Quote:
Originally Posted by Azure
I think there is a HUGE difference between using racial slurs or personal or physical attacks against a player and simply being a hardass as a coach.
People like Carcillo are to me just trolling for attention, and really just make people tune out instead of paying attention to what is going on across hockey as a whole.
At the end of the day these coaches are trying to motivate and get 20 guys on the same page, while playing in the what amounts to the toughest league in the world. At some point you need a coach that knows how to push buttons and push players, and sometimes you need a player coach who teaches the game.
There are a lot of good people in the game, and I honestly feel that a big reason this stuff doesn't constantly get brought up is because most people who actually play at a high level agree that you NEED coaches who can push you.
I remember all the stories about Darryl, both here and in LA, and I think now suddenly trying to sling mud and hoping it sticks is a shame when there is ACTUAL abuse going on.
To me the bigger concern is players in minor hockey. Most of us can attest to the rampant abuse going on there, and both coaches and parents need to be held accountable.
As far as the NHL is concerned I have a hard time believing that there is much of any ACTUAL abuse going on.
|
I'm not surprised at all that there would be some abuse, especially with guys just entering the league or who are borderline NHLers. They would be easy victims. Playing hockey is likely the best ticket they have in life, but they haven't been able to really cash in on it yet and are hanging all their hopes on being able to do so. They also mostly don't have great fallback options and being a hockey player is at the core of their identity. Coaches can take all of those things away from them.
Add on to that a culture of covering up and hiding problems along with intense competition and high stakes for winning/losing careers and the NHL has a lot of factors in place to increase chances of abuse.
Look at what it has taken to move conversations forward in the NHL about head injuries and concussions that have wrecked people's brains. To think that abuse wouldn't be hidden and enabled in the NHL seems awfully optimistic.