[News] UPD: Coyotes renounce the rights to draft pick Mitchell Miller

[Buff]

So, essentially the team had questions about this kid's character and chose not to draft him. The team goes through change and turmoil, and amidst this change, they receive a letter from this kid that appears to be him owning up to his actions and apologizing for them. Hmmm, okay, maybe he has learned, lets put him back on the list, we can use him as an example of how to help someone become better. Then they draft him, either without doing more homework, or by thinking they can look good by helping him become a better human being. They didn't have the foresight to think about how this could backfire, and did it ever. Now they are back tracking to turn the heat down a bit and even having their GM make an excuse for them that he wasn't allowed to participate in the draft. What has this organization learned? To be more diligent with their homework and take less risks or to be more delicate with how they approach things? I'm worried it's the latter.

[Doctorfever]

Originally Posted by cannon7

Does that include firings? Should Steve Sullivan or any of the scouts lose their jobs? Should anyone at the University of North Dakota lose their jobs? Apparently both the Arizona Coyotes and University of North Dakota knew all about this and just didn't expect it to turn into anything.

I guess the Coyotes will have to decide if losing a 4th round pick should cost someone their job or not. I am not sure whose job it was to look into the background of this guy, but if that was me, I would be worried about losing my job.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by cannon7

knew all about this and just didn't expect it to turn into anything.

That letter came after the draft. While we can blame the Coyotes for not verifying Miller's letter, I don't think it's fair to say for sure that they knew about all the other allegations (9 years of turmoil).

A 14 year old making a mistake and immediately owning it and receiving forgiveness, that's where the second chances you are championing should be coming from and apparently what the Coyotes thought was happening.

But now, after the victim spoke to media after the draft and the mother's letter came out, they realized they got duped by an 18 year old without remorse.

It's almost too bad that the other bully, Hunter Mckie, didn't get drafted too. I would love to see the difference, if any, between the two situations. By all public accounts Hunter Mckie made a mistake, owned up to it, was remorseful and got forgiveness. Would the team that drafted him also give up his rights? I would hope not.

[Beatle17]

I guess he got cancelled, so now who is everyone going to go after? The scout who watched him play, the guy who suggested they draft him, or why don't they just attack so his ####ty parents lose their jobs and livelihood too?

[Vinny01]

The kid hasn’t lost his livelihood. Ridiculous comment

[Beatle17]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

The kid hasn’t lost his livelihood. Ridiculous comment

Hasn't he? Is this the same chatroom that says these young kids give up their lives and put in countless hours to make the NHL and deserve everyone's respect, except for the ones like Miller who never deserve to play in the league.

Can you not see the correlation of the two comments? Calgarypuck has decided the kid is a racist, #######, loser so we all feel good about being part of the mob. He won't play in the league and the discussion has already turned to who is next in this saga.

I REALLY hope nobody ever comes forward with claims and/or proof of Evander Kane, the kid picked second in the draft this year, and other POC in the league making disparaging remarks against white players, Cracker etc., because it would be tough to watch everyone choking on their responses.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by Beatle17

I guess he got cancelled, so now who is everyone going to go after? The scout who watched him play, the guy who suggested they draft him, or why don't they just attack so his ####ty parents lose their jobs and livelihood too?

Lol. Oh no the poor adult who did heinous things for a decade as a kid, showed no remorse, refused to apologize and lied to the NHL about it, who was a long-shot to ever make the NHL, has had the team that drafted him renounce his draft rights. He's the true victim, not the disabled Black person who was mentally damaged significantly.


Also, yeah, I would be worried about my career if I made a call to use the first pick on not just a waste of a pick but one that resulted in a huge negative PR for my company. Like that's a huge #### up. I'm not calling on the Coyotes to fire anyone, but if they make that choice, I wouldn't be mad about it.

But I think you're missing the actual big story next if you're concerned about him being 'cancelled'. Now the ball (puck?) is in UND's court.

