Call The Eight Men Out

Back in 1988, John Sayles took Eliot Asinof's 1963 book about the Chicago Black Sox's 1919 scandal and converted into a screenplay. Eight Men Out, directed by Sayles, starred John Cusack, Charlie Sheen, David Strathairn, and DB Sweeney in thre all-star cast, and Sayles did a great job in capturing the essence of Asinof's writing. Being that I find the books on which movies are based to be better, that's a pretty lofty amount of praise from me, but the story of how the underpaid 1919 Black Sox accepted bribes to deliberately lose the 1919 World Series shouldn't be lost. Without giving too much away for those who haven't read Asinof's book or seen Sayles' film, eight members of the Black Sox team were ultimately banned for life from baseball over the allegations made despite being acquitted of the crimes in 1921. "Shoeless" Joe Jackson was one of those players.

I bring this up today because of the tagline on the movie's poster seen above. It reads, "The Inside Story of How the National Pastime Became a National Scandal". While baseball is America's "national pastime", hockey certainly would be regarded in the same way as Canada. Being that as it is, Hockey Canada's announcement today that all members of the 2018 Canadian World Junior team will be banned from representing Canada until the 2018 investigation into the sexual assaults that happened in London, Ontario are complete is the right move by the organization.

It's believed that as many as eight of the players on that 2018 team were involved in the alleged sexual misconduct that went on in London. There has yet to be any player who has owned up to the incident, and none of the team have pointed a finger at others who may have been involved. As it stands, 22 players currently will be prevented from wearing Team Canada jerseys until the investigation runs its course.

Honestly, good on Hockey Canada for possibly forcing players to re-evalute their futures. We've seen this kind of pressure placed on groups before where the innocent eventually break their silence to escape the punishment, and that's what needs to happen here. If eight Canadian men on this team were responsible for the sexual assault that took place in London, this will hopefully force players who weren't involved to call those eight men out.

It should be noted that it was suggested when Hockey Canada sat before the Canadian parliamentary committee that the eight men may not all have been part of Team Canada's roster that year. I fully recognize this fact, but the reality of the situation is that the 22 men who made up Team Canada that year have kept silent about who really was involved. That can't be overlooked, and all 22 men should be painted with the same brush until those men who committed the crimes are identified.

As for those players who claim they knew nothing of the crimes, it's on them to start asking questions among their teammates in order to clear their own names. I don't care if this ruins friendships, destroys teams, or creates friction of any kind. There were crimes committed where your silence has and will cost you chances at representing your country, so be the good that people seek in this story by flushing out the bad by forcing those who were involved to step forward.

The names of the 22 banned players are as follows: Maxime Comtois (ANA), Kale Clague (BUF), Dillon Dubé (CGY), Jake Bean (CAR), Boris Katchouk and Taylor Raddysh (CHI), Cale Makar (COL), Sam Steel (MIN), Cal Foote and Dante Fabbro (NAS), Michael McLeod (NJD), Drake Batherson (OTT), Carter Hart (PHI), Jonah Gadjovich (SJS), Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas (STL), Conor Timmins and Victor Mete (TOR), Brett Howden (VGK), Alex Formenton (OTT/Ambrì-Piotta - Switzerland), Tyler Steenbergen (TPS - Finland), and Colton Point (retired). Outside of Point, there are 21 players who could, potentially, wear a Team Canada jersey at some point in their future.

You don't think Team Canada has Cale Makar on their radar for future Olympic Games? We know Canada will consider some or all of Comtois, Dubé, Kyrou, and Thomas for their World Championship team this year. Even the guys playing in Europe - Formenton and Steenbergen - could be asked to play in the Spengler Cup with Canada. All of those opportunities are officially cancelled as long as the eight alleged players remain hidden from the investigation and 22 players continue to hold their silence.

I'm not a religious man by any definition, but I feel that the line in John 8:32 that states "the truth shall make you free" is an apt reminder for a number of the players listed above that they can be free to pursue their hockey passions once more if they tell the truth about what happened in London. In even simpler terms, this is about right-vs-wrong, and the silence - either through not knowing or not asking - is damning when it comes to representing the country on whose watch these crimes were committed.

Some will say Hockey Canada's punishment goes over the line, but I think it will have its intended effect as someone will want more for themselves when it comes to opportunities to play internationally. While that shouldn't be the carrot dangled, it will likely prompt someone to step forward out of the silence to name names, and we might finally put this national scandal to rest. A young woman is still wanting justice, and she may finally get it thanks to the very organization that paid to keep her quiet.

All we need now is for someone to call the eight men out.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!