Maybe Sit This One Out

If you're a reader of this blog, you know that I rarely celebrate the NHL in anything that it does. The billion-dollar money machine just keeps churning out new ways to bleed more money from fans which, at this point, is entirely grotesque, so this will be one of those articles where I'll surprise everyone by giving the NHL its kudos after releasing its statement about the five men involved in the 2018 Hockey Canada trial. It's also the point where the NHLPA showed its character with its statement, and let's just say that no one should be surprised that the NHLPA took the horrific stance that they chose.

We'll start with the NHL's statement who released the following statement on Friday following Thursday's verdict in London:

Whatever you may feel about this case or towards these players and the verdict handed down by Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia, this was the right call by the NHL. Yes, you read that correctly: the NHL made the right call with their statement.

These men are not innocent; rather, they were found not guilty. A "not guilty" ruling by a judge by definition and by Canadian law, means that the Crown failed to prove the accused's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, resulting in an acquittal. Let me restate that the five men in this case were and are not innocent as all five men were in the room and each committed some of the graphic acts in question. The Judge's verdict means the Crown failed in its attempt to prove, without doubt, that the men were guilty of those acts.

Like the men involved in the Chicago Blackhawks scandal, these five men should not be allowed to participate in the NHL or with any of its affiliated teams until there is some serious soul-searching and work done by each of these men. Their lawyers can argue any detail they like until they're blue in the face, but playing in the NHL is a privilege, not a right. With the acts described during the trial that these men allegedly committed, the NHL has every right to deny them access to their league. Actions have consequences, right?

And that's where the NHLPA decided to play the advocate for these five players by putting its metaphorical foot inside its metaphorical mouth. Their statement read that the five players...,

Look, the NHLPA can grieve this all they want, but every single NHL contract contains a morals clause that basically says if a player "engages in criminal or unseemly behavior," the team and/or league can punish a player as it sees fit including terminating the player's contract. The team and/or league holds this right to protect its image, standing, and reputation in the event of the player's poor behaviour causing negative impact towards both entities.

The NHLPA will likely argue that none of these players are currently under contract, making them free agents who can seek employment with whatever team(s) wants to sign them, but, as I stated above, playing in the NHL is a privilege, not a right. If the NHLPA wants to grieve this, they can, but the NHL can simply turn to any team that signs any of the five players and invoke the moral clause in that contract to suspend the player once more for the same reason.

In short, the players are damned if they do because they did bad.

It shocked me to see the NHLPA coming out with a bold statement like they made when it came to five players who haven't played in the league since 2022. I understand why they did it, but this should have been done quietly without being a big press release. The public already is trying to make sense how five men, plus a few others, could be in one room with an alleged intoxicated woman, record two consent videos after everything went down, and still have none of them found guilty for sexual assault. For the record, I'm still struggling with the outcome myself as heard on The Hockey Show.

I know the NHLPA doesn't care much for public opinion, so any negativity cast towards them likely won't matter to them. In this case, though, it might have been a better look to simply say, "The NHLPA is working with the NHL to determine the next steps for the five players named in the trial". By keeping their business behind closed doors, the very least the NHLPA could achieve is not looking like a soulless entity devoid of any empathy for the victim.

Leave that for the defence lawyers, NHLPA. They were so good at it.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!