League News: NHL Talk - (News n' Scores n' Stuff) - 2022-23 season, Vol. 4, Off-season Edition

[trick9]

It is kind of funny how Washington and Pittsburgh have mirrored each other over the past 20 years.

One franchise has sadly been miles ahead in the team building department, and has 3 Cups to show for it, while the other one has been left scrambling trying to acquire as many old Penguins as they could. Thank god there is the 2018 Cup atleast.

 

[Langway]

Blackwood hurt, leaves the game.

Don't look now but the Islanders are putting it together. It's going to be a bloodbath in the East.

Edit: The Devils came back on the Oilers. Impressive.

 

[895]

Lol at boston

Might be the first time I've heard a GM say yeah maybe this signing was a mistake ....during the press conference to announce the signing

 

[Carlzner]

Disgusting

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

Pretty gross move by Boston. And I don’t want to hear that Mitchell was just a kid who made a mistake when he was young and now he’s matured and changed and all that nonsense. He was a racist psychopath who tormented a black disabled kid from the age of 7 through age 14. The kid he bullied had to be tested for STDs and HIV because Mitchell made him eat candy that he wiped on a dirty school urinal. He never apologized until ordered to by the court and that was just for one incident. Just a disgusting person who doesn’t deserve the privilege of wearing an NHL jersey and collecting an NHL paycheck.

And his parents trying to paint him as a victim of cancel culture can get super f***ed. Not hard to see how this dude turned out to be a piece of shit with parents like that.

I want a journalist to ask Neeley straight up if Mitchell had treated his kid the way Mitchell treated that kid if Neeley would still have signed him.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Pretty gross move by Boston. And I don’t want to hear that Mitchell was just a kid who made a mistake when he was young and now he’s matured and changed and all that nonsense. He was a racist psychopath who tormented a black disabled kid from the age of 7 through age 14. The kid he bullied had to be tested for STDs and HIV because Mitchell made him eat candy that he wiped on a dirty school urinal. He never apologized until ordered to by the court and that was just for one incident. Just a disgusting person who doesn’t deserve the privilege of wearing an NHL jersey and collecting an NHL paycheck.

And his parents trying to paint him as a victim of cancel culture can get super f***ed. Not hard to see how this dude turned out to be a piece of shit with parents like that.

I want a journalist to ask Neeley straight up if Mitchell had treated his kid the way Mitchell treated that kid if Neeley would still have signed him.

That’s an obvious no, because you just made it personal to Neeley in that scenario.

The guy most certainly was a piece of shit as a kid. not defending him one bit….and his parents, don’t even get me started on them…..but I do wonder something.

Where is society supposed to draw the line?

you say he “doesn’t deserve the privilege of wearing an NHL jersey and collecting an NHL paycheck”.

A person can’t make amends in life? He didn’t maim or kill. (no amends there IMO)

What if he wants to be a Dr or something…should he be banned from that? Banned from college?

Should he be banned from having any high-level profession? I don’t really care about this punk, but I do believe in the general concept of forgiveness, most of the time (not always). Anyway, your venom just got me thinking about the larger topic.

If I was the Bruins, he would have so many visits to Children’s Hospital and events helping the handicapped baked into his contract, that they might as well get him a permanent room at the hospital.

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

That’s an obvious no, because you just made it personal to Neeley in that scenario.

The guy most certainly was a piece of shit as a kid. not defending him one bit….and his parents, don’t even get me started on them…..but I do wonder something.

Where is society supposed to draw the line?

you say he “doesn’t deserve the privilege of wearing an NHL jersey and collecting an NHL paycheck”.

A person can’t make amends in life? He didn’t maim or kill. (no amends there IMO)

What if he wants to be a Dr or something…should he be banned from that? Banned from college?

Should he be banned from having any high-level profession? I don’t really care about this punk, but I do believe in the general concept of forgiveness, most of the time (not always). Anyway, your venom just got me thinking about the larger topic.

If I was the Bruins, he would have so many visits to Children’s Hospital and events helping the handicapped baked into his contract, that they might as well get him a permanent room at the hospital.

I’m all for rehabilitation and multiple chances. Humans are flawed creatures and we all f*** up. This to me is not a situation worth rehabbing and even if it was, he’s shown zero signs of remorse.

