Hockey Canada, CHL settle lawsuit over alleged sexual assault involving WJ players

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Yep. I can’t think of any other sports where kids are sent away from home at 15-16 to play in what are effectively professional leagues in towns where they’re treated like professional athletes. The whole model of the CHL fosters toxic behaviour.

The most off putting thing for me about going to WHL games is seeing grown adults cheering 17 years old punch each other in the face.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

The most off putting thing for me about going to WHL games is seeing grown adults cheering 17 years old punch each other in the face.

I hear you. I was at a Giants game this past winter where the crowd was going nuts cheering two teenagers beating the pulp out of each other, and one clearly did not really want to fight and was getting embarrassed. It was so cringey.

[btimbit]

Oh man, the fights I got into in the W were always so fun. I had a blast in those days

[Passe La Puck]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Yep. I can’t think of any other sports where kids are sent away from home at 15-16 to play in what are effectively professional leagues in towns where they’re treated like professional athletes. The whole model of the CHL fosters toxic behaviour.

I think soccer is even more extreme. Calgary's own Hargreaves was picked up by Bayern Munich at 16 and this is fairly common. I suppose it is similar to Euro players coming to play in Canada but I don't think soccer teams have the cap on foreign players?

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Passe La Puck

I think soccer is even more extreme. Calgary's own Hargreaves was picked up by Bayern Munich at 16 and this is fairly common. I suppose it is similar to Euro players coming to play in Canada but I don't think soccer teams have the cap on foreign players?

The experience of international football academies is very different from the CHL. The players aren’t being used to sell tickets. They aren’t living in small towns and cities where they’re treated like celebrities. The team they play for is focused on their long-term development and training, not winning the big game on Saturday night in front of a bunch of yahoos in an old mill town. Bayern, Liverpool, etc have vastly more resources and incentive to ensure a healthy environment for young athletes than the PA Raiders or Sudbury Wolves.

The problem with the CHL is it basically serves the same purpose as Div 2 and Div 3 leagues in football - provide professional teams in cities too small or poor to support top-level pro teams. Except instead of employing minor pro players, it employs unpaid teenagers.

[cam_wmh]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

The experience of international football academies is very different from the CHL. The players aren’t being used to sell tickets. They aren’t living in small towns and cities where they’re treated like celebrities. The team they play for is focused on their long-term development and training, not winning the big game on Saturday night in front of a bunch of yahoos in an old mill town. Bayern, Liverpool, etc have vastly more resources and incentive to ensure a healthy environment for young athletes than the PA Raiders or Sudbury Wolves.

The problem with the CHL is it basically serves the same purpose as Div 2 and Div 3 leagues in football - provide professional teams in cities too small or poor to support top-level pro teams. Except instead of employing minor pro players, it employs unpaid teenagers.

Yep, and Owen took 4 years to make his first team debut.

[GioforPM]

https://apple.news/AkgZfwxbrRU6vNtmFVcJvZw

[Passe La Puck]

Sounds like a much better system overall, though would need to move the draft up earlier I guess like 16 years old? Being invested in the player's success from a younger age does seem like a good way to encourage them to make better life choices!

[Azure]

Even baseball academies function differently, while still dealing with the same age group of players.

IMO the entire CHL needs to be tore down and rebuilt.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by dustygoon

But more deeply, who hasn't thought it was odd/unnatural to see kids drafted at 15 and move on their own to another town....away from the protection and guidance of parents. I always marveled at how tough that decision must be and commended these kids for acting so professional despite their age. But the repeated abuse these kids have given and received amongst each other and by adults for decades is kind of a pattern isn't it? It's Lord of the Flies in Moosejaw et al. These kids don't come to HC and suddenly go off the rails.

Not just the fact that they have 15/16 year-olds moving across the country, but also having 15/16 year-olds playing on the same team as others who could be 20 or 21.

Up to that point in their lives, they've generally been playing on teams where the biggest age gap from youngest to oldest might be about 2 years. Now, you have boys joining teams full of men, and they likely don't know any of their teammates, even the other young guys. Everything about that is going to make them vulnerable, more susceptible to bad influences, and less likely to speak up.


Maybe they should make it so you can't play in the CHL until you're draft-eligible for the next NHL draft.

[PeteMoss]

I don't think you need to blow up the CHL because of this stuff... You just need to police it and make it clear that you're out if you do something like this.

If you get rid of the CHL..then something else will take its place... High school hockey or whatever. Basketball and football don't have this same set up but I'm sure high school football or basketball have the exact same issues.

[MrMike]

[From Wally&Methot] Brent Wallace on Hockey Canada: "My suspicion is, and The people I've heard around the league is [...] it may be a suspension for them (players involved in 2018) [...] and it could be up to a year."

[1_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by Azure

Even baseball academies function differently, while still dealing with the same age group of players.

IMO the entire CHL needs to be tore down and rebuilt.

Can you give me a quick rundown on how baseball academies function? My nephew is going to one in the fall and he's a pitcher and a good baseball player. I hope the environment will be good for him.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by MrMike

[From Wally&Methot] Brent Wallace on Hockey Canada: "My suspicion is, and The people I've heard around the league is [...] it may be a suspension for them (players involved in 2018) [...] and it could be up to a year."

Up to a year? My lawd won’t someone have mercy?

How about forever?

[OptimalTates]

Is there really even any players likely to be involved who would be affected by a ban from Hockey Canada? Not like many of these guys knocking on the Olympic squad (obviously assuming Makar is in the clear as expected) which they wouldn’t even miss. So they miss out on the Spengler Cup for a year? Lol, calm down there HC, have some compassion!

Any suspension from HC is second to actually being named.

[chedder]

Originally Posted by OptimalTates

Is there really even any players likely to be involved who would be affected by a ban from Hockey Canada? Not like many of these guys knocking on the Olympic squad (obviously assuming Makar is in the clear as expected) which they wouldn’t even miss. So they miss out on the Spengler Cup for a year? Lol, calm down there HC, have some compassion!

Any suspension from HC is second to actually being named.

I would assume he's talking about the nhl suspending players for a year.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by Coach

Up to a year? My lawd won’t someone have mercy?

How about forever?

Surely in a scenario where a gang rape is proven to the satisfaction of the league, a league would be more than justified in suspending players from playing for a year.

[Heavy Jack]

I think Coach was implying, ‘only a year!?’

That’s how I read his post and I agree; a year suspension seems like a slap on the wrist.

[Fighting Banana Slug]

Originally Posted by MrMike

[From Wally&Methot] Brent Wallace on Hockey Canada: "My suspicion is, and The people I've heard around the league is [...] it may be a suspension for them (players involved in 2018) [...] and it could be up to a year."

The quote says Hockey Canada, but it doesn’t really make sense unless it was the NHL. Not sure I would put much stock in that

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by OptimalTates

Is there really even any players likely to be involved who would be affected by a ban from Hockey Canada? Not like many of these guys knocking on the Olympic squad (obviously assuming Makar is in the clear as expected) which they wouldn’t even miss. So they miss out on the Spengler Cup for a year? Lol, calm down there HC, have some compassion!

Any suspension from HC is second to actually being named.

Presumably this would include any Hockey Canada sanctioned activity so maybe coaching and refereeing if they are doing that now. Including minor hockey.