Do You Even Hear Yourself?

If anyone was hoping that hockey was improving with the fall of Hockey Canada, the NHL seems to be intent on reminding us that hockey's culture still fails the game and society in monumental ways. Whether it be the Canadiens ignoring common sense and signing a player convicted of a sexual offence or the NHL completing the fastest investigation into a sexual complaint ever, it seems the world's most famous hockey league and a few of its teams still have no concept of the court of public opinion. And while true that the court of public opinion makes to difference one way or another in the grand scheme of the game, it does affect business when fans and sponsors start to walk away.

That's brings us to the Boston Bruins today who made the incomprehensible announcement that they had signed defenseman Mitchell Miller to an entry-level contract. Miller, if the name sounds familiar, was a fourth-round selection of the Arizona Coyotes in 2020 before it was found that he had been convicted in juvenile court of bullying a Black classmate with developmental disabilities when he was 14 years old, and had been bullying the young man for years prior to the conviction.

If you're wondering how this could happen, you weren't the only one as Bruins general manager Don Sweeney tried to answer the question of "why" on a Zoom call with reporters today.

His answer was as follows as per NBC Sports Boston:

"I am not going to downplay that this has been a personal struggle as well as a professional struggle as we go through and try to separate the hockey player and person, spending quite a bit of time with Mitchell, in particular, over the last 10 days," Sweeney said.

"Spending time with my own family, and talking through some of the details, I came to a position that if the organization was willing to support the person and give an opportunity, recognizing that I come from lifelong educators -- my father, in particular, was a vice principal, principal, board of education, who had suspended kids throughout his professional life, but he always welcomed them back if they were willing to abide by the rules and to continue to move forward in their life because it was more about opportunity and it wasn't about punishment. Mitchell paid a punishment, and he's going to continue to carry that for the rest of his life, and we're going to hold him to a standard that he needs to understand, that each and every one of us as individuals look in the mirror every day and respect others and have to be unilaterally inclusive."

I'm sorry, but I need to ask this: what punishment did Miller suffer if you're rewarding him with a three-year, entry-level NHL contract worth $2,850,000? I get the need for rehabilitation leading to a changed person, but there better be years of receipts that Miller can produce to not only prove that he's putting the effort in to change, but that he has changed. As of yet, there has been zero indication that's happened, so he's rewarded with nearly $3 million and a promise of "we're gonna keep an eye on you, so be good"?

As for all of the other hot air Sweeney spewed in that initial answer, it's all garbage. The Bruins are a team that is excelling this season, but Miller is the kind of player that any GM would want at his disposal if we're strictly talking statistics. With the USHL's Tri-City Storm last season, he scored 39 goals and 44 assists in 60 games as a defenceman, so there's no doubt he has million-dollar talent. The problem is that he also has a ten-cent head as proven by his past discretions.

Sweeney again tried to rationalize this deal in his press conference.

"I can't categorically tell you this is the absolute right decision," Sweeney said. "This is an opportunity that we're providing for a young man who is going to work to continue to earn trust and respect, as each and every one of us do every day. My own personal judgment on this wasn’t the final say. It was just part of the equation. But having spent time with him and having a clear understanding of the direction he’d like to take his life in, I felt that if other teams were going to be willing to give him -- I’m not going to speak for other teams -- a chance, I think we all have to look in the mirror and say, 'Why wouldn't we be willing to give him a chance?'"

Sweeney then immediately gives the reason why the Bruins shouldn't have given him this "opportunity" and "chance".

"I've also come to the understanding that I don’t think forgiveness is part of this, because if that had happened to one of my own children, I can't categorically say that I would have (forgiven). But I also would applaud somebody that if you were willing to welcome somebody back for a second chance, you've got to walk that walk."

So if this happens to someone else's child, Don Sweeney is entirely ok with that - "bully away, my good man, and here's an NHL contract for your efforts". The fact that Sweeney is justifying the years of bullying that Miller inflicted on another child because it happened to someone else's kid is a statement that should have Sweeney up to his neck in a pool of hot water. He's not saying that Miller's actions were indefensible at any and all times; rather, he's saying, "As long as my kid wasn't bullied, it's none of my business."

Once again, hockey leaves you with that sickening feeling that winning is everything and nothing else matters. What Don Sweeney and the Bruins are saying today is that it doesn't matter that a young Black man with developmental disabilities was bullied so often and so badly by a well-off white kid that the matter went to juvenile court.

What Don Sweeney and the Bruins are saying today is tt doesn't matter that, after being convicted of his heinous activities, the white kid didn't even offer an apology to the young man he bullied, and still has not apologized to him in a formal, meaningful, sincere way.

And what Don Sweeney and the Bruins are saying today is that it doesn't matter about any of the trauma or fear this young Black man have experienced following this entire ordeal may still plague him today.

Instead, the Bruins stuggled with this signing, but, ultimately, the organization is getting a hockey player who "had a tremendous offensive season last year in the USHL" in order to help them win.

"His production offensively, the power play, his ability to generate, get up the ice, shoot the puck and be part of the offense, gives him an opportunity and a chance as a professional."

Yup, it sure sounds like Mitchell Miller suffered from that conviction when none of the opportunities he sought as a hockey player have disappeared. Miller has played in the USHL, he's been signed to an NHL deal, and he'll be playing in the AHL for the Providence Bruins soon enough. Can someone point at what opportunity he's missed out on in his life? I'd laughing at that statement if I wasn't so disgusted.

If you're a talented hockey player, there's only one truth you need to remember: actions have no consequences as long as you help an NHL team win. In fact, actions that seem entirely reprehensible to the public in general might even net you a three-year, $2.85 million pay day from a team who puts winning ahead of all morals. And that morality clause in your standard player's contract? It's meaningless. Ignore it.

The NHL needs to step in here and slap the Bruins upside the head. This is not the horse to which the Bruins should be hitching their cart, and it was pretty clear from the reaction on social media that the Bruins did wrong in the court of public opinion. Will that change anything? I doubt it, but - maybe just for one single, solitary occasion - the NHL will intervene with a little common sense.

Here's a tip: use your head for more than a hat rack, Don Sweeney.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!