Around The NHL Part XXX

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I was a victim of bullying myself as a 14-15-16 year old; nothing quite as heinous as this, but nonetheless things that were certainly enough to cause substantial emotional distress. Some of it, unfortunately, is just kids being kids though. I'm not saying that Miller was "just being a kid," but to my knowledge he did receive punishment for his behavior contemporaneously.

I'm not claiming to know what is correct right now, but I do find the "it's a privilege to play in the NHL and if you are a bully (even a racist one) at 14, you give up your privilege to play in the NHL" argument to be a bit disingenuous and/or disconcerting.

A lot of people do a lot of terrible things at age 14 that would get them fired in the real world if they had done it at age 22 or whatnot. If we are gonna go back and hold their feet to the fire - after they had already received what was considered just punishment at the time of the incident by most authorities - I do not believe that is automatically or generally a wise decision. I think there are better ways to send the message of no-tolerance for racism than re-punishing something that happened when the transgressor was 14, even under the auspice of "that doesn't align with our organizational values." It's a punishment.

That being said it's also impossible for us to know the exact circumstance of the team's interaction with Miller since some of this has come to light. Did they ask him to renounce his behavior or issue an apology and he refused? Etc. That is certainly more understandable then.

I don't have a problem with someone dealing with the cosequences of a major incident, even if they are 14. I think some actions carry long-term impacts, regardless of the age.

Having said that, I think there's a fair argument to be made that quite a few adults have failed here and that their actions, are questionable as well.

If a team was willing to accept the behavior history a month ago, or even a year ago, then it is disingenuous to suddenly make bold statements and take strong actions now. Ken Campbell touches on that here - Led by Coyotes, UND and USA Hockey, the hockey world failed Mitch Miller.

That debate does exist somewhat apart from the actions of Miller and how we view those actions.

He did what he did. It was atrocious. Something is a amiss there. That's understood, so let's put it aside for a second.

There's the very issue of Arizona and UND being okay with it until they aren't. Look, if the stance is "We know what he did, we feel he's sorry for it, and now this is his chance to carry on" then that's the stance. You make that decision and stick you with it --- knowing not everyone is going to agree with it.

If you're not prepared to stick with it through the pushback, you don't believe he is sorry, and you don't think he deserves a chance to carry on, or you don't want to be the team to provide that path, that's fine. Then don't go there.

At the end of the day, you either decide not to pursue Miller, or you are. There's nothing wrong with the former --- that would be my approach.

But, if you decide upon the latter, then you accept everything that comes with it. None of this hokey-pokey shit to save face.
 
I can't believe I miss this, but was saddened to hear of the passing of Travis Roy.

Had the opportunity to meet him on a few different occassions. A remarkable person, with an outlook on life I wish I could duplicate.

Godspeed.
I read Kevin Dupont’s article about Travis Roy and the last line brought me to tears;

As he was slipping away, his sister told him “Trav, your line is up next”
 
...

He did what he did. It was atrocious. Something is a amiss there. That's understood, so let's put it aside for a second.

There's the very issue of Arizona and UND being okay with it until they aren't. Look, if the stance is "We know what he did, we feel he's sorry for it, and now this is his chance to carry on" then that's the stance. You make that decision and stick you with it --- knowing not everyone is going to agree with it...

The thing is - this would be the decision and the process managed by those who in the "normal" environment would be normally responsible. That wouldn't be a team's owner or university president. But it's very likely a call came from those with more authority that overrode the previous decision and that's that.
 
No talk about the 48 game season proposal and some owners wanting to not play at all?

I'm with Bettman, it will hurt the sport way more not to play.

If it's too expensive, then the league and the NHLPA should negotiate pay cuts, no? Or is that already built in?
Definitely will.
 
Model for the NHL?


To add to that:



Elliote Friedman liked this Tweet. Doesn’t mean much in terms of actual news, but as we all can probably guess, the NHL as whole — Bettman, Owners, GMs, Media — are all watching what the NBA does very closely. These are two leagues that have followed similar paths in year’s past. Especially because the late David Stern was Bettman’s mentor... More recently, imo the NHL has been the one leading by example, but the NBA could be laying the groundwork for the NHL to follow. I would love it if the NHL can be started January 1st as opposed to February.
 
To add to that:



Elliote Friedman liked this Tweet. Doesn’t mean much in terms of actual news, but as we all can probably guess, the NHL as whole — Bettman, Owners, GMs, Media — are all watching what the NBA does very closely. These are two leagues that have followed similar paths in year’s past. Especially because the late David Stern was Bettman’s mentor... More recently, imo the NHL has been the one leading by example, but the NBA could be laying the groundwork for the NHL to follow. I would love it if the NHL can be started January 1st as opposed to February.

Lets go NHL...your move.
 
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I feel like the NHL NEEDS as many fans in the seats as possible, more so than the other major 4, and they're going to keep delaying/hemming and hawwing on the start date and start plan, as they hope for a vaccine or proof from other leagues that fans in seats work and is safe. Then the NHL will proceed with starting as soon as they can. The real issue I think is that arenas will need to know when the NHL games will be and what the fan situation is.
 
With the Vaccine news today looks like it is a very good chance to start Jan 1st. Let’s hope!

I think even in a best case scenario the vaccine won't have much effect on the spread of the virus until the second half of 2021. Unless the other vaccines that are close show a similar effectiveness, so we have more options available sooner.
 
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