972 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

canucks play at 11:30am today!  

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 06 August 2020 - 09:15 AM.

[GetLisaSomeHelps]

Young Quinn Hughes reminds me a lot of Phil Housley. Don't know that he'll be as prolific, but sure is fun to watch that kid move the puck!

 

So, with 9 mins remaining Canucks are up 2-0.

 

Canucks may lead Wild 2-1

Canadiens lead  Pens 2-1

Flames lead Jets 2-1

Leafs Blue Jackets are 1-1

Oilers trail Hawks 1-2

 

Sure would be nice to have a Canadian team make a run at the COVID Cup Stanley Cup.

[lanforod]

Well, Canucks are in the first round after beating the Wild in OT last night.

[Lost password]

OK..another season starting of selling Chinese made Go Canucks ****! 

[Victoria Watcher]

this is a bit surprising:

 

 

 

 

 

Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask has opted out of the NHL playoffs.

 

The team announced the change on Twitter on Saturday morning, less than two hours before their third game in their series against the Carolina Hurricanes.

 

"I want to be with my teammates competing, but at this moment there are things more important than hockey in my life, and that is being with my family," Rask said in a statement. "I want to thank the Bruins and my teammates for their support and wish them success."

 

The Bruins are currently tied 1-1 in their series against the Hurricanes. 

 

Jaroslav Halak will take over starting goalie duties for the Bruins. 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.cbc.ca/s...t-out-1.5687970

 

 

 

 

When the NHL first returned to play, Rask missed the start of the play-in due to COVID-19 concerns. After reports of a cough, he quarantined for two days in his hotel room before being allowed to hit the ice.

 

Rask hasn't been shy about his criticism when it comes to the playoff environment in Toronto. While you're trying to play as hard as you can, he said, the series "doesn't really feel like playoff hockey out there."

 

"There's no fans, so it's kind of like playing an exhibition game," he said, adding that while there can still be scrums after the whistle, "there's no atmosphere."

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 15 August 2020 - 10:47 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

through to next round.

[Victoria Watcher]

Officers also issued seven tickets for seatbelt violations Friday as upwards of 1,000 people gathered at the corner of Scott Road and 72nd Avenue to celebrate the Vancouver Canucks' first-round series win over the St. Louis Blues.

[LJ]

I don't think the police presence will be required from here on in.

[Victoria Watcher]

somebody won the stanley cup last night.

[JohnsonStBridge]

By somebody do you mean Canucks legend Luke Schenn?

[Victoria Watcher]

The Vancouver Canucks are relocating the team’s American Hockey League affiliate to Abbotsford for the 2021-22 season.

 

The Canucks made the announcement online on Tuesday evening.

 

https://www.vicnews....rd-for-2021-22/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 05 May 2021 - 07:48 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

News 1130:



Vancouver Canucks buyout contract of embattled forward Jake Virtanen

The Vancouver Canucks confirmed Sunday that the team's forward, Jake Virtanen, had been placed on waivers for the purposes of a contract buyout. Virtanen was drafted by the Canucks in the first round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.

In May, the Abbotsford native was placed on leave by the team following a sexual misconduct allegation. Virtanen claims the sexual encounter was consensual. The Vancouver Police are investigating, but Virtanen has not been charged with any crime.





he will get $1.4M to leave.

https://dailyhive.co...ion-for-canucks

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 25 July 2021 - 08:38 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

According to the victim here, he was put in a very difficult sexual situation on one occasion.

 

But he was a 20-year-old hockey player.  And the perpetrator was 27 at the time.

 

 

 

https://www.cbc.ca/s...beach-1.6228126

 

 

 

10 or so years later after never playing a single NHL game he files a lawsuit.  I do not know what happened, in fact nobody knows, but he's being hailed as a real hero for coming forward now.  More attention than he has ever had.

 

 

The allegations are outlined well here:

 

https://chicago.sunt...ldrich-john-doe

 

 

 

I don't know.   It sounds awful.  But at least part of me questions the intentions here.

 

A lot of careers are being ruined right now here over this single alleged incident.

 

 

 

 

I'm sure I'll be drubbed here for stating my opinion, and yes - even raising a few doubts.   But let's discuss.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 28 October 2021 - 04:06 AM.

[Mike K.]

The text messages likely play a key role here.

[North Shore]

I'm struggling to discern your meaning, VW?

 

So what if Beach was 20, and Aldrich was 27?  There's a clear power difference between them - I'd hazard a guees that it was explicitly mentioned as: "submit, or I'll fcuk your career.."

 

'..never playing a single game in the NHL..' Reading in the second article, it would seem that Beach was subjected to a huge amount of (completely undeserved) homophobic harassment.  D'you think that *might* have put him off his game just a tiny bit? And led to the disintegration of his career?

 

'A lot of careers ...' The coaches, and GMs (if they were/are any good) will retain their careers after a few months in the penalty box.  I'd bet that Aldrich will probably end up coaching or doing video analysis somewhere.  The only person whose career is ruined here is that of Beach -  who, because of the passsage of time, will never again get the opportunity of being a first round draft pick with a bright future ahead of him..

[Victoria Watcher]

do you believe beach's account without question? he's 100% accurate with his description, and Aldrich is 100% wrong (he says it was consensual)?