I mean this was some f***ed up stuff. He was a sadist. He tormented a disabled kid for years on end. Called him the worst name you can call a black person as well as multiple other slurs. He physically assaulted him. And he never apologized outside of a court-ordered apology and then his parents had the nerve to claim he was a victim of cancel culture. He only showed the slightest bit of remorse when he couldn’t play hockey any more.

So to your other point, being a pro athlete and playing for a storied franchise like the Bruins is a huge privilege. Kids buy their jerseys and emulate them. And I don’t think he’s shown anywhere near the amount of remorse to prove that he’s a changed person. So no, I don’t think he deserves that honor.

 

[g00n]

I’m all for rehabilitation and multiple chances. Humans are flawed creatures and we all f*** up. This to me is not a situation worth rehabbing and even if it was, he’s shown zero signs of remorse.

I mean this was some f***ed up stuff. He was a sadist. He tormented a disabled kid for years on end. Called him the worst name you can call a black person as well as multiple other slurs. He physically assaulted him. And he never apologized outside of a court-ordered apology and then his parents had the nerve to claim he was a victim of cancel culture. He only showed the slightest bit of remorse when he couldn’t play hockey any more.

So to your other point, being a pro athlete and playing for a storied franchise like the Bruins is a huge privilege. Kids buy their jerseys and emulate them. And I don’t think he’s shown anywhere near the amount of remorse to prove that he’s a changed person. So no, I don’t think he deserves that honor.

This. More than a legally mandated "oh shit I'm going to lose my NHL meal ticket" half-ass apology is needed to redeem someone's character. Years of shit behavior by one's own initiative require years of personal change and social contributions also by one's own initiative. Then we can talk about whether someone's really changed.

 

[max21]

I just don’t understand why they even signed him, they’re on a roll. Why risk the chemistry in the locker room? I don’t get it

 

[twabby]

I just don’t understand why they even signed him, they’re on a roll. Why risk the chemistry in the locker room? I don’t get it

He’s also not a very noteworthy prospect from a pure skills standpoint from what I understand as well.

 

[Hivemind]

I just don’t understand why they even signed him, they’re on a roll. Why risk the chemistry in the locker room? I don’t get it

I hate the signing, but he's going to AHL Providence initially not Boston's NHL roster.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I’m all for rehabilitation and multiple chances. Humans are flawed creatures and we all f*** up. This to me is not a situation worth rehabbing and even if it was, he’s shown zero signs of remorse.

I mean this was some f***ed up stuff. He was a sadist. He tormented a disabled kid for years on end. Called him the worst name you can call a black person as well as multiple other slurs. He physically assaulted him. And he never apologized outside of a court-ordered apology and then his parents had the nerve to claim he was a victim of cancel culture. He only showed the slightest bit of remorse when he couldn’t play hockey any more.

So to your other point, being a pro athlete and playing for a storied franchise like the Bruins is a huge privilege. Kids buy their jerseys and emulate them. And I don’t think he’s shown anywhere near the amount of remorse to prove that he’s a changed person. So no, I don’t think he deserves that honor.

I mean you’re repeating what you’ve said before and what we all know. He did some very bad stuff.

I just don’t understand why they even signed him, they’re on a roll. Why risk the chemistry in the locker room? I don’t get it

He’s going to Providence I’m sure.

Bruins Players Sought Explanation For Team Signing Mitchell Miller

Prior to signing Mitchell Miller to an entry-level contract Friday, the Boston Bruins ran it by some of the leaders on the team.

nesn.com

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

He’s also not a very noteworthy prospect from a pure skills standpoint from what I understand as well.

Where does 39 goals as a USHL D rate? I don’t know….

 

[Jags]

I'm with CCR on this one. If we hung every 14-year-old for the stupid shit they do, there wouldn't be any adults left in this country.

What he did was really f***ed up. No getting around that. But there's also no getting around the fact that Boston signing him is the beginning of this process. It already sounds like the Bruins aren't happy about it, so he'll have that to contend with. Then if he does somehow make it to the show, lots of opponents are going to line up to thump him.

The signing isn't a free pass to NHL success, riches, and fame. He has to endure what everyone does on top of the fact that teammates and opponents alike are going to be looking to take his head off. The road ahead of him ain't paved.

