Kristin, emotionally, I'm with you. But to demand that "Players credibly accused of serious misconduct need to be named and suspended" is wrong.
For the past decade (perhaps the "MeToo" decade) we have been confronted by accusations that, when a generous dollop of "credibility" is applied, could not only ruin an individual hockey career but derail a lifetime. Such ruin is easily evident.
Yes, hockey culture must change--but to provide quick determination of guilt. Our hockey system needs to act with determination and impatience on such accusations. When guilt--and only guilt--is determined, naming and suspension should be immediate.
I call it the “front of the line” mentality. As an ex wife of a hockey player I had a birds eye view of this world. It is toxic and not a good thing for players, families or anyone else.
I'm not a hockey fan so I'm not emotionally invested in sheltering people working in this industry. In fact, some part of me would like to see this sacred cow tipped over
This crap occurs in all sports it seems, but it going on with Hockey Canada really hits Canadians hard. Hockey is one of the few things that bring Canadians together "from coast to coast to coast" and it's one of the few things we are actually the best in the world at. So of course Canadians want to protect the sanctity of our most popular sport and our national team program. It's of course misplaced passion and probably immoral in the grand scheme, but it is understandable.
That said, if we exhibited the same passion toward science, the arts and letters or perhaps business, this country would be more prosperous, less boring, more consequential and overall better off.
There needs to be proof, before "I wish" all the players are painted with this very broad brush! This will follow them for the rest of their lives, and as seen before once the media decides, guilt is assumed
Seems like too many Dads think they’re Walter Gretzky & it’s okay for their kid to focus solely on hockey, to be sent away at a young age & to live in this dangerous culture.
Kristin - I agree with a lot of what you said but there are two points I'm going to push back on.
It's a fine line to suggest anyone in an alleged sexual assault should be suspended and outed and are guilty until proven innocent. Proceedings re: an assault can take months or years to weave their way through a civil or criminal investigations/courts and innocent people can be falsely accused. I see it this way as a dad who has both a daughter and a son. If my daughter was sexually assaulted I'd be furious. But if my son was accused and went through years of proceedings before being proclaimed innocent I'd be just as furious. So be careful what you wish for here because it could be someone you love who is falsely accused and have their reputations tattered.
2nd pushback:
Why are you lumping in Don Cherry and his "you people" incident with a story about sexual assaults/cover up by Hockey Canada, culture of entitlement and worship culture of players? False equivalent.
Don Cherry's statement was completely misinterpreted as a micro aggression or racist comment against visible minorities when in fact it was not. His choice of words was poor, but his point was a fair comment.
What's too bad is that he was one analyst who never pulled punches, much like Charles Barkley. We don't have enough of those in this world of political correctness and cancel culture.
It's too bad that he's not around. Guaranteed if all came to light while he was in the HNIC booth he would be eviscerating anyone involved in this. He wouldn't be the passive wimp among the hockey panels who are too afraid to rock the boat because they want to be buddy buddy with the players and coaches so they get access and keep their cozy jobs.
Maybe we should look at hockey as a TEAM sport not just individual players. It is a team and everyone works together. Learning to be a team player is helpful in all aspects of life.
I agree if there is abuse going on whether by coaches, players etc. it is a crime. Then punish accordingly and maybe people will think before abusing. No I don’t have my head in the sand. The big word is RESPECT. Respect is a two street. Our youngsters need to learn respect and adults need to respect the kids.
Also let’s take out all the “politics” in minor hockey and let kids have fun as they learn skills and team playing. I never was a hockey mom because minor hockey ruled your life.
...more than twice as many NHL draftees are born in Jan-Mar than are born in Oct-Dec: 36% vs 15%. Why? Well, when the little kids go into Mighty Mites, or whatever little league, some of them are just barely 8 years old, some "in the same year" are turning 9. The bigger kids in any school year are better athletes, so get extra praise, attention, success. This starts a feedback loop where they get cheered on in hockey, and sent to extra training camps, etc.
So, only partially do they get to commit rape with impunity because they're sports heroes: they also get to commit rape with impunity, because they were literally born lucky.
If a person is assaulted, they can report it to a police agency.
Assault, including sexual assault, is a crime in Canada.
The police are responsible for gathering evidence and laying charges against the suspect.
A crown prosecutor then determines if the is sufficient evidence to take the case to trial.
How has this process been pre-empted by professional sports organizations?
Have they been buying - off complainants?
Do they offer money to complainants to get them to drop charges?
Would this practise not be construed as an obstruction of justice?
Perhaps an example of how professional sports organizations prevent athletes from being tried for crimes they are alleged to have committed would help give this issue more clarity.
Much has peen reported about the ability of these sports organizations’ ability to circumvent our justice system - just how do they do it?
I've been saying for years and years - athletes shouldn't talk, just play the game. And what's happened? They are more coached on media performance, they are more touted as young stars and their trades are nitpicked and nuanced on 24 hour, TSN programming. In turn, I have turned out pretty much everything to do with hockey, except the first few weeks of playoffs.
Kristin, emotionally, I'm with you. But to demand that "Players credibly accused of serious misconduct need to be named and suspended" is wrong.
