Around the NHL 2024-25 regular season Part II

[JimEIV]

I have some bad news about the rigors of playing in the NHL and player drug usage not prescribed by the team doctor.

I know for a fact travel kits with Ambien and Xanax are/were provided to various athletes for travel.... even sponsored by our New Jersey based companies.

 

[NjDevsRR]

I'm reading this wrong? Allegations come out after she's accused of passing out Xanax or whatever "flying medication" to players?

They got team doctors for that...they probably even have regular flying kits provided....story sounds fishy as f***.

Don’t think MSG would pay out and offer a NDA after conducting an investigation if nothing took place

 

[JimEIV]

Don’t think MSG would pay out and offer a NDA after conducting an investigation if nothing took place

I do. I think it's probably standard operating procedure for sexual allegations.

How many times do we have to see exactly that scenario before we understand that it's more procedure than novelty?

Go away here's some money.... it's every day, everywhere.

 

[Triumph]

I know for a fact travel kits with Ambien and Xanax are/were provided to various athletes for travel.... even sponsored by our New Jersey based companies.

Great - do they also market cocaine to players, or do players take that without a prescription as well? This to me is the least noteworthy part of the story - granted the Rangers' doctors were under scrutiny for overprescribing a decade ago, but I'm sure plenty of athletes take all sorts of supplements and whatnot that are not under the team doctor's supervision.

 

[JimEIV]

Great - do they also market cocaine to players, or do players take that without a prescription as well? This to me is the least noteworthy part of the story - granted the Rangers' doctors were under scrutiny for overprescribing a decade ago, but I'm sure plenty of athletes take all sorts of supplements and whatnot that are not under the team doctor's supervision.

Well...that was sort of my point..."oh travel medication". Sounds like bullshit to me. Sounded more like recreational drug use facilitated by a staff member. Nobody goes to Jane Doe in "Public Relations " for "travel medication". Is what I was trying to say.

Then followed by all kinds of dirty laundry and finger pointing...seems odd. Seems more like a strategy than an "incident"

 

[JrFischer54]

The social media outrage about the Flames not getting in due to having more points than NJ, CLB and MTL is wild and they are missing the obvious. That being the 4 worst teams in the league are in the West, hence the higher point totals for the 1-8 teams. Complete opposite in the East where the bottom teams are all mediocre with 30+ wins which creates a more evenly spread out and lower point totals for the 1-8 teams in that conference.

But people are dumb and ignore context lol

i wonder if people will still complain when the play in games eventually happen and then their team loses in the first round to the 10th place team that shouldn't even have been there

 

[NJDevs26]

So is this why the social media team couldn’t travel with the Rangers?!

 

[MartyOwns]

I do. I think it's probably standard operating procedure for sexual allegations.

How many times do we have to see exactly that scenario before we understand that it's more procedure than novelty?

Go away here's some money.... it's every day, everywhere.

that is definitely, 100% not standard operating procedure for sexual allegations

 

[None Shall Pass]

The medication part is the least interesting / damning part to me.

Xanax, etc. are dirt cheap prescriptions. A lot of people with flying issues take one before a flight. Offering or asking for one are pretty common if someone is nervous. I had a prescription of it for a while. Really a miracle drug for situational anxiety of all types.

To get prescribed it, though, you need to see a psychiatrist (In person; virtual ones can't prescribe it) and have at least a little history of clinical anxiety. It's easier to find someone who has a prescription and ask them for one before your flight.

If airports could legally prescribe you one before a flight, they could probably subsidize the $20 beers they sell to be retail cost with the profits.

 

[Devils731]

that is definitely, 100% not standard operating procedure for sexual allegations

Not commenting on this case, but for high profile people that are innocent, paying money to keep it out of the press is better than proving your innocence in the public court.

Even if you are innocent some people will never believe you after the allegation has been leveled.

So, for me, innocent or guilty, giving money and getting an NDA is better than it being made public if you’re a public figure.

 

[JrFischer54]

that main board thread is a f***ing disaster

"don't put yourself in that situation!"

"Why didnt this come out sooner?"

"why didnt she bring someone with her?!"

absolute f***ing GHOULS, man.

i'm going to get so much shit but its a fair question to ask. just asking it doesn't mean i'm agreeing with anything he did or she didnt do but like wtf did she think was going to happen in that situation? in a perfect world you would never have to be in that situation but we dont live in a perfect world.

 

[jkrdevil]

It was certainly a quick settlement. The Rangers knew that if a lawsuit was filed it would be big news and they could lose Panarin being available for the season as a result.

In these cases before a lawsuit is actually filed the lawyers (and in many cases it’s required) will send the company a pre-suit letter outlining the allegations in broad terms and inviting them to settlement discussions. There was probably a brief internal investigation and then a quick settlement before a lawsuit was filed.

 

[My3Sons]

Not commenting on this case, but for high profile people that are innocent, paying money to keep it out of the press is better than proving your innocence in the public court.

Even if you are innocent some people will never believe you after the allegation has been leveled.

