[News] Habs select Logan Mailloux in the 1st round after he renounces himself from the draft

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by getbak

It's possible that Cliff thought they were drafting Kent at the time, but the rest of that story sounds like something someone made up along the way.

There was a Swedish player named Torbjorn Nilsson. He was also drafted by Winnipeg in the WHA draft that year: https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/....php?pid=47605

He played in the same league as Kent that season, but on a different team. His stats were nothing spectacular, but neither were anyone's who was getting picked in the 12th round in 1975. In fact, at that point in the draft, a lot of teams just didn't bother using their picks anymore.

Thanks, I hadn't heard about the actual Torbjorn Nilsson. Likely the real story happened the way you suggest, and got embellished in the retelling.

[Reggie Dunlop]

DELETED -- Irrelevant

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Philly06Cup

Someone was eventually going to pick this player. Most other teams would also have taken a chance and drafted him -- just not in the 1st rd. This doesn't say much about Montreal -- they are not anymore 'classless' than any other team because of it. They just happened to be the team that took the bite.

NHL is a business, and drafting this player is a good business move outside of the bad PR.

PR is part of the business - a big part - and can't simply be ignored.

[sureLoss]

St Hubert BBQ is considering pulling their advertisements after controversial pick

https://montrealgazette.com/business...l-draft-choice

“In 2021, with everything we have seen, with all the movements, we were actually surprised. Are they going to go back on their position or will they go forward and accompany the young man?”

Mailloux was charged with defamation and offensive photography and was ordered to pay a fine of about $2,100.

Senior executives at the popular restaurant chain discussed the Canadiens’ first-round draft choice Monday, but they haven’t had a chance to speak with senior members of the hockey team, including its owner and president, Geoff Molson.


“We will take a few days to reflect on the situation,” she said. “We believe that everyone has a right to a second chance, but was it too early for him?”

The company is very family-oriented, so the situation isn’t ideal, she added.

Besides running an annual contest with fans, the company also advertises on the boards at the Bell Centre and Place Bell, where the Laval Rocket play.

[CroFlames]

It may have been mentioned, but I am curious.

Do you not have to actually "enter" the draft, kinda like a registration? If so, if the kid then removed his name from the draft, how did that Habs draft him?

[calumniate]

Pardon me if mentioned before, but there were no repercussions from the London knights end?

[devo22]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

It may have been mentioned, but I am curious.

Do you not have to actually "enter" the draft, kinda like a registration? If so, if the kid then removed his name from the draft, how did that Habs draft him?

I might be wrong on this, but I've always thought that in hockey, you don't actually have to declare for the draft. You're just automatically eligible when you turn 18 before September 15 or something like that.

In other leagues like the NBA or the NFL, you actually have to declare. Not in the NHL.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

It may have been mentioned, but I am curious.

Do you not have to actually "enter" the draft, kinda like a registration? If so, if the kid then removed his name from the draft, how did that Habs draft him?

Nope, it's entirely age-based. If your 18th birthday is on or before September 15 in the year of the draft and you haven't been previously drafted, you're eligible to be taken.


I assume it's that way so the top players can't pick and choose when they're eligible depending on who has the top picks. Edmonton wins the lottery and suddenly McDavid realizes he needs one more year of development in junior.

[Samonadreau]

The last 31 thoughts podcast just talked about this actually. Because of this.

As Getbak mentioned there is no option to remove yourslef from the NHL draft.

The NBA has an option the remove yourself and 80 players exercised that option this year.

[Boreal]

https://montrealgazette.com/sports/h...itivity-expert

“This is becoming a hot topic — needless to say — among women’s groups around North America, battered women’s organizations, sexual-assault centres, rape-crisis centres,” he added. “This example is being tied to what people in the field refer to as a rape culture in excuses for these sexually abusive men. We know that in many professional sports this is ubiquitous.”

“It is a big deal,” DeKeseredy said. “The damage that’s done is very, very significant. This woman’s decimated … she’s the one who’s going to pay the price. She will likely face major challenges getting jobs, she’s going to have long-term trauma. These images never disappear … they never disappear. They stay up there for life. There are people who are driven to suicide because of this. So this is very, very serious stuff.

“People like myself argue that it exists on a continuum of sexual violence, ranging from non-physical acts to physical ones like forced penetration. This is a form of digital violence. People like myself define this as violence. Psychological abuse can be far more damaging than acts of physical violence and we have a substantial body of research that supports that.

“The sexual abuse is not about this man’s pleasure,” DeKeseredy added. “It’s about status among his peers. This is what I found in my research … I call it male peer support. Most of the men like him who do these type of things belong to peer groups. That’s why I’m worried about these hockey teams. They belong to peer groups that place a very high price on sexual conquest. Members of these peer groups feel that they’re not getting as much sex as their friends say they are and they’re more prone to engaging in behaviours like Logan engaged in. If I was to testify in court, I would be saying that him displaying this to his friends was about his status among them at her expense. That his peers did not do anything about it, nor his coach, tells you something, doesn’t it?”

DeKeseredy said he would love to speak with Canadiens owner/president Geoff Molson to enlighten him on sexual violence.

“It reflects a deep insensitivity … I just can’t understand this,” DeKeseredy said about the decision to draft Mailloux. “The city of Montreal is still reeling from the Dec. 6, 1989 massacre (in which 14 women were murdered at the École Polytechnique). The Habs, I’ve noticed, have more female fans than most other hockey teams. Certainly they’re going to be deeply upset by this. This is indeed a slap in the face. I would also say to Geoff Molson to issue a public apology and to not sign this player. I realize young people do things in regret, but did they really have to pick this person?