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by Beatle17

I guess he got cancelled, so now who is everyone going to go after? The scout who watched him play, the guy who suggested they draft him, or why don't they just attack so his ####ty parents lose their jobs and livelihood too?

No doubt he has ####ty parents, but I dont know why we need to be creating strawmen and false equivalencies. Actions have consequences, including a lack of action. The miller family could have avoided all of this by not being a pile of weasly pricks, teaching their son what's right, and apologizing/fixing that part of his life instead of trying to bury it and only addressing it in the context of protecting their own earning potential.

Work harder at defending this, it serves you well.

[Monahammer]

Any employee who's mistake causes an international newsworthy incident should rightly worry about their job. I dont think there's a field where this doesn't apply, excepting the current whitehouse.

[TheScorpion]

Miller's situation would be pretty different right now if he had displayed any desire to own his actions and grow from them. I don't think anyone has seen any evidence of him doing that.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by Beatle17

Calgarypuck has decided the kid is a racist, #######, loser so we all feel good about being part of the mob.

Did we decide he was racist, or did he when he refused to apologize to his Black victim for the racial terms he used against him for a decade? We're probably equally responsible...

Originally Posted by Beatle17

I REALLY hope nobody ever comes forward with claims and/or proof of Evander Kane, the kid picked second in the draft this year, and other POC in the league making disparaging remarks against white players, Cracker etc., because it would be tough to watch everyone choking on their responses.

Wait. We can't call out remorseless racists because some Black player might end up being a racist? I'm very confused about this. Like is there any evidence Kane is a racist? Or Byfield? Because it sounds like you're just making up some hypothetical situation to excuse the actions of a racist but maybe there's something about Byfield I don't know about.

[Monahammer]

I also just have to say, calling someone a cracker is not at all equivalent to the N word, and if you can't see that it's a huge problem. There is no equivalent derogatory word for white people (at least in english.)

[Beatle17]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

No doubt he has ####ty parents, but I dont know why we need to be creating strawmen and false equivalencies. Actions have consequences, including a lack of action. The miller family could have avoided all of this by not being a pile of weasly pricks, teaching their son what's right, and apologizing/fixing that part of his life instead of trying to bury it and only addressing it in the context of protecting their own earning potential.

Work harder at defending this, it serves you well.

Post 422. Talking about a person losing their job because they drafted the kid. When does it stop? What the kid did was terrible when he was younger (8-14). Nobody knows if he made steps to get better and has learned PART of his lesson (not apologizing is the part he still needs to learn). The cancel culture is becoming terrible, if you don't like something anyone said then attack. (not saying you are, but in general). Then dig deeper to get the next in line, that is MY point.

And don't tell me to "work harder". You don't know me and if questioning things make a person wrong, then we are all in trouble.

[ForeverFlameFan]

So how does Bill Armstrong feel right now? Lol

[btimbit]

The no apology is the crux of the issue here. Doing dumb heinous #### as a kid is one thing, and I can forgive for that if asked. But not if you're only sorry about the consequences and not for the victim.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by Beatle17

Post 422. Talking about a person losing their job because they drafted the kid. When does it stop? What the kid did was terrible when he was younger (8-14). Nobody knows if he made steps to get better and has learned PART of his lesson (not apologizing is the part he still needs to learn). The cancel culture is becoming terrible, if you don't like something anyone said then attack. (not saying you are, but in general). Then dig deeper to get the next in line, that is MY point.

And don't tell me to "work harder". You don't know me and if questioning things make a person wrong, then we are all in trouble.

You think it would be better if we turned a blind eye to racism? Is that your opinion?

Racism should have consequences. If he can't be bothered to apologize for making a Black teen's life hell with his racial attacks, that's on him, not everyone else for thinking he's terrible. What is appropriate for a racist like him?

