Quote:
Originally Posted by GioforPM
More concerned about it getting our that he uses it at all. It goes: Image seen (already happened); people say "that's snus" (already happened); people spread word (you think that doesn't happen?); kids say "if Monnie (and Buff and others) do it it must be OK, and cool too".
Mike Gordichuk isn’t shocked. The head coach and GM of the MMJHL’s Transcona Railer Express has coached at all levels of hockey for 25 years and counting. Just last month he watched two 14-year-olds walk into a hockey arena with a chew in their mouths.
"I know kids doing it as early as the age of 13 or 14. I've seen it. It's like smoking... It's becoming a bit of an epidemic," says Mike Gordichuk, MMJHL's Transcona Railer Express head coach and GM.
"I know kids doing it as early as the age of 13 or 14 doing it," Gordichuk said. "I’ve seen it. It’s like smoking. A lot of parents don’t think their kids smoke but they’ve been doing it for five years. Just because you’re not seeing it doesn’t mean they’re not doing it, right?
"It’s becoming a bit of an epidemic," he added. "It was around back then (10-20 years ago), but I don’t remember seeing it like I see it now. And it was the older groups: 16, 17, 18 years old. Now you’re seeing it in the younger age groups.
"There’s that disbelief of younger kids that if you’re not smoking it’s not as bad for you. Some kids actually believe it’s a performance enhancer when actually it’s an inhibitor. It’s counteractive."
Gordichuk doesn’t allow smokeless tobacco in his dressing room. But like most coaches, he has no control over its use outside of the arena.
"I know they could do it before or after but I just didn’t want it in the room. I find it disgusting. And I cannot fathom why anybody would want to chew that stuff. It’s a shame when these kids are hooked on it."
And like several minor and junior hockey executives interviewed, Gordichuk cites the wide-spread use of smokeless tobacco by NHL players as a contributing factor.
"When they see an NHL player do it and it’s accepted by the NHL, they’re going to do it. If you could clean it up at the NHL level it would filter down," he said. "There’s such a high respect from these kids, that’s what they’re aspiring to be, and they see guys like (Winnipeg Jets defenceman) Dustin Byfuglien do it, to them that’s OK."
Commissioner Davis concurred, also citing Byfuglien — who in the past has done TV interviews with a wad of chew in his mouth — and the likes of Detroit Red Wings’ Todd Bertuzzi and Washington Capitals’ superstar Alex Ovechkin.
"That just pisses me off, and I don’t mind saying it," Davis fumed. "It’s the height of arrogance to go out publicly in the role of a professional hockey player who like it or not is looked upon as a role model. They make darn sure to get the right hat on, or the right shirt on, with the right logo for their sponsor. So why can’t they just take that crap out of their mouth? I don’t get that. It drives me nuts."
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Are you also upset he's at a bar.........kids might find out he drinks too. That picture is taken at Cowboy's. Neither drinking nor chewing is illegal............I'm not trying to be ignorant to you point, I get it, chewing isn't healthy, he's a role model etc..... Neither is drinking though, so where do you draw the line.
Tough to complain about that stuff, I'd say if the guy isn't partaking in illegal activity and aren't doing them in front of children, you need to take your role model concerns to the sidelines, these guys need and get to have lives too, they aren't ON 24/7 for your or anyone else's kids.