[sureLoss]

Molson sends out a letter
https://www.nhl.com/canadiens/news/a...8-Geoff-Letter

Canadiens Owner, President and CEO, Geoff Molson, has issued the following letter on the team's decision to draft Logan Mailloux.

Message to everyone impacted by our decision:

I want to share with you my perspective on our decision to select Logan Mailloux in the 2021 NHL Draft. This decision, made in the context of the Draft, turned out to be instantaneously very offensive to many of you.

I understand that you expect more from us and we let you down. The Montreal Canadiens are more than a hockey team. Logan's actions do not reflect the values of our organization and I apologize for the pain this selection has caused.

First and foremost, regarding the young woman who is the victim, I want to say that we do not minimize what she has had to, and continues to have to, live through. No one, especially not an 18-year-old, should have to suffer through a traumatic experience like this. We are there to support her and her family and respect their privacy.

Our selection of Logan was never intended to be disrespectful towards her or her family, or more generally towards women or other victims of similar situations. Our decision was not intended, in any shape or form, to be an endorsement of the culture of violence against women.

Logan is a young man who committed a serious transgression. He is genuinely remorseful about the pain he has caused. He is committed to becoming a better person and we will work with him through this process.

At this stage, it is only our actions that will speak louder than our words.

1. Over the course of the next few months, we will develop in conjunction with local experts, a comprehensive plan to raise awareness and educate young men and young women about this serious issue. We will use our platform and our resources to turn a decision that hurt many people into one that brings meaningful and impactful change.

2. We will support and oversee Logan's commitment to becoming a better person.

3. We have asked Logan not to participate in our rookie or main training camp this fall. Being a player in the NHL is a privilege that is earned - not a right that is granted. As the year progresses, we will reassess Logan's readiness to be part of our organization.

We gave Logan a second chance but in doing so, we failed to properly assess the impact of our decision on the victim and on anyone who have suffered in similar circumstances. Once again, I want to apologize to everyone impacted by our decision.

I repeat, our actions will speak louder than our words. We will work to continue proving we are an organization this community and our fans can be proud of.

Lastly, I want to thank everyone that provided their feedback on this situation, including our partners and sponsors, so that this mistake becomes an opportunity to grow and raise awareness.

Geoff Molson
Owner, President and Chief Executive Officer
Groupe CH

[CroFlames]

It's something at least. Not inviting your 1st rounder to your rookie or main camp is pretty big in a hockey sense, but it probably means jack #### to the victim.

[PeteMoss]

How could they not have known this was going to be the reaction?

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

It's not something though. It made more sense before. Now they're going "wow, we didn't expect this level of backlash!"

... ####ing really? You didn't see this coming? If you didn't see this coming you're complete morons.

Before now I had basically assumed they knew this was going to happen and decided that selecting the player was worth the backlash and they'd just ride it out. OK, I don't agree with it but I understand the strategy. But this "we're shocked that you're all so upset, we must engage in damage control immediately" thing actually makes the decision seem even worse.

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

How could they not have known this was going to be the reaction?

Oh they knew. Just like they knew to release this letter in the first hour of free agency when the whole NHL world is distracted.

[Reggie Dunlop]

So.... this is like Mailloux being grounded?

[Erick Estrada]

We gave Logan a second chance but in doing so, we failed to properly assess the impact of our decision on the victim and on anyone who have suffered in similar circumstances. Once again, I want to apologize to everyone impacted by our decision.

This is such BS. Anyone could have seen this coming. There can be no doubt that the people running the operation fully realized the amount of backlash and came to the conclusion that it was still worth it to make the pick. Not allowing him to this season's training camp is window dressing as they will hope to sneak him in next season and play the game of hoping that the smoke fades over the months, years.

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Oh they knew. Just like they knew to release this letter in the first hour of free agency when the whole NHL world is distracted.

The weird thing is this guy didn't even play much in the ohl in his rookie year. He was down with the Jr b team. Now maybe he showed out in Sweden, but it's not like he's some mega prospect that you could convince yourself is worth the hit.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Molson sends out a letter
https://www.nhl.com/canadiens/news/a...8-Geoff-Letter

Player pulls himself out of contention because he felt he needed to spend some time working on himself so he could earn the right to be drafted by an NHL club.

Montreal drafts the player and tells him not to come to camp because being an NHL is a priviledge not a right.

This kinda like your mom yelling at you to stop playing video games and do the dishes when you're already half done them and currently up to your elbows in dishwater.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Molson sends out a letter
https://www.nhl.com/canadiens/news/a...8-Geoff-Letter

The only thing that I believe about the letter. Otherwise it reads "sorry you're offended".

The Montreal Canadiens are more than a hockey team. Logan's actions do not reflect the values of our organization

You changed your values when you selected him knowing what he done. If you're drafting sex criminals who don't want to be drafted, that is the value of your organization.

I understand that even on our own board we have posters think that this guy was just doing a really cool bro move, but I'm glad Montreal is getting backlash. Until they renounce the pick, like Phoenix did with Miller, they deserve no respect. It's less about Logan now and more about Montreal using his renouncement and criminal actions to get a good prospect knowing they could withstand the backlash cause Hab fans are notoriously loyal.