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Originally Posted by Resolute 14
Yup. Aside from the fact that it is literally impossible to argue this puts Manning in material breach of his contract, the NHL and its minor leagues already have a history of relatively minor fines and suspensions for slurs. The NHL doesn't work on precedents, but the legal system sure does.
Sorry, Oiling, but "material breach" has a meaning. And that meaning isn't "I don't like what he did."
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That's not true. The NHL contracts have morality clauses, like most professional sports do. Now they are often subjective, but that wouldn't stop the Oilers from terminating the contract, what it would likely do is trigger the same issues that arose from the Kings terminating Richards contract. The league getting involved to force a settlement or await arbitration (and potentially lawsuits after where, like you said the precedent would play a role).
"(e) to conduct himself on and off the rink according to the highest standards of honesty, morality, fair play and sportsmanship, and to refrain from conduct detrimental to the best interest of the Club, the League or professional hockey generally."
I think we can all agree that racist remarks would fail to satisfy clause (e) here, making it a breach of contract. I'm not saying the ultimate outcome would be something or another, I'm saying the Oilers (like the Kings) can cite the morality clauses in the contract, say you broke them, and they are terminating the contract. Then the player can go and get the NHLPA and his lawyers involved. I also agree that the Oilers wouldn't do this anyways.