For the past decade (perhaps the "MeToo" decade) we have been confronted by accusations that, when a generous dollop of "credibility" is applied, could not only ruin an individual hockey career but derail a lifetime. Such ruin is easily evident.
Yes, hockey culture must change--but to provide quick determination of guilt. Our hockey system needs to act with determination and impatience on such accusations. When guilt--and only guilt--is determined, naming and suspension should be immediate.
I call it the “front of the line” mentality. As an ex wife of a hockey player I had a birds eye view of this world. It is toxic and not a good thing for players, families or anyone else.
I'm not a hockey fan so I'm not emotionally invested in sheltering people working in this industry. In fact, some part of me would like to see this sacred cow tipped over
This crap occurs in all sports it seems, but it going on with Hockey Canada really hits Canadians hard. Hockey is one of the few things that bring Canadians together "from coast to coast to coast" and it's one of the few things we are actually the best in the world at. So of course Canadians want to protect the sanctity of our most popular sport and our national team program. It's of course misplaced passion and probably immoral in the grand scheme, but it is understandable.
That said, if we exhibited the same passion toward science, the arts and letters or perhaps business, this country would be more prosperous, less boring, more consequential and overall better off.
There needs to be proof, before "I wish" all the players are painted with this very broad brush! This will follow them for the rest of their lives, and as seen before once the media decides, guilt is assumed
Seems like too many Dads think they’re Walter Gretzky & it’s okay for their kid to focus solely on hockey, to be sent away at a young age & to live in this dangerous culture.
Kristin - I agree with a lot of what you said but there are two points I'm going to push back on.
It's a fine line to suggest anyone in an alleged sexual assault should be suspended and outed and are guilty until proven innocent. Proceedings re: an assault can take months or years to weave their way through a civil or criminal investigations/courts and innocent people can be falsely accused. I see it this way as a dad who has both a daughter and a son. If my daughter was sexually assaulted I'd be furious. But if my son was accused and went through years of proceedings before being proclaimed innocent I'd be just as furious. So be careful what you wish for here because it could be someone you love who is falsely accused and have their reputations tattered.
2nd pushback:
Why are you lumping in Don Cherry and his "you people" incident with a story about sexual assaults/cover up by Hockey Canada, culture of entitlement and worship culture of players? False equivalent.
Don Cherry's statement was completely misinterpreted as a micro aggression or racist comment against visible minorities when in fact it was not. His choice of words was poor, but his point was a fair comment.
What's too bad is that he was one analyst who never pulled punches, much like Charles Barkley. We don't have enough of those in this world of political correctness and cancel culture.
It's too bad that he's not around. Guaranteed if all came to light while he was in the HNIC booth he would be eviscerating anyone involved in this. He wouldn't be the passive wimp among the hockey panels who are too afraid to rock the boat because they want to be buddy buddy with the players and coaches so they get access and keep their cozy jobs.
Maybe we should look at hockey as a TEAM sport not just individual players. It is a team and everyone works together. Learning to be a team player is helpful in all aspects of life.
I agree if there is abuse going on whether by coaches, players etc. it is a crime. Then punish accordingly and maybe people will think before abusing. No I don’t have my head in the sand. The big word is RESPECT. Respect is a two street. Our youngsters need to learn respect and adults need to respect the kids.
Also let’s take out all the “politics” in minor hockey and let kids have fun as they learn skills and team playing. I never was a hockey mom because minor hockey ruled your life.
Funny thing about all that worship - the NHL has been used as a proof of how much dumb luck is responsible for your success in life:
https://www.nhl.com/news/study-suggests-nhl-has-bias-in-favour-of-players-born-earlier-in-the-year/c-657724
...more than twice as many NHL draftees are born in Jan-Mar than are born in Oct-Dec: 36% vs 15%. Why? Well, when the little kids go into Mighty Mites, or whatever little league, some of them are just barely 8 years old, some "in the same year" are turning 9. The bigger kids in any school year are better athletes, so get extra praise, attention, success. This starts a feedback loop where they get cheered on in hockey, and sent to extra training camps, etc.
So, only partially do they get to commit rape with impunity because they're sports heroes: they also get to commit rape with impunity, because they were literally born lucky.
If a person is assaulted, they can report it to a police agency.
Assault, including sexual assault, is a crime in Canada.
The police are responsible for gathering evidence and laying charges against the suspect.
A crown prosecutor then determines if the is sufficient evidence to take the case to trial.
How has this process been pre-empted by professional sports organizations?
Have they been buying - off complainants?
Do they offer money to complainants to get them to drop charges?
Would this practise not be construed as an obstruction of justice?
Perhaps an example of how professional sports organizations prevent athletes from being tried for crimes they are alleged to have committed would help give this issue more clarity.
Much has peen reported about the ability of these sports organizations’ ability to circumvent our justice system - just how do they do it?
👏👏👏👏
So…done hearing about “toxic masculinity” by “victim” advocates. Want to fix this? Stop yapping and get involved in making it better.
I've been saying for years and years - athletes shouldn't talk, just play the game. And what's happened? They are more coached on media performance, they are more touted as young stars and their trades are nitpicked and nuanced on 24 hour, TSN programming. In turn, I have turned out pretty much everything to do with hockey, except the first few weeks of playoffs.