That's what's so puzzling. There was ZERO upside to this, particularly if you piss off the room in doing so when you're clicking the way the Bruins are.
Why even get involved in that drama? Pay a premium to Winnipeg to acquire him at the deadline then be forced to trade him to the habs for pennies on the dollar come the summer. Seems too risky for a player with a known shitty attitude
It started much earlier than that. He had been bullying him since grade 2.
Thing is, he doesn’t appear to have shown any real remorse or positive change. Prior to last week, his only apology was a court-ordered one which the judge said seemed insincere and self-serving. Any actions he’s now taking appear to be motivated by the fact that he’s suffering the consequences of his actions and not because he feels bad about what he did.
All we can do is speculate, obviously, but i wonder whether that change is motivated by a realization that it’s wrong to treat people that way or the fact that he was exposed and had his future jeopardized as a result.
Who really knows how the kid really feels through? Maybe his parents told him he couldn't make an apology because it could be an admission of guilt. A lot of the time bullies are a product of their upbringing, and abuse. I can't see any type of apology being interpreted as sincere once it has been court ordered.
Yea part of me wants to say holy-crap he was a young bully, we do have to give people a chance to learn and grow (i.e. TDA), but he's 20 now, and as has been pointed out didn't issue an apology until a week or so ago...on Twitter? Kid should have been groveling from the outset, getting psychiatric help, paying their medical bills, some sort of reparations, etc. And he didn't just bully a kid, he bullied a disabled girl where he knowingly took advantage of that...(EDIT: she was tested for Hep, HIV, and STDs as a result - no + confirmations mentioned)...like literally potentially ruined the girls life. I'm not saying his life should never recover from that because again, kids are often only as good as their upbringing, but it's going to require a LOT of self-sacrifice to build-up the required goodwill to come out of that.
He was still harassing the kid and his family for years after the juvenile case; at least that's my understanding. Also has never actually apologized or shown any remorse, and regardless of the ages it's a continued stretch of borderline psychopathic behavior, that's a huge concern whether you're 12-14 or 25-28 or any age. I'm often all for second chances, and I'm not even against it in this case. But there are significant steps the kid needs to take to earn his second chance, none of which he has.