 

he's taken nearly 12 year to bring the civil case.  why the delay?

 

timeline of events here going back to 2010:  https://www.sporting...yw1ssgggrch4x1g

 

very recent case timeline:  https://www.tsn.ca/c...eline-1.1711913

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 28 October 2021 - 09:12 AM.

[Mike K.]

12 years ago the mechanisms to take these complaints seriously were not nearly as developed as they are today.

It’s a different social climate now, and the complainant may finally be ready to confront a wrongdoing.

Why do we do anything we do today, but didn’t do ten years ago? Why do relationships break down after 20 years? Why do people make career moves mid-life? Because we have one life, one chance to get it right. Sometimes that means we take action a long time later but that’s better than never doing it.

[Mattjvd]

I'm struggling to discern your meaning, VW?

So what if Beach was 20, and Aldrich was 27? There's a clear power difference between them - I'd hazard a guees that it was explicitly mentioned as: "submit, or I'll fcuk your career.."

'..never playing a single game in the NHL..' Reading in the second article, it would seem that Beach was subjected to a huge amount of (completely undeserved) homophobic harassment. D'you think that *might* have put him off his game just a tiny bit? And led to the disintegration of his career?

'A lot of careers ...' The coaches, and GMs (if they were/are any good) will retain their careers after a few months in the penalty box. I'd bet that Aldrich will probably end up coaching or doing video analysis somewhere. The only person whose career is ruined here is that of Beach - who, because of the passsage of time, will never again get the opportunity of being a first round draft pick with a bright future ahead of him..

Aldrich is done. He was convicted of sexual assault in 2013 when he worked as a high-school hockey coach in Michigan.

Edited by Mattjvd, 28 October 2021 - 11:12 AM.

[JohnsonStBridge]

According to the victim here, he was put in a very difficult sexual situation on one occasion.

 

[...]

 

I don't know.   It sounds awful.  But at least part of me questions the intentions here.

 

A lot of careers are being ruined right now here over this single alleged incident.

 

I'm sure I'll be drubbed here for stating my opinion, and yes - even raising a few doubts.   But let's discuss.

 

Go ahead and state your opinion, but the above is not an opinion, it states inaccurate facts in question:

1. The victim was hardly put in a 'difficult' sexual situation. He alleges that he was raped by a team coach and threatened to have his hockey career harmed if they did not comply. 
2. The misconduct involved more than one single alleged incident. For starters, the report and lawsuit detail another victim. Another teammate on the minor league roster was alleged to at a minimum been subject to sexual harassment by the team coach around the same timeframe. Multiple other victims have come forward detailing sexual harassment and assault that could have been avoided.

It should go without saying that full independent investigation explains a lot better why management is finally facing fallout for their mishandling in response to the incidents. Some findings from the report that are key:

• Rumours of incidents with both players were reported by a Blackhawks player to another team coach who reported to team management. Team policy required all sexual harassment reports to be promptly and thoroughly investigated. Team management chose to not conduct an investigation and focused instead on winning the upcoming Stanley Cup final. No action to investigate the coach was taken after the Stanley Cup final either. Only after the Stanley Cup final was the incident reported to HR who allowed the coach in question to choose whether an investigation would occur. When the coach declined an investigation the team forced him to resign but rewarded him with his name engraved on the Stanley Cup and provided him with a positive performance evaluation.
• The failure to conduct an prompt investigation as team policy required, allowed the coach in question to allegedly sexually harass a team intern during the period following the initial two incidents. The Stanley Cup success allowed the coach in question to move on to coaching positions in high school, university and USA Hockey where he was convicted of sexually assaulting a teenage hockey player and faced allegations of sexual harassment with at least two other minors.    

As recently as this summer the Blackhawks claimed the victim's allegations lacked merit and that they would be absolved of any wrongdoing. The investigation report has brought serious validity to the claims that management covered up the incidents and failed to support the victims, which allowed further abuse to be carried out against minors. Those involved absolutely deserve to face punishment and should not remain in leadership positions. Remember this is the same organization culture that permitted another minor league player in that timeframe to be racially abused by their minor league coach. Saying their careers are being ruined is missing the point. They are facing some accountability for the suffering they caused.

[Victoria Watcher]

Aldrich is done. He was convicted of sexual assault in 2013 when he worked as a high-school hockey coach in Michigan.

 

 

After jail for sex offence, former Blackhawks video coach uses interns to build business

 

https://www.tsn.ca/a...iness-1.1669656

 

Former Chicago Blackhawks video coach and convicted sex offender Brad Aldrich says there’s a key ingredient behind the growth of his glass-etching company: university and college-aged interns.

 

Eight years after he was sentenced to nine months in prison plus five years of probation for sexually assaulting a then-16-year-old high school hockey player, Aldrich is chief executive of a glass-etching company called OcuGlass.

 

On his company’s website, Aldrich touts OcuGlass’s ties to several universities and colleges, which he says provide the Calumet, Mich.-based business with interns.

 

“OcuGlass plans to continue to recruit and work with college student talent in all areas of their business,” Aldrich wrote in a March 13, 2019, post on the company site. “We are proud of the program that has unfolded, and we are extremely grateful for the efforts and contributions of the interns.”

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 28 October 2021 - 11:41 AM.