Aliu blackface incident with the Colorado Eagles

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by CASe333

I agree with everything you are saying about Deynzer. He definitely should have known better in 2011 and should have lost his job then too. I should have articulated better that in both cases Peters and Deynzer did cross a line in my opinion that needed to be held accountable.

My point was that without this dialogue I don't know if I would have had the courage to stand up to either incidents at the time as a twenty year old. Reading about Aliu's experiences is important because it shows how crappy these types of incidents are and that they aren't just a joke. People that stand up for others or themselves are true heroes as it helps the cycle of ignorance to stop.

What is cannon blathering on about?

Standing up to Peters is one thing. The head coach, strong personality etc.

But I just can't give his teammates a pass with the equipment manager deal. It was not a spur of the moment thing. Of course we don't know who all was there, who knew what etc. so I'm not going to judge individual people. But it is deeply disappointing. As TC said, that picture is gut wrenching. Knowing those were his teammates standing on the side of the lens is well, heartbreaking.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

As someone who was already disillusioned with the NHL for a multitude of reasons (high cost of tickets, owners strong-arming cities for new arenas, wildly inconsistent rulebook, etc), learning just how terrible the culture around hockey can be in recent weeks has just further eroded what little amount of interest I still had in the sport

I get what you're feeling, but please. Any 'culture' has its share of a-holes. Some of the best human beings I ever met, I met in the 20 years I played hockey. One in every 100 people has some issues, that's not exclusive to the sport.

This does not represent hockey. Like anything in life the bad stuff gets reported on way more. It's a great sport with great people. Everywhere you look in the world there's way more good than bad but that just doesn't stand out as much.

[powderjunkie]

IMO it's pretty naive to think Deynzer acted alone on this...several of the 'leaders'/'alphas' in that room almost certainly had a part in hatching this whole scheme (think about Aliu being told to come a little later...)

I would venture that his teammates probably fell into 3 groups:
1. active proponents for this thing
2. unaware and/or just going with the flow without a second thought
3. may have had a non-specific uneasy feeling about it to whatever extent they were aware, but didn't know enough/feel strongly enough to do anything about it at the time.

As a bystander (and mid twenties guy 10 years ago), I think it would be a pretty darn hard thing to stand up to your teammates before/during these events. The most I could honestly see myself doing in these shoes is saying something like "you guys are a bunch of ####s" to group #1...but not in any way where I expected them to change (not easy to articulate the tone of this through written text, but I suspect some people will get what I'm saying - basically a soft message that what you're doing is wrong, but I'm not your mother).

Hopefully at least a few of the guys from group 3 were able to commiserate with Aliu and let him know they didn't think it wasn't 'cool'.

[mikeecho]

I had an interesting chat with someone that played for the Colorado Eagles a few years back. He said that Deynzer was a real piece of work. Strutted around like he was the GM. Intimidated a lot of players. Veterans almost coming to blows with him for the way he treated some players was apparently not uncommon.

[Doctorfever]

Originally Posted by mikeecho

I had an interesting chat with someone that played for the Colorado Eagles a few years back. He said that Deynzer was a real piece of work. Strutted around like he was the GM. Intimidated a lot of players. Veterans almost coming to blows with him for the way he treated some players was apparently not uncommon.

Good post, thank you. Brings some real insight to what type of person he is / was at the time of the incident. Does not sound like he just made an error in judgment. Sounds like he might be just an overall DB.

[Passe La Puck]

Why did they keep him around if he was such a dickhead? Like he's the equipment manager...he sharpens skates and takes #### to the dry cleaners? Not hard to fill that position.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Passe La Puck

Why did they keep him around if he was such a dickhead? Like he's the equipment manager...he sharpens skates and takes #### to the dry cleaners? Not hard to fill that position.

Well, it looks like “they” on that team was one guy who was the coach, GM, president and, I think, owner. So if he liked him, that’s it.

[Passe La Puck]

That can't be though the president, GM, coach, and overall good guy was SHOCKED this would happen and had NO IDEA!

[mikeecho]

Originally Posted by Passe La Puck

Why did they keep him around if he was such a dickhead? Like he's the equipment manager...he sharpens skates and takes #### to the dry cleaners? Not hard to fill that position.

Not saying it’s why they didn’t fire him before, but it’s not as easy as you’d think to find a guy that comes in at 5am, goes home at 3am on game days, wants to be riding a bus for days at a time, away from home for sometimes weeks at a time, get s#!t done to very high specifications often on a shoe string budget with little or no help while getting paid peanuts.

There are “indispensable” types in many workplaces that create or assume a level of power simply because their absence would create a level of chaos greater than the chaos they create by being there. If not addressed, the problem typically gets worse until it can’t be ignored.

[Passe La Puck]

Unskilled labour jobs are all #### though. I don't think this one is particularly special. But what gets me is he's a huge detriment to their core asset, players. That they let this go speaks volumes to the overall culture in these teams.

[sureLoss]

Looks like the Eagles and Aliu worked it out

[Passe La Puck]

Akim sure seems like a really stand up guy for all the bull#### he's had to deal with. Sure makes people who questioned his motives look like total tools in retrospect!

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Passe La Puck

Akim sure seems like a really stand up guy for all the bull#### he's had to deal with. Sure makes people who questioned his motives look like total tools in retrospect!

He seems to have grown a lot. I've heard he was a real dick as a teammate, but that was surely defensiveness and "I'll get you before you get me". Part of the cycle really, stemming all the way back to the hazing business.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Passe La Puck

Akim sure seems like a really stand up guy for all the bull#### he's had to deal with. Sure makes people who questioned his motives look like total tools in retrospect!

In retrospect?

[CroFlames]

Is there a swear word at the end of the letter?

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

He seems to have grown a lot. I've heard he was a real dick as a teammate, but that was surely defensiveness and "I'll get you before you get me". Part of the cycle really, stemming all the way back to the hazing business.

Aliu has a lot more compassion for people that wronged him than a lot of the people you see that need heads on platters immediately

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

Aliu has a lot more compassion for people that wronged him than a lot of the people you see that need heads on platters immediately

Yes, because cancel culture is ####ing stupid, counterproductive and doesn't lead to progress.

Aliu's actions will have meaningful change, that's the difference.

[868904]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

Aliu has a lot more compassion for people that wronged him than a lot of the people you see that need heads on platters immediately

I imagine I’d be a real ass too if I had to go through some of the things he did.

I never understood why he didn’t get a bigger opportunity here in Calgary. I remember that game against the Ducks at the end of the year where he drove them mad. The Flames were being thoroughly dominated by that team in those years and Aliu was the only one who ever fought back.