So, for me, innocent or guilty, giving money and getting an NDA is better than it being made public if you’re a public figure.

the issue may boil down to the nature of this sort of litigation. In a civil setting there might be only one real opportunity to get rid of a lawsuit like this. The Motion for Summary Judgment is the best tool for the defense. But typically it is decided based only on what the parties can agree happened factually. So if there is a he said she said it is supposed to be denied. At that point, the defendant is facing a public trial and the folks in the jury box are 12 people who could not get out of jury duty. Now, depending upon the circumstances the defendant may want to take that chance. Without knowing the amount of the settlement we cannot really be sure who had the better of the circumstantial evidence. Maybe there were witnesses to the phone theft and maybe there were witnesses to the entry and exit from the hotel room? We will never know. I think the worst part of this is team's reaction of punishing the social media group from traveling with the team. How about the entire organization behaves professionally? Is that really too much to ask? Let people of all roles do their jobs in peace.

 

[MartyOwns]

Not commenting on this case, but for high profile people that are innocent, paying money to keep it out of the press is better than proving your innocence in the public court.

Even if you are innocent some people will never believe you after the allegation has been leveled.

So, for me, innocent or guilty, giving money and getting an NDA is better than it being made public if you’re a public figure.

oh i believe there was an nda- i mean, i had to sign one when i left msg back in the 2010's and to the best of my recollection nobody sexually assaulted me. but dolan isn't blanket paying out on any claims that come across his desk, that's not SOP. for them to pay, have an nda signed, and oh by the way stop the social media team from traveling with the rangers is pretty damning. i'm not sure how anyone could blame the victim here.

 

[jkrdevil]

I’m sure this and the meds were part of the stopping the social media team from traveling aspect, but there is also reasons for that as well. There was the Perry stuff in Chicago last year as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if all 32 teams have taken steps to limit travel parties and limit interactions between players and non-hockey essential staff.

 

[Devils731]

oh i believe there was an nda- i mean, i had to sign one when i left msg back in the 2010's and to the best of my recollection nobody sexually assaulted me. but dolan isn't blanket paying out on any claims that come across his desk, that's not SOP. for them to pay, have an nda signed, and oh by the way stop the social media team from traveling with the rangers is pretty damning. i'm not sure how anyone could blame the victim here.

who is blaming the victim? I wasn’t even commenting on this specific case. Honestly, that framing is insulting.

I’m commenting on you saying that this isn’t standard operating procedure and I think paying out and signing an NDA is pretty standard, whether guilty or innocent. That costs way less in the long run.

 

[forceten]

who is blaming the victim?

@My3Sons is and I was hurt by his words but then I fell down the stairs and my shoes fell off.

 

[NJDevs26]

Not commenting on this case, but for high profile people that are innocent, paying money to keep it out of the press is better than proving your innocence in the public court.

Even if you are innocent some people will never believe you after the allegation has been leveled.

So, for me, innocent or guilty, giving money and getting an NDA is better than it being made public if you’re a public figure.

Except now it is in the press lol

 

[Devils731]

Except now it is in the press lol

Which is what they wanted to avoid.

You can see why. If you’re guilty and a scumbag, you’d like to avoid this public scrutiny and damage to your reputation. If you’re innocent, you’re being unfairly dragged through the mud and will still have a damaged reputation.

So that’s why it makes sense to try and lock it down whether you’re innocent or guilty; the public accusation is damaging either way.

Hush money and NDA is common no matter the innocence or guilt, because the threat of going public damages either way.

 

[My3Sons]

@My3Sons is and I was hurt by his words but then I fell down the stairs and my shoes fell off.

Let me guess, I actually pushed you down the stairs?

 

[jkrdevil]

Except now it is in the press lol

1.) A story about a settlement goes away quicker.
2.) They didn’t want the story coming out on the heels of a President’s Trophy season led by the team MVP Panarin. But now the season has been a disaster so there are looser lips.
3.) because the season is a disaster they want to move off from Panarin now so they confirm the story to throw him under the bus to set the table for the fanbase (though it does hurt trade value).

My best guess (based on my experience) is the woman’s attorneys probably alerted Strang to the story vaguely when they went into pre-suit phase to be able to publish a story once a lawsuit was filed. However the team settled quickly and the lawyers went dark on Strang. She probably picks up the story and digs around when Trouba, Kakko, MSG turmoil stuff happens in December. Then takes time to get the sourcing good enough to pass NY Times legal department.

 

[jkrdevil]

Also some of the vagueness of the article could be a result of legal at the Athletic/NY Times softening language to avoid a nuisance libel lawsuit.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

i'm going to get so much shit but its a fair question to ask. just asking it doesn't mean i'm agreeing with anything he did or she didnt do but like wtf did she think was going to happen in that situation? in a perfect world you would never have to be in that situation but we dont live in a perfect world.

It's not a fair question to ask and asking it is one step from victim blaming. I am not going to engage with you any further on this though.

 

[MartyOwns]

who is blaming the victim? I wasn’t even commenting on this specific case. Honestly, that framing is insulting.

I’m commenting on you saying that this isn’t standard operating procedure and I think paying out and signing an NDA is pretty standard, whether guilty or innocent. That costs way less in the long run.

i wasn’t referring to you, and its not. i can’t claim that Quick put googley eyes on my testicles and go pick up a check.

 

[My3Sons]

It's not a fair question to ask and asking it is one step from victim blaming. I am not going to engage with you any further on this though.

It may not be fair, but it would almost certainly be asked in a deposition along with a bunch of other accusatory questions.