You really think a good chunk of current NHLers weren't assholes as kids? Did you not know any elite athletes when you were young? Lots of 'em are pricks in one way or another.

How many rape and sexual misconduct allegations can you recall in the NHL? I can think of a bunch. Wife and girlfriend beaters? Lots of those, too. There are current superstars with that shit on their CV; shit that (allegedly) happened long after they were 14. Ever hear the stories lots of Black NHLers have told about the heinous shit chirped at them in the NHL? Is that recently-alleged gang rape ruining the prospects of those prospects?

This guy is getting all this attention because he got caught, not because he's the only NHL-caliber player ever to do shit like that. Not sure I'd be so quick to call a middle-schooler a psychopath or sadist. Peer pressure alone can cause kids that age to do things they'd never do otherwise. You never did anything when you were young that you still cringe at today?

And even though I shouldn't have to say it, I will: No, I don't condone his behavior and no, nothing I did as a kid was THAT cringey. As was said earlier, all it takes is a shitty parent to instill the wrong or no morality in a kid, and when that happens we should want those kids to have a chance to learn those lessons no matter how late in life.

So yeah, maybe it took until he actually had something major to lose to selfishly realize how destructive and long-lasting actions like those are. And maybe he's learning for real now. His statement definitely reads like it was written by someone smart, so I doubt he even had a hand in it, but who knows?

If he's learned and isn't that guy anymore, I wish him well. If he never learned and is still that kind of asshole, I hope he never makes it and gets his ass kicked every game if he does. I don't think allowing him the opportunity is inherently wrong. What he does with that opportunity is up to him.

 

[Brian23]

If we hung every 14-year-old for the stupid shit they do,

I've never understood this argument. Everyone here has, or will, gotten through being 14 and pretty confidently say I never racially and sadistically tormented a mentally challenged person for years.

I'll even take it a step further and say I was pretty well aware of what was bad at 14. This dude went form first grade (so like, what, 06 or 07?) to sometime before 2016 doing this? Miss me with the "it was just a mistake".

You really think a good chunk of current NHLers weren't assholes as kids?

I also don't see how the potential whataboutism saves you here.

 

[usiel]

I've never understood this argument. Everyone here has, or will, gotten through being 14 and pretty confidently say I never racially and sadistically tormented a mentally challenged person for years.

I'll even take it a step further and say I was pretty well aware of what was bad at 14. This dude went form first grade (so like, what, 06 or 07?) to sometime before 2016 doing this? Miss me with the "it was just a mistake".

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I also don't see how the potential whataboutism saves you here.

Imho, this is a bit of a generalization. Granted when I was 14 it was 1983 and man I saw some messed up stuff. Not just non-violent but violence kids getting beat down just because they were a little 'different'. Not saying have don't have ones radar up when something like that happened when you are 14 but one is not an adult then.

 

[IafrateOvie34]

I'm sure a few NHL players have him on a list.

 

[Jags]

I've never understood this argument. Everyone here has, or will, gotten through being 14 and pretty confidently say I never racially and sadistically tormented a mentally challenged person for years.

I'll even take it a step further and say I was pretty well aware of what was bad at 14. This dude went form first grade (so like, what, 06 or 07?) to sometime before 2016 doing this? Miss me with the "it was just a mistake".

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I also don't see how the potential whataboutism saves you here.

Saves me? What the hell did I do?

You don't think a real chunk of current and former NHL players haven't gotten up to some really crooked shit? This guy got caught. And getting caught isn't even really the point. NHLers have gotten loaded and killed people and each other and played again. Probably the biggest movie star ever to come out of Boston once beat a man horribly during a hate crime when he was 16, and our society punished him to the tune of about $500 million and ultra-celebrity status. You think we can find some middle ground between that and forever banning someone from any kind of prosperous life?

Condemning this guy forever for being a shitty human being when he was 14 serves what purpose, exactly? If the league were maintaining a universal standard of behavior, fine. That'd be great if it were even possible. But that's not what's happening here. Plenty of shitheads in the NHL. Middle school bullying -- even this horrifying variety -- is commonplace. Banning this guy from any kind of good life because he was a total prick as a kid is unreasonable.

