JR Ewing

@GratefulFlyers What I usually remind myself, when I'm excited about depth players, is that part of the reason they can look good is because the coach has them slotted properly in the batting order. When thrown into deeper waters, they usually struggle. Thanks to PuckIQ, we can how players fare against different levels of competition. For Poehling this year: I think that Torts is likely using him correctly.

I don't want to defend the contract, because Hextall flat-out over-paid Voracek, but he produced for a long time and had a really good career. I like the contract that Tippett signed, and I think he can provide suitable value for at least five years. I would also be stunned if his list of comps is anything approaching this group.

Oof. Two quick ones. Looks like it hit Seeler's knee on the way in.

Everytime I see him, I come away with the same impression: really good PKer, good skater. Comes up short on skill but not effort. I think a good comparable both in terms of salary and on-ice is Brett Howden. Briere kept him at a fair contract.

So, I'm pretty much in line with others around here. The salary is more than fair, but I think the term runs about three years too long. He provides a combination of high level offense and abysmal defense, but it's much harder to find guys to put the puck in the net than anything else. Generally speaking, I'm usually a bit leery of when guys find a big bump in their scoring, but he's not being zoomed by a high shooting percentage, so it seems repeatable to me. If he loses his wheels before the contract ends, it won't be pretty out there. @jammer2 I'm not sure if I agree with the article comparing Owen Tippett and Nugent-Hopkins. I understand that they're not comparing stylistically speaking, but rather in terms of production. Offense has gone up a fair bit since RNH was Tippett's age. That year, he was 73rd in points-per-game and +10 on a team that gave up more than they scored. Tippett is 117th in points-per-game and-3 on a team with a positive goal differential.

Not arguing Voracek's contract, but in fairness, when Voracek was at a point-per-game, he was 5th in the league in scoring. Today, that puts you around 50th.

Most of the team looks like they had Nyquil for a pre-game meal, but Deslauriers is playing with some fire, anyway.

I agree with you that due process is important, but it's fair to point out that the only person who's said that Carter Hart was cleared is his lawyer, which makes him about the million attorney to protest his client's complete innocence. Up to this point, Scott Fenton has written numerous media outlets across Canada and threatened that if they so much as uttered or typed the words "Carter" and "Hart" he would sue them for defamation. For my part, I'll stand by whatever is decided in the court, but it seems like a silly argument in Hart's defense that he was cleared of wrongdoing by the very same police service which has directed him to present himself to face charges.

I do like how you went from how she "received 2.5 million" to "there was a confidentiality agreement". Let me know when you make up your mind. Also: welcome to Hockey Forums, and I really do mean that. I'm not trying to pick on you.

Definitely not. lol Danny Briere was a junior in the 90s.

MacKinnon is putting in his case for the Hart this year. Just having a great season.

This is still coming, too: Halifax Regional Police say an investigation into a historic sexual assault allegation against members of Canada's 2003 world junior hockey team is ongoing. Constable John MacLeod said in an email to The Canadian Press that investigators are still gathering evidence, speaking with people who may have relevant information and looking for ways to advance the investigation. He said sexual assault investigations, particularly historical ones, are complex, but added there is no statute of limitations. The incident under investigation is alleged to have occurred in Halifax during the 2003 world junior hockey championship and involved members of Canada’s team. Halifax police said in July 2022 that they were opening the investigation shortly around the same time that police in London, Ont., reopened an investigation into an alleged sexual assault involving members of Canada's 2018 world junior team. London police said Wednesday that they are planning a Feb. 5 news conference to provide an update of that investigation. That announcement came amid a Globe and Mail report that five members of the 2018 team have been ordered to surrender to police to face charges. The Globe and Mail report came as five members of that team were granted a leave of absence from their current professional clubs: Carter Hart of the Philadelphia Flyers, Dillon Dube of the Calgary Flames, Michael McLeod and Cal Foote of the New Jersey Devils and former NHLer Alex Formenton, who is now playing in Switzerland. Ontario's Ministry of the Attorney General says no charges relating to the 2018 incident have been filed in court, and The Canadian Press has no information that connects the players' leaves to the investigation. https://www.tsn.ca/hockey-canada/halifax-police-sex-assault-investigation-involving-2003-junior-hockey-team-ongoing-1.2067618

Nobody was going to take Hart off the Flyers hands, because everybody knew that this was a distinct possibility. Briere might have tried to deal him, but I can't think there was a large list of takers, given the possible trouble that was looming.