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by Beatle17

Post 422. Talking about a person losing their job because they drafted the kid. When does it stop? What the kid did was terrible when he was younger (8-14). Nobody knows if he made steps to get better and has learned PART of his lesson (not apologizing is the part he still needs to learn). The cancel culture is becoming terrible, if you don't like something anyone said then attack. (not saying you are, but in general). Then dig deeper to get the next in line, that is MY point.

And don't tell me to "work harder". You don't know me and if questioning things make a person wrong, then we are all in trouble.

I appreciate the response, but I think you may be taking the speculation about firing the person who made the pick in the wrong context. I haven't read a post from anyone saying that the individual should be fired in relation to their passive consent of racism and bullying, more that they likely did not perform their job duties in doing proper due diligence on the pick and then subsequently causing great damage to the public reputation of the team and the league. It's not a cancel culture thing, that's just speculation on the result of poor decision making by employees.

I also have genuine problems with the idea that "cancel culture" is a monolithic and unified push. IMO cancel culture is just the result of fringe groups/minorities finally standing up for themselves and pushing back. It's a sign that our society is becoming more accepting to allow that push back so they can defend themselves. I want everyone to be able to stand up for themselves publicly, and if that means "cancelling" people involved in hate speech, bullying, or impropriety then all the better. Can you point to an example of "cancel culture" that didn't involve a situation like this?

[DionTheDman]

Originally Posted by Beatle17

I REALLY hope nobody ever comes forward with claims and/or proof of Evander Kane, the kid picked second in the draft this year, and other POC in the league making disparaging remarks against white players, Cracker etc., because it would be tough to watch everyone choking on their responses.

Are you somehow implying that Kane or Byfield and others have a history of longstanding harassment and bullying that is being ignored because the supposed victims are white?

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Beatle17

Hasn't he? Is this the same chatroom that says these young kids give up their lives and put in countless hours to make the NHL and deserve everyone's respect, except for the ones like Miller who never deserve to play in the league.

Can you not see the correlation of the two comments? Calgarypuck has decided the kid is a racist, #######, loser so we all feel good about being part of the mob. He won't play in the league and the discussion has already turned to who is next in this saga.

I REALLY hope nobody ever comes forward with claims and/or proof of Evander Kane, the kid picked second in the draft this year, and other POC in the league making disparaging remarks against white players, Cracker etc., because it would be tough to watch everyone choking on their responses.

This is a fairly ignorant take on multiple levels. The biggest one, obviously, is that the board is not a monolith nor is it a mob. The opinions in this thread have been completely varied, with more instances of "it's on him to prove people wrong now" than "the NHL should ban him." Calgarypuck hasn't decided anything, and while pretending you're intellectually unique and outside of the mob, so are the majority of the posters here, based on your description of what "the mob" desires.

Suggesting this is just another casual incident of cancellation or that what Miller did was in any way equal to someone calling someone a "cracker" is so completely ridiculous that it's hard to comprehend. Funny enough, the racism Miller showed seems insignificant to the physical and mental torture he put. disabled person through. His victim could have been white, and I don't believe for a moment this would different.

The fact is, for those pursuing a public career at 18, torturing someone from the ages of 8 to 16, half a lifetime for these men, is not something that ceases to exist. It is nobodies fault but Miller's that this stopped him from being a part of the NHL today. Not Calgarypuck, not the internet in general, not Isaiah. Nobody. It was Miller. Pretending everyone you disagree with is a mob probably makes you feel pretty good, and that's fine, but until you and people like you realise that spending half your life torturing another human being is going to have obvious and direct consequences to your ability to have a high-profile, public career, I'm not sure what else to say. Torturing someone for 8 years is not ok, it's nice you forgave him the moment you heard about it, but you don't matter any more than any other random, myself included. And this result was decided because of and by the only people that do matter in this situation.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Yeah, if the NHL suspended random POC player for a decade long history of harassment and racism today, I think, despite what Beatle17 is maybe insinuating, the response by most would be "good"