I hate what he did as much as you do, and I damn sure wouldn't want him on my team. But where's the line? Not good enough for the NHL? Okay. Like CCR said, is it okay if he's a doctor? A teacher? We can't put him in jail for it, but sure, let's find another way to punish him for life for shit he did when he was a child. That's evolved thinking.

I personally have no compassion for this guy, but this can't be that standard we hold children to. Kids do ridiculously stupid and cruel things. Whether they learn better before or after that kind of behavior manifests, the important things is that they do actually learn those lessons. You being ready to write this guy off because of the content of his Wikipedia page is a little much. You don't know his life. Things are rarely as simple as they seem in an article.

You don't think he deserves the benefit of the doubt, and I personally agree. All I'm saying is that you can't be any more certain about our limo guys back in the day or Patrick Kane or Auston Matthews or Dany Heatley or Mike Ribeiro or Joe Corvo or Mark Hardy or Rob Ramage or Craig MacTavish or Semyon Varlamov and so so so many others. Those're just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. This league has had tons of guys get up to some horrific shit as adults and still play/coach/whatever.

But this guy deserves zero chance because you don't think he's sorry enough for being a shitty child?

 

[IafrateOvie34]

Saves me? What the hell did I do?

You don't think a real chunk of current and former NHL players haven't gotten up to some really crooked shit? This guy got caught. And getting caught isn't even really the point. NHLers have gotten loaded and killed people and each other and played again. Probably the biggest movie star ever to come out of Boston once beat a man horribly during a hate crime when he was 16, and our society punished him to the tune of about $500 million and ultra-celebrity status. You think we can find some middle ground between that and forever banning someone from any kind of prosperous life?

Condemning this guy forever for being a shitty human being when he was 14 serves what purpose, exactly? If the league were maintaining a universal standard of behavior, fine. That'd be great if it were even possible. But that's not what's happening here. Plenty of shitheads in the NHL. Middle school bullying -- even this horrifying variety -- is commonplace. Banning this guy from any kind of good life because he was a total prick as a kid is unreasonable.

I hate what he did as much as you do, and I damn sure wouldn't want him on my team. But where's the line? Not good enough for the NHL? Okay. Like CCR said, is it okay if he's a doctor? A teacher? We can't put him in jail for it, but sure, let's find another way to punish him for life for shit he did when he was a child. That's evolved thinking.

I personally have no compassion for this guy, but this can't be that standard we hold children to. Kids do ridiculously stupid and cruel things. Whether they learn better before or after that kind of behavior manifests, the important things is that they do actually learn those lessons. You being ready to write this guy off because of the content of his Wikipedia page is a little much. You don't know his life. Things are rarely as simple as they seem in an article.

You don't think he deserves the benefit of the doubt, and I personally agree. All I'm saying is that you can't be any more certain about our limo guys back in the day or Patrick Kane or Auston Matthews or Dany Heatley or Mike Ribeiro or Joe Corvo or Mark Hardy or Rob Ramage or Craig MacTavish or Semyon Varlamov and so so so many others. Those're just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. This league has had tons of guys get up to some horrific shit as adults and still play/coach/whatever.

But this guy deserves zero chance because you don't think he's sorry enough for being a shitty child?

I know of a PoS HoF NFL player who mocked disabled people openly in the student center in college. I'm shocked we haven't heard more cases in all sports with this type of behavior or it's covered up. They get scholarships, eat all day in the dining facility, go to practice, and then have tutored tests taken for them. I'm also amazed how people put celebrities on a pedestal. I get it being a child or young adult, but not as a grown adult. That is another thing I like about Ovy. You don't hear of those type of actions when he was younger or playing pro sports. He's one athlete I actually respect. I do believe in forgiveness, however most celebrity or athlete remorse appears fake.

 

[Brian23]

You don't think a real chunk of current and former NHL players haven't gotten up to some really crooked shit?

This is whataboutism. I don't care, if they were as unrepentant and vile then they should be named and shamed all the same.

Condemning this guy forever for being a shitty human being when he was 14 serves what purpose, exactly?

You keep saying this as if he's done anything showing he's changed. Every report is he think he's done nothing wrong, he's the victim, and has nothing to apologize for. So actually, I'm judging him on how he is now, not merely how he acted at 14.

Kids do ridiculously stupid and cruel things.

