Criticism hurled at Kane, Byfuglien, Subban &others is about race more than character

[taco.vidal]

Article by Adam Proteau in The Hockey News:
http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/cr...han-character/

Yet Subban celebrates a winning goal by tugging on the front of his jersey and somehow doesn’t play the game “the right way.” Byfuglien is lazy because he isn’t on the Rod Brind’Amour training regimen. Ray Emery is a thug for being as aggressive a fighter as any goalie in recent memory. There’s a pattern here.

[saillias]

Yup. It's going to take an adjustment period as more and more Black players start succeeding in the NHL.

[To Be Quite Honest]

Wellwood says hi. He was a tubby lazy player. Not saying that there are not hillbillies in this world but the majority don't give a #### what nationality you are. I'd say the aboriginal players have the bigger hurdles.

[dino7c]

Iggy? hard worker, great leader, nicest guy in the gam....oh wait that doesn't fit so we won't use him

[Joborule]

Does anyone talk crap about Joel Ward or Wayne Simmonds?

These players get the attention they do because their character DOES attract the attention. They bring the spotlight to themselves.

[Machiavelli]

Proteau doesn't make any points to support his case. Using criticism of Byfuglien's weight gain as an example is especially weak.

Professional players will be criticized all the time, no matter what their skin colour is.

Useless article.

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Iggy? hard worker, great leader, nicest guy in the gam....oh wait that doesn't fit so we won't use him

Not that I agree with the article at all (I think all the listed players receive justified criticism) but there were/are more than a handful of posters on this forum who would strongly disagree with your description of Iginla.

[combustiblefuel]

I'm pretty sure its their attitudes that they have that get them in trouble. Saying its race is a stretch. Emery jumping holtby is a thug move.

This article is what they call in politics as Race Baiting.

[neo45]

Byfuglien is just chubby. His character minus the boating incident isn't really ever called into question

Evander Kane sounds like a prick. When there is smoke there is usually fire and there is too much smoke to ignore


The one that I agree with is Pk. He gets way too much hate and IMO plays the game the right way. Maybe its about race, who knows. Phaneuf played a similar style when he broke into the league and faced the same amount of hate

[jayswin]

Patrick Kane is the worst of the black guys who attract negative attention due to off ice antics, but mostly it's because he's black.

[neo45]

Oh and Ray Emery? One of the biggest pricks in the game. Who cares about race when a guy quits on his team in Ottawa and straight up assaulted Holtby earlier this year. PK is the only guy who IMO gets hate because of his race

[moon]

Proteau is usually a moron but this is a pretty pathetic articel even for him.

He seems to love to criticize the game and find problems and this is another example of making up a problem and then trying to fit poor examples into his garbage premise.

[nik-]

I honestly don't think a lot of the criticism Subban gets wouldn't happen if he was white. I also find Evander Kane gets more grief than he deserves, but a large part of that are rumours of off the ice stuff (unsubstantiated) and so so performance on the ice sometimes.

Buff just looks overweight and lazy, black or white.

[Erick Estrada]

Dustin Penner got a lot of flack for being out of shape and lazy. Patrick Kane sure took a lot for the cab incident and drunken stupor incident at that party. I think it has escaped Proteau that professional athletes that act like goofs get treated as such regardless of their race. There are lots of black players to play in the NHL that escaped criticism due to them not being controversial. All of these black players Proteau lists have done things that will generate news for any player. Evander Kane is one of the most immature players the league has seen of late and it has nothing to do with the color of his skin.

If Subban played in Calgary he wouldn't be nearly as controversial as he's just in a market that chews up players and spits them out.

[dino7c]

didn't Ray Emery try to beat the piss out of a guy that put a hat on his head

I hate players of all races lol

Burrows for example

[Deegee]

Originally Posted by flameswin

Patrick Kane is the worst of the black guys who attract negative attention due to off ice antics, but mostly it's because he's black.

Agreed. His dark skin colour and mullet are the worst.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

Not that I agree with the article at all (I think all the listed players receive justified criticism) but there were/are more than a handful of posters on this forum who would strongly disagree with your description of Iginla.

I'm talking about the general perception of him which is what the article is about...I guarantee you Iggy is one of the most universally like players in the league among players, fans, media members

[Yakbutter]

How is criticizing Byfuglien for being out of shape a racist comment? He shows up to camp every year looking like a doughnut, what does race have to do with it? Who is Adam Proteau and how did this nonsense ever get published. It's almost so stupid I don't even know how to respond to it.

[theoforever]

Originally Posted by dino7c

didn't Ray Emery try to beat the piss out of a guy that put a hat on his head

I hate players of all races lol

Burrows for example

Ray tried to beat the crap out of a coach in Russia.
People make a big deal out of race, it is in vogue to show how enlighten one is.

Anyway, this guys is blowing things out of proportion.
If you are a prick you will be treated like one.
White guys get criticized just as much.


I believe Russians are treated worse than Black players.

[gargamel]

They'd all still be criticized regardless of their race, but I'm always uncomfortable when people start referring to Emery and Kane as "thugs." There are plenty of white players who have fought an unwilling opponent, but are they called thugs, or just goons/dirty/cheapshot artists? White players like Patrick Kane have done a lot worse than pose with their money and get a silly haircut, but has he ever gotten the thug label, or is he just a jerk/immature kid?