Quote:
Originally Posted by powderjunkie
Agree with this; race may be a magnifying glass, but I don't think it's an initial cause of scrutiny.
I can't recall any stink associated with guys like Darnell Nurse or Seth Jones. Josh Ho-Sang may have a harder time changing his image than if he was a white player. I think people are willing to give Nazem Kadri less slack due to his skin colour too.
It's unfair, but if these guys never screwed up in the first place I don't think their race would be much of an issue at all (aside from occasional dumbass fans who throw bananas, etc.)
|
Again though, to your point, Nurse and Jones are clean cut. Ho-Sang and Kane probably have a chip on their shoulders from sometimes overcompensating. Maybe it drives them by having that chip on their shoulder. I see both sides of the coin though. There are guys who conform to the culture and guys who try to carve out their own personality. As long as their personality isn't extreme to the point where they're asses, I don't think most have a problem. But hockey culture has always been weird in bringing out a personality. Even baseball is the same. But alas, these guys haven't committed any crime (not that that's the baseline), but a guy like Patrick Kane and Ryan O'Reilly deserve so much more hate for the things they've done, but don't. It is what it is, but it is often the pink elephant in the room that nobody wants to discuss.