There isn't really a non-disclosure clause, because the Supreme Court of Canada declared that every out-of-court settlement in Canada must remain private. Maybe she received millions, and maybe she didn't, but Hockey Canada didn't need to pay her far more than a court would have awarded her to ensure her silence since neither side is allowed to talk about it. I just don't think it's appropriate to talk about her getting millions of dollars when there just isn't evidence of it.

Every bit of reporting I've seen stated that she sued for $3.5 and received an undisclosed amount. I'm not trying to nitpick, but I think it's important to speak accurately in these matters, since there's always a knuckle dragger or two who will take immediate position that she saw this as some sort of get-rich-quick scheme. In Canada, the maximum amount of damages you can receive in a personal injury case is $414,689, reserved for catastrophic injuries, such as being paralyzed, severe brain damage, etc. She could sue for things like loss of wages, future income, etc, like Steve Moore did with Todd Bertuzzi, but she wouldn't have been likely to score a major windfall there, either. The actual settlement amount is probably stunningly low, given what she endured.

I thought that the settlement amount wasn't public information? Indeed, Hockey Canada has paid out at least $17.xM that we know about, because that's the amount that the National Equity Fund was improperly used for, but to the best of my knowledge we haven't heard that this woman received millions of dollars.

Yup. This is a culture problem, and it goes much farther than some bad apples.

Yes, this was it. There have been so many women who have come forward with rape accusations, that Hockey Canada had multiple funds setup to make these situations go away without public scrutiny. Things came to a head a little over a year ago, and pretty much everybody in a position of power there is gone, and only after every major corporate sponsor withdrew funds. Just a few of the many: https://www.tsn.ca/canadian-tire-permanently-ends-partnership-with-hockey-canada-1.1858583 https://www.tsn.ca/scott-smith-hockey-canada-board-of-directors-stepping-down-1.1860721 https://www.tsn.ca/rick-westhead-nike-suspends-relationship-with-hockey-canada-1.1859237 I should be more specific: Hockey Canada had a pool of $17M called the National Equity Fund, which was created with stated purpose of providing insurance to players at national tournaments. Instead, a transfer of $10.25M was directed from the NEF towards another account, and was used to settle the numerous sexual assaults which happened at these events. Later, it was determined that at least another $7M was directed towards a third (!) account to further settle assaults. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/hockey-canada-transfered-millions-out-of-controversial-fund-1.6624089

There's a long and established history of the police helping the players out of these situations: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1cqURgg1eslU9Ky7NOUHlvM0PJ5rVX-FHZuacYBUL77o/edit#gid=821481613

Rick Westhead has been on this one for years: https://www.tsn.ca/hockey-canada/report-five-members-of-canada-s-2018-wjc-team-told-to-surrender-to-london-police-1.2066984

This is incorrect. London Police began their investigation in 2018 and closed it in February of 2019.

It doesn't seem that way. The five players are Carter Hart, Dillon Dube, Michael McLeod, Cal Foote and Alex Formenton.

About 20 years ago, I read Crossing the Line, by Laura Robinson. Not a fun little sports book. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_the_Line:_Sexual_Assault_in_Canada's_National_Sport

... and a previous piece: @hmc687I have no idea who did what to whom, and nobody has been convicted (or even charged yet) in this deal. The RCMP has a pretty established history of going to bat for junior hockey players in this country. Many, many, many girls over many, many, decades have been dissuaded from bringing charges, have been threatened, etc. This type of thing is, unfortunately, not at all new here. It happens so often that Hockey Canada had set up multiple slush funds to deal with sexual assault accusations.

For anybody curious, here is a story that CBC's The Fifth Estate did on this: