1.
Helping business to
serve shareholders AND society
SIMULTANEOUSLY
NHL Sustainability Report
Good but incomplete.
-by Wayne Dunn
www.csrtraininginstitute.com/knowledge-centre

2.
It is missing the good works by teams and players. Why?
The NHL’s recently released Sustainability 2014 report
http://www.nhl.com/green/report/ was interesting, for what it
contained, and for what it didn’t.
Seriously though, the NHL Sustainability Report is good. It does what
it says it will do, discuss the effort and results the league and various
teams are achieving as they work to reduce their environmental
footprint.
They are clear that is what the report aims to do, Commissioner
Bettman’s letter states “The purpose of the 2014 NHL SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT is to address our recent efforts and the challenges we face
from an environmental perspective.”
The Sustainability Report contained a lot of good efforts and good
information. But, there was a lot of good work and valuable impact
that wasn’t included. I’m not sure why they didn’t include the great
work that players, teams and even the league are doing to support
people, communities and important social causes. I think it should
have been, especially when they went so far as to mention players
on the contents.
NHL Sustainability Report
Good but incomplete.
For all you readers from around the
world, I’m Canadian and love hockey –
ice hockey – so you will see occasional
topics like this. For my Field Hockey
friends - Ice Hockey is Hockey Proper! :)

3.
NHL Sustainability Report
Good but incomplete.
Page 02
But, I’ve seen other major players and great communicators make
similar mistakes that ended up leaving a lot of value on the table for
good works that they are already doing.
NHL teams support and sponsor all kinds of outreach and support in
the community, touching hundreds of worthwhile charities and efforts
and raising many millions of dollars for them.
They also spend time and money supporting and engaging with minor
hockey. And, each team has many other things that they do to help
make the community a better place.
Sure, this is all part of their marketing but so what. The best and
most sustainable CSR happens when there is an alignment between
community interests and business interests.
Nearly all players also give back to the community in some way, with
some of them making major efforts. They are supporting a range of
projects and causes and having real positive impacts on programs,
people and communities.

4.
Page 03
Many players reach far beyond hockey and use their profile and
personal wealth to help make a difference in the world.
Some players take their efforts international. And, I suspect if there
was some organized support you would find more players making
efforts to support people and projects in remote areas and emerging
economies.
I live on Southern Vancouver Island in Canada, home to some great
players and our local boys truly do us proud with the work they do in
the off-season to support local causes and help local kids. They set a
great example for my son and the thousands of other young players
who see these NHL players coming home and giving back.
Ryan O’Byrne’s camp, which has many local NHL players donating time and helping out,
has helped over 200 Greater Victoria, BC to get into sport.
NHL Sustainability Report
Good but incomplete.

5.
Page 04
NHL Sustainability Report
Good but incomplete.
There are other examples of players working with development
organizations, or sometimes even on their own, to help address
international development issues.
I believe there could be a lot more if more was done to support
and encourage it (and to communicate it in reports like the NHL
Sustainability Report).
Nashville Predators’ Mike Fisher, Chris Neil of the Ottawa Senators and Kevin Bieksa
of the Vancouver Canucks helped World Vision to create awareness on the food
crisis in the Sahel http://youtu.be/ewT_TLjSuVg

6.
NHL Sustainability Report
Good but incomplete.
All of that good work is happening every day. By the teams and
the players. I don’t understand why that was left out of the NHL’s
Sustainability Report. The league, the players, the teams and owners
and society itself would have benefited from telling that story.
The 2014 NHL Sustainability Report tells a great environmental story,
about important environmental efforts being made by teams and the
league itself.
It could have told a bigger story and shared about the wonderful
work the teams and players are doing in society. It would have been
valuable for the league, the teams, the players and society.
Strategic application of CSR communications principles could have
created more value for all stakeholders, at virtually no cost.
Maybe they had a reason not to mention the social and charitable
work of teams and player? If so, I’d love to find out. Because it doesn’t
make sense to me that they didn’t.
I’d love to hear from anyone with insight into this. You can reach me
at
wayne@csrtraininginstitute.com
Page 05

7.
Professor Dunn brings a practical and realistic approach to CSR, blending theory and
practice to develop realistic models and approaches to address real-world challenges
Dr. Ellis Armstrong
Former CFO, BP Exploration
…coherent, thoughtful, stimulating and insightful… state of the art! The network of
participants from the public, private and civil society sectors was incredible, some of
the leading experts in the field.
Kojo Busia, Ph. D.
Snr. Mineral Sector Governance Advisor
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa/UNECA
…pragmatic blend of theory and practice, very applicable to helping organizations
meet real-world challenges.
Frank McShane
Manager, Corporate Responsibility Policy and Ethics, Talisman Energy
… readily available to provide support to organizations like Amref that are seeking
partnerships, and looking to bring about positive change in a collaborative and concrete
way. Wayne and the CSR Training Institute helped us to identify and connect with
potential partners and are always available. The training, the expertise, the network
and the overall support are world-class.
Onome Ako
Director of Strategic Partnerships, Amref Health Africa
“The program enhanced the CSR knowledge and strategic skills of our Kosmos Energy
Ghana team, and offered the participants a platform for networking with professionals
from other organizations across Africa and Ghana.”
Reg Manhas
Sr VP Kosmos Energy
Very much helpful Wayne; some of the tips and questions you gave will be an extremely
helpful guide in the process of developing a CSR Strategy for my company.
Emmanuel Aubynn
Regional Social Responsibility Manager, Newmont Africa
The CSR Program was excellent. A key aspect of my work is to encourage and support
private sector development that contributes to Ghana’s overall socio-economic
growth. The learning that I and my staff take away from attending this program will
help us immensely with this responsibility. I highly recommend this program.
Hon. Rashid Pelpuo (MP)
Minister of State for Private Sector Development and Public Private Partnerships
(Ghana)
New and exciting insights into the theory and practice of CSR… great faculty and
participants, very diversified. An excellent learning experience, very practical and
useful. I’m very happy I was able to participate in it.
Hon InusahFuseini (MP)
Minister of Lands and Natural Resources (Ghana)
WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT OUR WORK

8.
Should Business Serve
Helping business to serve society and
shareholders, SIMULTANEOUSLY.
Should Business Serve
WAYNE DUNN, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER
SHAREHOLDERS?
SOCIETY?
IT SHOULD SERVE BOTH.
Wayne Dunn is President & Founder of the CSR Training Institute and
Professor of Practice in CSR at McGill. He’s a Stanford Sloan Fellow
with a M.Sc. in Management from Stanford Business School.
He is a veteran of 20+ years of award winning global CSR and
sustainability work spanning the globe and covering many industries
and sectors including extensive work with Indigenous Peoples in
Canada and globally. His work has won major international awards
and has been used extensively as ‘best-practice’ by industry and
academia.
He’s also worked oil rigs, prospecting, diamond drilling, logging,
commercial fishing, heavy equipment operator, truck driver and
underwater logging, done a couple of start-ups and too many other
things to mention.
Wayne’s career includes big successes, and spectacular failures. He
hopes he’s learned equally from both.
www.csrtraininginstitute.com