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Product cover image for Breaking the Ice: Tracing Conflict within the 2024-2025 Vancouver Canucks National Hockey League Team

Breaking the Ice: Tracing Conflict within the 2024-2025 Vancouver Canucks National Hockey League Team

Kyle Brykman

Product #:W47845
Supplier:Ivey
Discipline:General Management, Organizational Behaviour/Leadership
Setting:Canada, 2025
Details:Case (PDF) • 10 pages • 2026-03-17

Subjects:

Organizational cultureLeadership and managing peopleOrganizational behaviorManagementTeams

Industries:

Media, entertainment, and professional sports

Geography:

CanadaNorth America
Your Price:$10.54

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This case explores a dilemma faced by Vancouver Canucks Limited Partnership (the Canucks)—a National Hockey League team based in Vancouver, British Columbia—concerning a long-standing conflict between two star players. The case’s protagonist, the team’s general manager, was challenged in late January 2025 to identify the key sources of the conflict and to consider whether to (1) trade one or both players or (2) resolve the conflict internally. With an impending trade deadline and the team’s performance declining, there was little time to waste in making a decision.

Learning Objectives

This case is intended for undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in courses on organizational behaviour, management, teamwork, or leadership. After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to do the following:
  • Recognize and classify distinct types of conflict (e.g., relationship, status, and process); understand their independent and interactive effects; and identify their origins within team dynamics.
  • Analyze the impact of conflict on both individuals and teams, considering how unresolved conflicts affect team performance and cohesion.
  • Explain the role of conflict spirals in the escalation of team disputes and assess the appropriateness of different intervention strategies based on the stage of the conflict.
  • Propose and evaluate the trade-offs of various conflict resolution options and determine when intervention will no longer be effective.
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Case Study: Breaking the Ice: Tracing Conflict within the 2024-2025 Vancouver Canucks National Hockey League Team (English version) | Ivey Publishing