Last week, the Ontario Hockey League gathered leaders from across the CHL, WHL, and QMJHL for a full-day session on AI.
They wanted to explore one big question:
How do we use AI to multiply our capacity – not just add more work?
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I love when a room starts skeptical and ends excited. By the end of the day, the sentiment looked like this:
“Completely engaging.”
“A must-take… you don’t know what you don’t know.”
“One of the best sessions I’ve attended – I walked away with information I can actually use.”
“It will change the way you view business and leadership.”
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What landed most strongly?
1. AI as a coach and co-pilot.
Not a toy, not a threat – a way to prepare better for sales calls, design smarter workflows, and give leaders real leverage.
2. Work smart, not just hard. Busy is the new stupid.
People saw concrete ways to automate the mundane so they can focus on players, fans, partners, and strategy.
3. Culture and tone at the top.
When leadership signals that experimentation is encouraged, AI stops being a “side project” and becomes part of how the organization thinks and operates.
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The biggest wins people walked away with:
1. A clear set of mental models. 10–80–10, the RICCE prompting framework, and a focus on judgment gave people a structure to plug AI into their existing processes instead of treating it as a gimmick.
2. A broader tool stack. Many arrived having only used ChatGPT. They left with a map of tools like Claude, NotebookLM, Plaud, Fireflies, and more – and where each one fits.
3. Real use cases. Everything from batch emails and sales prep to competitive analysis, game-day operations, and content workflows.
Not theory – actual ways to give overworked staff their time back.
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My favourite line from the feedback:
“AI isn’t taking away the human side of hockey – it’s enhancing it.”
That’s the point.
The organizations that pair strong judgment with these tools will not only keep up – they’ll set the standard for what modern sports operations look like.
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Thank you to the Ontario Hockey League for leading, and to everyone across the CHL who invested a full day in rethinking how they work.
When the game calls, I answer.
My father and I shared a special bond around the game of hockey.
I learned more on the ice, as a player who was cut, a player who won (and lost) tournaments, as a coach responsible for the players on the ice and in the dressing room, and as a referee who had to stand in the fire (and was supervised and as a result learned to take critical feedback).
My daughters and I are now starting that same journey.
I’m grateful to be able to give back to the game
Bryan Crawford, Jason Diplock, and Julie Kuiken – You were the driving forces behind making this day happen. Thank you. It was a pleasure to serve the game.
