This Sport Is A Complete Joke

In no way am I as talented as Richard Riehle in any way, shape, or form due to his portrayal of character Tom Smykowski in the 1999 film Office Space, but I feel like Tom Smykowski right now, though, as I read through the news reports that Dillon Dube, recently acquitted of sexual assault, has signed a PTO contract with the Springfield Thunderbirds under the direction of the St. Louis Blues. Let's drop the facade of the NHL having any moral standing of any kind because the Blues are the latest team to abandon any moral virtue in exchange for a another player of mediocre talent on their depth chart.

With Dube signing the deal today, all five men who were accused of sexual assault and gave testimony that they were involved in the questionable activities in the hotel room in London in 2018 now have professional hockey jobs once again. Two of the players are playing in Europe while three are playing under the watch of NHL teams, so spare me with your holier-than-thou rhetoric about how these men's lives will be affected by the allegations. None of them "suffered".

The image to the right shows the statement that the Blues put out today about the signing of Dube, and let me drop the most obvious comment I can make: if you need to publicly justify signing a player, you're already on the wrong side of history. No one is debating whether they were acquitted of the crimes they were alleged to have committed, but the testimonies given inside the London, Ontario courtroom and the information that has been released since the conclusion of the trial, specifically in Rick Westhead's book We Breed Lions, now has me seriously questioning why I follow this sport. Today's signing furthers that.

As stated multiple times on this blog, an acquittal does not mean not guilty. It is the accurate term of describing the failure of the prosecution to remove all shadow of a doubt that a crime had been committed. In no way does it prove innocence. Again, the testimonies given inside the London courtroom and the information that has been released since the trial ended make it very clear that up to ten men were in a hotel room with one intoxicated woman, and the five accused men all participated in sexual acts with the victim whose consent to allow those acts still seems very much in doubt.

One week ago, it was the AHL's Chicago Wolves who were trying to put out a fire after the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes signed Cal Foote to a deal and assigned him to the Wolves. Wolves' general manager Wendell Young was quick to tell Front Office Sports that the decision to sign Foote was not a Chicago Wolves decision, but they have to live with those consequences now. For those who may not be aware, the relationship between the Wolves and Hurricanes is frosty at the best of times, but Young went into full deflection mode when it came to the heat this signing was going to bring and we already know that the Hurricanes were kicking tires on two of the other acquitted players.

The Vegas Golden Knights put out a statement when they signed one of the acquitted players as well, including the line, "We remain committed to the core values that have defined our organization from its inception and expect that our players will continue to meet these standards moving forward". I'd like to see what those core values include because if the text messages between the players that Rick Westhead included in We Breed Lions are true (and there's zero evidence to suggest they are false), the Golden Knights' core values seem to ignore abhorrent behaviour prior to joining the team.

Three teams put out statements about three players who have yet to acknowledge their roles in the alleged sexual assaults and have, to date, not shown any effort or attempt to be better educated and better informed about how their actions have long-lasting effects on victims. The Blues, with Dube on their payroll, now employ an alleged rapist, a player who shares private images of others without their consent (Mailloux), and, two weeks ago, had an alleged domestic abuser whose partner dropped the charges before any trial could be had(Lucic). Two of those players, prior to landing with the Blues, have acknowledged the harms they have caused and have invested their time into being better people which continues today.

Not one of the players who were involved in the alleged 2018 sexual assault have acknowledged that they caused harm, not one of them has sought more information and education, and none of the teams that have signed the players have forced them to seek that help or made it a condition of their contractual employment. In saying that, my question to those teams, players, and general managers is simple:

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!

I can hear some of you saying, "But, Teebz, what about second chances?" which would be valid argument to make if any of these five men had earned a second chance by putting in the work to be better people. Until that happens, you don't qualify for a second chance just because the prosecution in London failed in its argument. As I've made clear, the testimonies and the evidence in that trial that was both allowed and disallowed for legal reasons showed that these five men were in the hotel room, committed acts to which the victim doesn't remember consenting nor acknowledges she would consent, and walked away because the prosecution failed in proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. They did no work. They earned nothing.

Let me take that last point and make it clearer: the prosecution failing to do its job does not exonerate these five men, it does not make them innocent, nor does it give them a free pass to continue life as if this was some minor inconvenience. These men showed a distinct lack of leadership and empathy, a wide variety of poor decision-making skills, an effort to cover up their actions and silence the victim, and did nothing when it came to accountability outside of blaming the victim and did nothing to educate themselves about how their actions have far-reaching effects. Do all of those combinbed actions warrant a second chance at playing NHL hockey? If you're nodding yes, you're officially part of the problem. End of story.

These teams, this game, and society as a whole does not get better with these men in it if they're not willing to accept accountability and learn about how they can be better people. This isn't about hockey, but about breaking the culture that hockey instills into these young men where it removes accountability and imposes false confidences because they're constantly being told they're untouchable. Hockey is just a background detail when it comes to ensuring these men are becoming better people. You don't get second chances if you haven't shown you changed. That's how life works.

But not in the NHL where morals and being good corporate citizens means nothing. Winning is everything and winning drives profits, so morality and being good community partners flies right out the window. Men with the weakest of moral integrity are welcomed with open arms and celebrated as though they're some sort of saviour for franchises who are willing to sacrifice decency for a potential win.

And don't come at me with accusations that I sit on some pedestal while raining moral judgments down on everyone else. I'm just as flawed and broken as anyone else, but I and the people around me hold me accountable when it comes to making decisions that affect others because society teaches us and requires us to have that ability. If I do something wrong, I don't cover it up and try to silence people who were affected. I have been taught and the lesson has been learned that accountability and bettering one's self means more to society in today's day and age than the original moral outrage. Doing that work is how second chances are earned and given.

But not in the NHL where second chances are given if you can prove you have an above-average slapshot or can do a butterfly in the crease. You don't even have to feel remorse that a woman's life was completely altered by your actions or your friends' actions while you stood there and watched and cheered them on. All you need to do is prove that you can score a few goals, save a few pucks, and help a team win hockey games, and someone - maybe Kelly McCrimmon or Doug Armstrong or Eric Tulsky - will give you a second chance without questioning any moral repugnance you may have shown.

This sport is a complete joke, and I'm really starting to tire of it.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!