Teams expecting suspensions as 2018 Hockey Canada investigation concludes (update 7/13) up to 8 players from Team Canada to be named

[Voight]

Seems like a labour issue if they suspend players without explicit cause.

I guess we will soon see. I'm guessing if they are willing to suspend players it will be because they have some fairly solid evidence of wrongdoing.

Or they'll just say "conduct detrimental to the league." IMO each player will get an equal suspension otherwise it'll tip off who was the main perp and I doubt the NHL wants that.

Since this is hfboards, I do expect that, once the names are released, there will be no fewer than 3 threads made on the general board in order to rank these players in different ways.

Thanks.

Looking forward to see who the HFB G Men find guilty!

 

[Voight]

After the Kyle Beach scandal the league is gonna make an example of these players. They really don’t want a reputation as a league that doesn’t take sexual assault seriously. Any player who was in that hotel room’s nhl career is over.

 

[Coaches Coroner]

This would've been solved within an hour by Olivia Benson.

there's enough big corporate and government funded groups in this story, it would be a perfect "ripped from the headlines" for a rare Benson and Munch crossover.

 

[Voight]

I agree with this. IMO its an over correction from the league which will eventually lead down a path where just an accusation is enough to destroy a players career. No day in court, no defence, just life destroyed and move on.

Remember the Ian Cole thread from last year?

Half of this site wanted his head on a stick.

.... they were all pretty quiet when it came out to be a false accusation

 

[Coaches Coroner]

A lot of people seem worried they've been in a situation where they think accusations could arise based on how concerned some are about the player aspect alone lol.

 

[dukeofjive]

Remember the Ian Cole thread from last year?

Half of this site wanted his head on a stick.

.... they were all pretty quiet when it came out to be a false accusation

Wow what a burn, using a totally different story to try to prove a point.

4 chan is invading hfboard it seems.

 

[Voight]

Baseball suspended a Cy Young winning pitcher (Trevor Bauer) for 2 years over sexual assault allegations.

Major League Baseball suspended Bauer for two years on Friday for violating the league’s domestic violence and sexual assault policy. The suspension covers 324 games, without pay, and runs into the 2024 season. Bauer, 31, had been on administrative leave with pay since last July 2, and because he did not reach an agreement on a penalty, he was not given credit retroactively for time served.

Which was the dumbest shiet ever.

 

[Coaches Coroner]

Remember the Ian Cole thread from last year?

Half of this site wanted his head on a stick.

.... they were all pretty quiet when it came out to be a false accusation

Yep he kept his job and never lost a dime. Had a rough time for sure but it's less evidence that things are going down the "accusations will destroy lives alone" and better evidence that no, accusations alone are not enough to destroy the accused's life if it comes out as false. They are enough to have it taken seriously.

 

[surixon]

Didn't the NHL commission it's own report on this, is that report coming out I'm tandem with the Hockey Canada one? Just curious as we haven't heard anything about that one in months.

 

[57special]

Bout time, but the main thing is that they get the right people, and the punishment is enforceable. Nothing they do now can undo what was done, but making these players, and the system that enabled them, accountable, hopefully will lessen the odds of it happening in the future.
Not having any punishment would have the opposite effect.

 

[My3Sons]

This was the statement the victim's layer made in the original Westhead article:

Hockey Canada, CHL settle lawsuit over alleged sexual assault involving World Junior players - TSN.ca

A woman who alleged she was sexually assaulted by eight Canadian Hockey League players, including members of Canada’s gold medal-winning 2017-18 World Junior team, has agreed to drop a lawsuit against the players, Hockey Canada, and the CHL after reaching a settlement.

www.tsn.ca

So she wants to be left alone and move on with life. She should be allowed to do just that. I am sure this ongoing publicity is a painful reminder of something she just wants to put in the rear view mirror and forget about. Both the woke mob and the mob on the other end of the political spectrum (the un-woke mob?) should just allow the presumably responsible adults from outside Hockey Canada which hopefully includes, but is not limited to, criminal authorities, to offer their findings on an as needed basis to the NHL and hockey Canada and those organizations can take whatever further action their charters and bylaws allow and presumably they can do so without telling us specifically who did what to who. To the extent appropriate, the criminal authorities will act as they would do in any similar case with respect to levying criminal charges. Neither more harsh nor more lenient than they would if the alleged perpetrators were not NHL players. Again, I think this is pretty workable and non-controversial. It seems most agree with me but some just struggle to get what I'm suggesting and think I'm asking to protect the identities of the players involved which couldn't be more wrong.

 

[Voight]

Happy my Wings don't have any of these players on the team.

IF one of them as on the Wings (and was a good player), I doubt you'd be OK with the team cutting bait.

 

[jbeck5]

Strong enough evidence? Like are you this dense or ignorant on purpose? I literally threw it right in your face that…hmm oh yeah

They’re still investigating and collecting evidence bub

Talking about me needing to do research and all. Lol.

So how can you or anyone claim to their level of guilt if they're still gathering evidence, haven't made an arrest or pressed charges, haven't had a trial, etc.

It's ridiculous. And you call me bub. You've been watching too many 60s sitcoms Jesus Christ lmao.

 

[Voight]

“Suspensions” god this league is the f***ing worst. Anything less than a lifetime ban is unacceptable

Why would this happen but not Hockey Canada being banned from international tournaments for some period of time?

#1) Money. IIHF would stand to lose a lot of coin without Canadas participation in events.

#2) HC paid out the victim yes, but the incident technically didn't happen directly under their watch. The HC event was over, the players went to a bar, then the vaunted hotel room. They ere kids who required chaperones, they were adults.

IIHF barely wanted to ban Russia for invading Ukraine anyways. They only did so under enormous pressure. So good luck thinking or wanting them to suspend Canada for this.

