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Around the League 2019-2024 Edition

Point is I've seen grown men completely shattered by coaches; curled up in the fetal position in tears. On more than one occasion. I've never seen them do that over getting crosschecked.

And yes, we know it's not just in hockey. But that doesn't make it ok.
 
It isn't Price, it's Habs management. All they do is lie.

And if you read Price's statement closely, you'll note that he says "substance use", not "substance abuse". This distinction should not be glossed over because the two words imply very different things. Abuse would point toward the individual deciding to take drugs on his own as he saw fit. Use implies that these drugs were given to him and that he was instructed to take them.

To me, this just further proves what Robin Lehner was saying a couple of weeks ago. That teams throw pills at players without regard to their health. They only care about the player being able to suit up for the next game. And it's my belief that the reason why the Habs allowed people to think that Price's entry into the player assistance program was related to mental health is so that no pointed questions would be asked about the type of drugs involved and, more importantly, where he got them and who directed him to take them. They would much rather have this story be about Price as an individual having personal issues, the nature of which team management had no prior knowledge. The last thing they want is for people to start asking about how the team's medical staff does their job or how they could allow a player taking prescribed drugs to fall into addiction. Simply put, if Price got addicted to pain killers that team doctors prescribed to him in order to keep him fit to play during the postseason then they are negligent, legally and ethically.

I'm sure that when he was first given these drugs, the prevailing thought was that he wouldn't need to take them for long because the Habs were likely to be eliminated in the first round. And to be fair and to remind everyone here, IT WAS 3-1. But then the Habs, thanks to Price, went on that run and before you knew it, Price had been popping these painkillers for two straight months and probably every day. But the team still should have leveled with us and not lied to us when Price finally hit the wall. But everything with the Habs under Bergevin is about ass covering and plausible deniability, things he probably learned while working in Chicago, no doubt.
yeah I gave you shit at the time for taking this position but you have certainly been vindicated. lesson learned re: Molson & co...
 
Point is I've seen grown men completely shattered by coaches; curled up in the fetal position in tears. On more than one occasion. I've never seen them do that over getting crosschecked.

And yes, we know it's not just in hockey. But that doesn't make it ok.

I'm not saying it's ok....and and I'm not pro fetal position...but I'm saying when I buy the ticket and enjoy the vibe, it comes with a nagging sense that there's a gaping dark side to this culture of "winning at all costs" that pervades every sport.
 
Had a pretty similar experience around the same age. Imagine a grown man screaming profanities while he bag skates a bunch of 8-10 year old kids. I was constantly terrified and felt sick to my stomach before every practice or game. I look back now and think how was that even allowed?
fuck I must have lucked out with my coaches...

I also don't think I played at a high enough level to have some of this craziness, but still
 
I'm not saying it's ok....and and I'm not pro fetal position...but I'm saying when I buy the ticket and enjoy the vibe, it comes with a nagging sense that there's a gaping dark side to this culture of "winning at all costs" that pervades every sport.
Of course. And I'm saying it's worth striving for change because when you have the right environment nothing is more fun as a kid than playing an organized sport. It should never involve deep, intense fear.
 
yeah I gave you shit at the time for taking this position but you have certainly been vindicated. lesson learned re: Molson & co...

Price does refer to this being over a period of years which is a bit at odds with a theory that it started over the last year's (possibly unexpectedly long) playoff run... probably been happening off and on for a long time.
 
No idea why, after everything we saw with the Blackhawks and Aldrich, anyone would assume Bob Murray's under investigation simply for yelling at players about their on-ice performance. Guaranteed there's a mountain of shit on him, especially with how fast his fellow GMs are like "oh man ya, not surprised lol".
if we have learned anything over the years, it is that we can reasonably assume the worst of the league/accused and be confident we are underestimating their malfeasance...
 
It isn’t. Crazy behaviour has been tolerated for too long in all professional environments.

I’ve seen it first hand… berating EAs and students, a 50 year old who had a temper tantrum at 3am, tore up the deal documents and then sat in a corner of a board room and cried it out. I once got yelled at for using letters instead of Roman numerals to sequence section titles. A colleague once got yelled at for not challenging the (incorrect) instructions she was given.

just mental stuff that has been tolerated for reasons I don’t understand.
I still have friends who work at Bay St firms that just accept as normal that they have to avoid being alone in an elevator with certain partners, avoid being the last female person at the office party, etc. Just bonkers given recent events...
 
I'm sure football and basketball practices aren't that much fun

Fooseball, sure, maybe, dunno. Basketball though, the only guys who are similar to mainstream hockey culture are kind of famous for being jerk offs. Jordan, Jimmy Butler, etc.
 
Price does refer to this being over a period of years which is a bit at odds with a theory that it started over the last year's (possibly unexpectedly long) playoff run... probably been happening off and on for a long time.
regardless of when it started, the team outright lied about it. which I think is pretty shameful. they could have simply said he is in the assistance program and out of respect for his privacy they would not comment further. they didn't say that, they fabricated the reason.
 
regardless of when it started, the team outright lied about it. which I think is pretty shameful. they could have simply said he is in the assistance program and out of respect for his privacy they would not comment further. they didn't say that, they fabricated the reason.
Oh agreed, they're definitely not covered in glory here for many reasons. Hopefully they now give CP the space and time he needs to get, & stay, fully healthy.
 
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and even Jimmy is generally adored by his teammates

He is now....Absolutely wore out his love in Chicago, was a horrible fit in Minnesota and was hit and miss in Philly (some loved, some hated).

I've seen a bunch of great podcast interviews with him and he's definitely unapologetic about being an asshole. Is chill about it, but has no filter and is hyper competitive. That works with some personalities but not with others. For example, Jimmy and Joakim Noah fought on a bunch of occasions in Chicago, so it's not just "lol, soft players can't handle him" (which is what some media have tried to spin it as after Wiggins, KAT, and Simmons not getting on with him) . Good luck finding 5 guys in the league that were tougher, more physical, or more competitive than Noah during his run in the league. They fucking hated each other for a long stretch of time in Chicago....because Jimmy isn't just competitive, he's an asshole.
 
I'm not saying it's ok....and and I'm not pro fetal position...but I'm saying when I buy the ticket and enjoy the vibe, it comes with a nagging sense that there's a gaping dark side to this culture of "winning at all costs" that pervades every sport.
This is true and I’m sure the more “woke” Romans had that same sense when they went to enjoy watching gladiators murder people in the arena.

And I expect that’s how future generations will look back on this “win at all costs” mentality in 20th/early 21st century sports. Like, we get to set the rules. It’s against the rules to slash a guy and break his ankle. Against the rules to elbow a guy in the head at full speed. Why not just make it a generally accepted rule that physical and mental abuse are out of bounds as well? Unless that’s actually what you want?
 
Players slash ankles and elbow noggins all the time — and the stadiums are still full.
 
But could they be more full?

Maybe....my point is all of us here are already watching a ton of games..despite our disapproval

Most people here only object to ankle slashing when their team is on the receiving end
 
Price does refer to this being over a period of years which is a bit at odds with a theory that it started over the last year's (possibly unexpectedly long) playoff run... probably been happening off and on for a long time.


If Price’s issue is pain pills, rather than just recreational drugs or alcohol, then yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Habs have been feeding them to him for years.

And I also wouldn’t be surprised if that usage ramped up over the course of Montreal’s playoff run, and that ended up being the straw that broke the camel’s back.
 
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