Quoting: mondo
Its becoming more and more apparent that this type of behavior is less and less out of the ordinary. From the youth to professional levels in all aspects of the game. It's not just Cole, its a kids on the national teams as well. You don't have two sexual assault funds if this isn't some abnormal thing.
I don't think it needs to be said but I clearly don't actually believe every hockey player is a terrible person because of their profession, but the culture they've been raised in clearly toxic and when these accusations come out, them and their teammates deserve absolutely no benefit of the doubt in the court of public opinion in regards to their innocence. Real change and progress isn't going to happen unless the players start making it aware of the gross actions of their teammates. Time to start putting pressure on the people where it matters.
If this continues as it is and we keep having former hockey players come on this forum and act like all is well, maybe it's time for me to put more time into my other hobbies.
To further expand on these very poignant points, the Chicago Blackhawks covered up the sexual assault OF A TEAMMATE because winning was more important. It's not just women trying to get a bag from someone more fortunate. It's coaches. It's hazing. It's the silence from teammates and other players in the league. Racial slurs are still being thrown around haphazardly in youth hockey. Overpriveleged boys are still inappropriately leveraging their positions of "power" (popularity is worth its weight in gold during Jr. and Sr. High) on girls that can't say no due to incapacitation or fear. I'd even go as far as to wager that there are female hockey players and coaches who are just as awful, but because of how seriously the system refuses to take these reports, they don't make headlines.
Ignorance doesn't make this go away. It just means someone suffers silently. Just because you never saw your friends do it doesn't mean it can't happen. The world is a big place and the extents of our childhoods represent such a small portion of what actually goes on throughout North America.
I'm getting very tired of reiterating this point but this is a topic to be handled with the utmost respect. I don't agree with
@mondo's guns-ablazing initial takes and really with he'd lead with the thought-out stuff first (and leave it at that). I'm equally disgusted by immediate claims of guilt as I am innocence based on the grounds of "but their Twitter account is only a month old". Everyone on this forum is capable of having adult conversations - I've seen it - so keep it civil.
Hockey is a bad place right now. But it needs to be. Its a great sport but the pain the community is going through is so very vital to ensuring that the sport remains as excellent to us as when we first laced up our skates or went to our first game. Hockey is for everyone, and if there are people within this community who are actively trying to take it away from others based on race, religion, orientation, or use their positions within hockey to bring harm onto others, then we as a community need to seriously step back and reevaluate what it is we truly love about the sport. Is it the game itself or the people we've been lead to believe are hockey themselves? Think about that for a bit.