jammer2 Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 18 year old Windsor Spitfire Ben Johnson, a New Jersey Devils 3rd round draft pick has been charged with sexual assault X2....once the first allagations came into the light, a second woman claimed to being raped by Johnson in an unrelated incident on a different date. Wow, 4th player to be charged with such a crime in the OHL this year, following our own Nick Cousins and his 2 Greyhound teammates. This is the 4th Spitfire to be charged with this crime, after Ed Jovanonovski and 2 teammates had similar charges 15 or so years ago. Johnson has not been signed by the Devils, so his career is really up in the air right now. A big question being asked is...what is a 18 year old player doing at a bar drinking when the legal age limit is 19 in Ontario and 21 in his home state of Michigan.http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2013/03/18/teen-charged-with-sexual-assault-at-downtown-nightclub/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EDI-Flyer Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Bad news for the OHL and hockey in general...All over Canada bars encourage players from junior hockey teams to hang out as it helps market their establishment with the local population. Granted this should only be the case with players of legal age but it is still going to happen. Another major concern is what a 16 year old female (one of the alleged victims) is doing there? This place should be losing it's license for sure if they aren't managing their clientele. Either way, if it did happen my heartfelt sympathy goes out to the victims, if it didn't then to the player whose name has been trashed. The problem being guilty or not the association will always be there with his name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted March 20, 2013 Author Share Posted March 20, 2013 @EDI-Flyer A friend of mine knows the bar owner who is accused of letting in the minors. Apparently, the story is, they had very sophiscated false ID's....in which case the penalty would be less for the bar....but they have to prove that....good luck. However this ends, it's another black eye for the OHL in general. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 @jammer2 I don't think the big question is about drinking under age, we all do it. It's about whether players are taking advantage of their position as members of sports teams or are puck bunnies going too far then getting frustrated with a later rejection. Obviously both things happen at one time or another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted March 20, 2013 Author Share Posted March 20, 2013 @flyercanuck Yes, the bar in question was making money off the fact the Spitfires frequented their estabishment.....I know that much to be true. So, the bar(s) are guility to a certain degree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 @jammer2 OK, looking at it from that perspective, sure. I thought you meant as far as drinking under age is concerned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted March 20, 2013 Author Share Posted March 20, 2013 @flyercanuck Both perspectives should be looked at.....and the Spits themselves have some inner searching to do. It's a fine line, cause the players of age are obviously gonna be looking for some fun and chicks, it's a part of life. But, the Spit's should be on top of this kinda stuff no? They should know who is going where....and stop anything that can hurt the player and or league/team. This kinda thing has to be a blow to recruiting....who is gonna send their young 16 year old to a team where underage drinking at bars is not stopped or squashed quickly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Ya, if junior players are frequenting a bar, theres no excuse for the bar not knowing their age. They can Google it for crissakes. Barries done a pretty good job of cleaning up the acts of their players. You couldn't get much worse than Keefe, Jefferson and co. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted March 20, 2013 Author Share Posted March 20, 2013 Latest news, Johnson has some non contact orders recinded. He can now speak to his billet....lol.http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2013/03/20/no-contact-order-against-johnsons-billet-and-surety-removed/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EDI-Flyer Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 However this ends, it's another black eye for the OHL in general.Absolutely right...And I also agree that the billet mom and the team need to be taking some responsibility for looking after the players. Sure they are young guys and out to have fun but there is a tradeoff between the opportunity to be a pro hockey player and living the life of a normal 18 year old IE going out to bars and picking up chicks etc.The stupid part is that there are more than enough willing puck bunnies out there without getting caught up in bar toilets etc... For gods sake take her out in your car somewhere quiet if anything goes wrong it looks a hell of a lot less tawdry... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EDI-Flyer Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 (edited) An interesting article by Ryan Kennedy in The Hockey News...http://www.thehockey...with-women.htmlThe most divisive story in the news right now centers around a Steubenville, Ohio high school football team and the conviction of two players on rape charges involving an unconscious underage girl. I won’t go into all the details here, but the backlash against the guilty verdict has become a flashpoint in our culture, with some claiming the victim brought the acts perpetrated (and recorded on camera phones by the players’ accomplices) on her upon herself because she was drunk. The fact the convicted boys were star football players in a town that worships them also fed the flames.Hockey has yet to have its Steubenville crisis, but with the culture that has surrounded sports, it’s only a matter of time. Stick around the arena long enough and you’ll hear plenty of yarns about all the tawdry deeds players get up to when they’re not on the ice, from the junior levels right on up to the NHL. On the weekend, Windsor Spitfires forward and New Jersey Devils draft pick Ben Johnson was arrested and charged with two counts of sexual assault, stemming from separate incidents with a 16-year-old and a 20-year-old in the washroom of a nightclub and bar, respectively. Johnson has not been convicted; it is very well possible he did nothing wrong and will be exonerated, just as Los Angeles Kings star Drew Doughty was when he was accused of sexual assault last year. Similarly, the three Sault Ste. Marie players accused of sexual assault (Mark Petaccio, Phoenix pick Andrew Fritsch and Flyers prospect Nick Cousins) earlier this year have yet to be convicted of anything – there are two sides to every story and the truth will hopefully come out in a court of law.But coupled with the Boston University report surrounding the “culture of sexual entitlement”that permeated its powerhouse hockey program, it’s not hard to reach the conclusion that hockey has the same problems as other sports, particularly when it comes to testosterone-soaked teenagers.Are there young women who actively pursue hockey players? Of course. The “puck bunny” is a well-known archetype in our culture, the girl who wants to sleep with players because they’re players.“It’s a status thing,” said one young woman I spoke to who admitted to being labeled a bunny. “I know it was for me.”Her main paramour was an Olympian and Stanley Cup winner and the two would send provocative pictures back and forth when they couldn’t meet in person. In the Boston University report, the committee noted that a “small subset of BU’s undergraduate population,” supported a “culture of sexual entitlement” among the players who achieved such status because of the team’s popularity on campus.It’s important to note that I have no problem with equal-opportunity prowling. If women want to have casual relationships with hockey players, they have the same rights as those players do to pursue said women. The problem comes when the players assume a young lady’s interest in them gives them a free pass to do whatever they want, whenever they want. Consent lies at the heart of many of these cases and the investigation at BU unearthed some shocking attitudes among the players. In one interview cited by Boston.com, a member of the team told the task force, “You don’t ask (permission for sex) when you are drunk.”Changing a culture is difficult, but not impossible. I find it amazing that hockey has embraced the gay rights advocacy group You Can Play, taping scores of public service announcements for the very worthwhile cause of smashing homophobia in the dressing room, yet no players stand up for the rights of women. You know, the group that represents half the population and has its own professional hockey league unto itself.I’d love to see an NHL all-star or even a whole team stare into a camera lens and say “It’s not OK to refer to women as sluts,” or, “When a woman says ‘no,’ I stop what I’m doing.”You Can Play has made huge strides in just over a year of service. Some hockey players may not even know they have gay acquaintances, but they all have women in their lives, from mothers to sisters to wives or girlfriends. It’s time for hockey to step up. Edited March 21, 2013 by EDI-Flyer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted March 21, 2013 Author Share Posted March 21, 2013 @EDI-Flyer also, how are the kids getting home at 2am or 3am, all jacked up, but the billets know nothing? They are responible for the kids if they are staying under their roof, or at least partially respoinible along with the team. Are the teams no picking billets properly? What is the selection process for potential billets? Whole can of worms being opened just now...lol. Seems to me, these billets should be like surrogate parents, not buddies that turn the other way in regards to underage drinking. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EDI-Flyer Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 also, how are the kids getting home at 2am or 3am, all jacked up, but the billets know nothing? I quite agree, the Nelson blind eye in full effect there.Seems to me, these billets should be like surrogate parents, not buddies that turn the other way in regards to underage drinking.That is indeed the idea behind it and the way it should be. I knew a family who billeted Joe Thornton as a young player and from what they said there was a specific agreement in the contract that they had with the team about looking out for the young kids, not sure if that was team or league specific though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted March 21, 2013 Author Share Posted March 21, 2013 @EDI-Flyer Ironicallly enough, I know a young lady who was Jeff Carters billet in the Sault, but have since moved to Windsor. Next time I see her, I'll see what rules there are (if any), and post them back here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EDI-Flyer Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 Jeff Carters billet in the SaultDear god, I hope she doesn't have daughters?!!! Next time I see her, I'll see what rules there are (if any), and post them back here.That would be interesting, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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