Hart, McLeod, Dube, Foote, Formenton charged with sexual assault

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by Icantwhisper

I feel like you missed the irony

No. I got it. He just didn’t back down on his original post, and instead made a joke to laugh it off. It’s arrogant.

[Torture]

Even if Dube told the Flames it was for a mental health issue, and they didn't know this other shoe was about to drop, they didn't have to disclose the mental health piece in the announcement.
They could have simply said 'he's taking an indefinite leave of absence' and not elaborated any further. They made the choice to say it was for mental health reasons and that was a miss-step.

IIRC that's all they did with Kylington, nobody knew it was for mental health reasons initially. Which just makes it all the stranger that they chose to do it this time.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Vedder

True, I’m just saying that if they had an inkling it was related to the incident, then they could and should have been more general about the reason for the leave.

I just don't see that this matters. Even in the statement they made, there is no implication of support or condemnation—they said simply that Dillon took mental health leave, he is under the support of professionals and would prefer that his privacy is protected. The Flames are not obligated to provide information about non-hockey related matters, and picking at this as somehow attempting to undermine the seriousness of the situation is just grasping at straws, in my opinion.

My hope is that it’s truly mental health, and Dube isn’t implicated, but I think the Flames stepped in one here and will have a lot of tough questions to answer.

I don't think there is any question that Dube's mental health is in absolute free-fall at this point if he is about to be criminally charged. But, I also don't think the Flames will have anything to answer for either. Interpreting their statement as somehow supportive of any wrongdoing for which Dube might be culpable is just reading into things that aren't there.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

Were leaves of absences for mental health really a thing before Kylington?

Oliver and the Flames have since been public about it, but it seems like it paved the way to begin with.

Rick Rypien, Carey Price, and others took leaves for mental health, whether it was made public or not.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Vedder

Plus our assistant GM is well connected at hockey Canada, agents and lawyers were involved. Too many in the know to keep a lid on it. The Flames would either be willfully blind or incompetent not to see this coming.

Also the Flames CEO has a son who played on that WJC team in Jake Bean and there still isn't clarity on if he's fully been cleared in this case...IIRC he was one of the players that released no statement on the accusations.

So lots of connections to hockey Canada and that WJC team in the Flames organization, but also lots of reasons why they'd be very sensitive to jump the gun on anything related to the topic.

[Vedder]

This is all so gross, Hockey Canada was such a self important tire fire of an organization. Still hopeful it’s burnt to the ground and Bob Nicholson faces some more material consequence for the cultural rot he oversaw.

[jar_e]

Will be interesting to see the how the PA and teams deal with this after no public action on the contract termination of Perry and now five players presumably facing contract termination the moment they are charged.

It just doesn’t make sense. Perry - terminated, no charges. Lucic - not terminated, domestic assault charges.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Also the Flames CEO has a son who played on that WJC team in Jake Bean and there still isn't clarify on if he's fully been cleared in this case...IIRC he was one of the players that released no statement on the accusations.

I would say not having to take a leave of absence from the CBJ is a fairly good sign and it's reasonable to assume his innocence unless some new information comes out about him.

[dustygoon]

Dube signed his deal August 2021. Was the WJC issue known back then?

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Who?

The long-lost, often overlooked Tkachuk cousin...Boris!

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Locke

The long-lost, often overlooked Tkachuk cousin...Boris!

Ah.

Good to know he was not involved. Whew.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by dustygoon

Dube signed his deal August 2021. Was the WJC issue known back then?

Lawsuit was commenced 2022.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

I would say not having to take a leave of absence from the CBJ is a fairly good sign and it's reasonable to assume his innocence unless some new information comes out about him.

Yeah I'm sure the organization would know by this point, but also all of these things are just happening today and as of right now it would appear the 5 names would be Dube, Formenton, Hart, Mcleod, and Foote.

Just framing up why the organization would likely be very sensitive to the topic due to the close connections to the issue.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Lawsuit was commenced 2022.

I believe there was an investigation before this, but that all involved were cleared of any wrongdoing.

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I just don't see that this matters. Even in the statement they made, there is no implication of support or condemnation—they said simply that Dillon took mental health leave, he is under the support of professionals and would prefer that his privacy is protected. The Flames are not obligated to provide information about non-hockey related matters, and picking at this as somehow attempting to undermine the seriousness of the situation is just grasping at straws, in my opinion.


I don't think there is any question that Dube's mental health is in absolute free-fall at this point if he is about to be criminally charged. But, I also don't think the Flames will have anything to answer for either. Interpreting their statement as somehow supportive of any wrongdoing for which Dube might be culpable is just reading into things that aren't there.

What is the bar for mental health leave then? Insinuating the Flames merely rubber stamped a request for a mental health leave seems extremely naive. Just about any employer would be entitled to a legitimate explanation for a variety of reasons from whether it is a workplace matter or something entirely unrelated.

Something like this should certainly be classified as an indefinite leave of absence, similar to Lucic - who you could certainly argue is probably in the ballpark of a mental health leave situation as well. The primary issue however is legal, so that should trump everything else in my mind.

Calling this a mental health thing first and foremost is an injustice to people that are legitimately leveraging this for situations like Kylington.

[Buff]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I believe there was an investigation before this, but that all involved were cleared of any wrongdoing.

You can probably put quotes around investigation.

[dammage79]

It's kind off funny. We cheer for these players, teams, leagues, sport. Whatever the sport. Then start parsing put blame when things go wrong. You really want to split hairs as to how and why the Flames called Dubes Leave of Absence a mental health thing? Really? That's the important thing here? That's the overriding gripe?

Nothing about the NHL consistently sweeping issues like this under the rug, or hockey Canada being the global leader in toxic hockey culture for decades, it's just that one thing, oooo the Flames did this thing wrong. It's literally the least ####ing important thing about this whole news story and here we are...

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I believe there was an investigation before this, but that all involved were cleared of any wrongdoing.

Yes, there was the crappy London Police investigation opened right away and closed in early 2019 (not that closing a case = "cleared of wrongdoing" technically).

I guess the question is "known by who"? I think there's a good chance no one at the NHL level knew until 2022 (except maybe those who had been with HC).

[trackercowe]

I think a ruling of boys will be boys will suffice.

[Vedder]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I just don't see that this matters.

Ultimately it’s a public perception thing so you could be right, but if Dube is ultimately charged I feel pretty gross about the statement.

In the current environment it’s disclosed to frame him in a sympathetic manner. Players were answering questions about supporting him, comparing it to Oliver situation, etc. Should have been handled differently in my opinion.