 

[Voight]

And at some point, someone's going to have to tell the public no. I don't anticipate the NHL to be the first to do it unfortunately.

Look at that punter in the NFL, Matt Arazia. He was a fairly high draft pick, a rape allegation came out and it looked really damning.. turns out he more likely than not did nothing wrong. But he was still cut by the Bills, lost out on a year of his career, and many idiots in the public still think he's a piece of shit for no reason.

Sports leagues need to stop dishing out punishments prior to court cases.

Yup & he'll never get that money back. Screwed over.

 

[MXD]

Intoxication or inebriation

Could also argue the video wouldn't be valid as she still in the room with everyone that just raped her. Not hard to argue that it is a coerced video.

Bingo for bolded.

 

[EverTheCynic]

If ever there was an inb4 lock...

What a dumpster fire of a thread.

 

[HugeInTheShire]

While I agree what they are accused of doing is a heinous act and should be severely punished, I'm also of the mindset that we need to wait and see what the investigation uncovers before this punishment is doled out.

People want vengeance now and I understand that, but we shouldn't just assume everyone is guilty just because someone made a claim.

They can't and shouldn't just blindly assume everyone is telling the truth.

 

[MXD]

Which was the dumbest shiet ever.

Trevor Bauer was suspended because of all the things he did and the stances he took before the allegations came out, the allegations being mostly a pretext. Everyone knows this (and the MLB should be raked over the coals for that, but since Bauer was pretty good in making sure everyone hated him, no one wants to defend him).

 

[AvroArrow]

While I agree what they are accused of doing is a heinous act and should be severely punished, I'm also of the mindset that we need to wait and see what the investigation uncovers before this punishment is doled out.

People want vengeance now and I understand that, but we shouldn't just assume everyone is guilty just because someone made a claim.

They can't and shouldn't just blindly assume everyone is telling the truth.

I feel like if they weren't guilty, hockey Canada wouldn't have settled for millions of dollars with the victim.

"We know these guys are innocent and you're making false claims against them that hold no merit. So here's nearly 3 million dollars to settle this out of court"

I don't think that's what happened here.

 

[HugeInTheShire]

I feel like if they weren't guilty, hockey Canada wouldn't have settled for millions of dollars with the victim.

"We know these guys are innocent and you're making false claims against them that hold no merit. So here's nearly 3 million dollars to settle this out of court"

I don't think that's what happened here.

I disagree, they'd likely pay out either way in an attempt to avoid any negative press.

Companies have done this forever, when I was a manager in retail, we would hear all the stories of times they'd rather pay out than prove accusers wrong. I'm not saying that is what happened here, as I have no idea if it is but it does happen way more than people realize. Although the stuff they were paying out for wasn't nearly as serious as this case, so maybe I'm wrong.

While I do agree that it looks likely something bad happened in this case, they shouldn't just jump to suspend/ban these players unless there is a strong enough case against them. At that point, they need to get every single one of them out of the league. I don't care if they are one of the best players in the league, GONE.

 

[Ghost of Jody Hull]

I feel like if they weren't guilty, hockey Canada wouldn't have settled for millions of dollars with the victim.

"We know these guys are innocent and you're making false claims against them that hold no merit. So here's nearly 3 million dollars to settle this out of court"

I don't think that's what happened here.

This is not true. The priority of Hockey Canada's attorneys would not have been to determine whether the accused were guilty or innocent (although they likely held an opinion on that question), it would have been to weigh the costs of settling vs. engaging in extended legal proceedings.

In most cases where a corporation is sued, it's determined that the costs of litigation (even if you believe you have a case) and the PR ramifications are greater than the cost of a settlement. Which is why >90% of cases are settled out of court. The corporations that settle are always very clear that settlements are not admissions of guilt, and they try to keep settlements as quiet as possible (which is why non-disclosure agreements come into play) to prevent PR blowback.

Obviously in this case that didn't work out, because of a person named Rick Westhead.

If the players had been sued personally, which they were not and have not been, they would have been far more likely to take the allegation to court as they a) would have much more incentive to clear their name and b) wouldn't have had the legal and financial resources to quickly settle.

If criminal charges are eventually pressed, that's when we'll see a much more aggressive defense from the accused and their attorneys will investigate the accuser (her actions before and after the night in question) much more throughly. They'll do everything they can to discredit her, in the actual court and the court of public opinion.

Those are tactics that Hockey Canada would not have wanted to engage in, and it'll be a very difficult experience for the alleged victim. That's why for her, the original settlement was likely an acceptable outcome as well.

 

[Ghost of Jody Hull]

Also, in terms of how the league handles this, the one thing I always harken back to is the fact that Gary Bettman and Bill Daly are lawyers through and through.

If you think back to how they handled the Chicago situation, it was lawyer-speak at every turn. They protected the league. They did everything they could to minimize their liability – past, present and future. They didn't send a message. They didn't draw a line. They didn't do "what's right".

I expect that'll happen again.

Unless criminal charges are filed by London Police, I expect many in this thread (who want significant punishment) will be disappointed.

 

[mlzy]

Feel like there should be a bigger punishment than just a suspension for what occurred.

How do you know what occurred?

 

[MXD]

Unless criminal charges are filed by London Police, I expect many in this thread (who want significant punishment) will be disappointed.

I'm not disagreeing with you here. But :

- It's not because players aren't specifically banned or suspended that they'll get NHL deals.

- There's absolutely no way the perpetrators are escaping it if charges are laid.

- I'll add a provisio : if the report is leaked or otherwise published, and that the main takeaway from it is along the lines "there's at least some solid evidence that the infractions have been committed, but convictions are unlikely because they're really hard to obtain in SA cases", Bettman and Daly will act regardless.