I think we have very different definitions of stupid if we're defining tormenting a kid from first grade onward as just stupid and cruel. I'd argue it's sadistic and a very stark mark on his character completely irregardless of how he's acted after being found guilty in a court of law.

Hell, even Sweeny isn't 100% certain. lmao

 

[Brian23]

Imho, this is a bit of a generalization. Granted when I was 14 it was 1983 and man I saw some messed up stuff. Not just non-violent but violence kids getting beat down just because they were a little 'different'. Not saying have don't have ones radar up when something like that happened when you are 14 but one is not an adult then.

I was born in 91, so I grew up between 99 and 09 really. We had bullies, we had assholes, and whatever else you want to talk about normal growing up life but I think it's entirely unfair and flat wrong to compare that to Miller's actions.

If this started in first grade, as was said, he did this for almost a decade.

 

[Jags]

This is whataboutism. I don't care, if they were as unrepentant and vile then they should be named and shamed all the same.

Okay, so if we're going to get mired in semantics, then you saying "I don't care" is hypocrisy. I don't mind enforcing morality at all. Enforcing it badly or arbitrarily I do have a problem with.

Today you created a filter for what's personally acceptable to you from an NHL player. All I'm saying is that if you applied that same filter to the entire NHL, you'd be surprised at the number of players who just lost their jobs. Professional sports is riddled with shitty people. This kid wouldn't make the top 10.

You keep saying this as if he's done anything showing he's changed. Every report is he think he's done nothing wrong, he's the victim, and has nothing to apologize for. So actually, I'm judging him on how he is now, not merely how he acted at 14.

"Actually" doesn't mean what you think it means. The guy actually spent all day showing remorse. Maybe you don't believe him or it's too little too late or whatever else (and I agree with you), but no, not "every report is he think he's done nothing wrong." He expressed a lot of regret today, and according to your quote there he maintains that his apology was delivered to the family. Your hyperbole is hurting your argument.

And again, we agree on this in principle. I'd much rather this guy wasn't being giving this consideration, but given the standard that the NHL has actually set historically over the repugnant actions of players at any point in their lives, the consideration Miller was shown today is pretty typical and not all that noteworthy, unfortunately.

I think we have very different definitions of stupid if we're defining tormenting a kid from first grade onward as just stupid and cruel.

See, "cruel" was the operative word there. And we don't get to have our own definitions of words. Words have official definitions. That's how language works. If you don't think "cruel" covers what Miller did, I'd like to hear the word that's worse. Cruelty covers what he did pretty perfectly.

I'd argue it's sadistic and a very stark mark on his character completely irregardless of how he's acted after being found guilty in a court of law.

A bunch of the guys I listed and others were found guilty in court. Precedent isn't whataboutism. The NHL isn't a bastion of morality. Flipping out over Miller's case but not any of the bajillion others is laughably arbitrary at best, and hypocritical at worst. He could express the most sincere remorse ever right now and it wouldn't sway you one bit, and it might not sway me either. This guy gets to live his life regardless of what we think.

His path toward the NHL is going to be more difficult for him than most because of this, and rightfully so. Unfortunately, that's probably all that'll be done here. The arbitrary, woke outrage over this might throw another wrench in the works for him, but if anyone has the capacity to forgive (or just overlook) this type of ugly behavior, it's the wonderful citizenry of Boston.

 

[HTFN]

There's burying a life forever and then there are just... lasting repercussions to your actions. Prison is rehabilitation but you still don't get to vote when you're done being a felon. A gateway to a potential multi-million dollar public facing career is not a human right and frankly there are so many limited opportunities to that gig that I don't care if you're 14 or 34, you have to learn that your talent won't always automatically outweigh the responsibility you have towards others to be decent.

He could go to a normal college and live a normal life and nobody'd give a shit or remember him in 2 years. This isn't that and he's not owed the opportunity just for doing the bare minimum.

 

[trick9]

Yeah... i wouldn’t want to be that guys teammate.

Not surprised where he signed.

 

[Ridley Simon]

As we’ve seen a lot of individual opinions here on Millers signing, we see this in all aspects of real life.

The NHL is no different. The people that work for the 30 teams ALL have individual opinions. It just takes one to allow Miller this opportunity.

I’d wager that many teams won’t ever touch him. But obviously some will. (I also wouldn’t)