’t go a game without some opponent demanding he get his самосвал (samosval), or dumptruck, out of the way.