Mitch Miller ??

[piper1]

Regardless of how you all feel he has been completely cancelled for something he did as a fourteen year old. How may of you would be cancelled for something stupid you did as a kid?

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl...2ez6mJobpxzvwg

[subban7677]

As I said before, if he took some initiative and started or joined anti-bullying , or anti-racism causes, he could earn his future back. When you screw up you have to make it right. He needs to make amends first. He hasn't.

[RGM81]

You only earn a second chance if you make an effort and learn from your mistakes. He showed no remorse for his actions, he continued to taunt his victim over the next two years. Other NHL teams avoided this kid. While he sent apology letters to 31 NHL teams, he has never apologized to his victim. His partner in crime did. He bullied his victim, who was developmentally challenged, from grade two, until two years ago because he went away for Junior Hockey.

They forced their victim to eat a push pop rolled in a urinal and they both urinated on it.
They used racial slurs.
They physically assaulted their victim
Their victim had to be tested for HIV, Hep, and STDs


Mitchell Miller has shown nothing that warrants a second chance at this point. I think UND should of revoked his scholarship when they removed him from the team. The other teen involved made a real effort to apologize and make amends.

I am not saying he can't change, but I would be surprised if he does, he hasn't done anything to be given the benefit of doubt that he recognizes what he did was wrong or attempt to make amends.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/spor...go/3735555001/

https://www.sportingnews.com/ca/nhl/...k1fypu98ls4k41

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nhl...20neighborhood.


As for the Coyotes, someone in an executive position, or a lawyer, should of looked at this before the selection. There was no due diligence here at all, Bill Armstrong could not be consulted as per the agreement with St. Louis. Xavier Gutierrez should of been more hands on, I would even look at the the personnel who made this decision and wonder if they can be trusted with this kind of responsibility, especially as it relates to liability for the organization for this and other decisions.

As ever, the voice of reason. Excellent comment, Mike.

This is a 4th round draft pick, the odds of which show he's got an 11% chance of making the NHL. Statistically speaking, it was a longshot that he would ever have a professional career in the NHL. That's not to say he couldn't make it as a pro overseas but it's not as though this is a "can't miss" prospect who has been denied a sure shot at NHL glory because of something incredibly stupid he did as a youth. It's not at all unreasonable for stakeholders in the Coyotes organization to want people who don't have a grossly negative history of violence & abuse as a representative of their organization. Yes, people can grow, change and mature. Mr. Miller has not shown remorse to his victim. It sucks for him that doors are closing on him, but he's not owed anything by any of these organizations. I've little empathy for someone who doesn't show it to a person--the real victim in this story--who he repeatedly physically, mentally, and emotionally abused.

[mikecole141]

Regardless of how you all feel he has been completely cancelled for something he did as a fourteen year old. How may of you would be cancelled for something stupid you did as a kid?

He isn't being cancelled, however, he has been found not acceptable at the moment because additional information was brought forward. The Coyotes are not burying this player and keeping him from playing, they have decided picking him was a mistake and the Coyotes made him a free agent, it is up to Miller to prove he is worthy of signing somewhere else. The same goes for UND, they received additional information that changed their opinion of him. It is up to Mitchell Miller to show another University he is worthy of a spot on their hockey team.

Likewise, it isn't something he did as a fourteen year old, he was convicted for one incident as a fourteen year old. He had been harassing Isaiah Meyer-Crothers since the second grade and it continued for two years after he was convicted. He continued to bully, he continued to use racist language. He has never apologized to his victim, but he tried to tell 31 NHL teams that he was a better person, that he had learned. As I said above he was still bullying Isaiah 2 years after his conviction, it stopped at the same time he went to play for Cedar Rapids in junior, those letters to the NHL teams were lies.

I can guarantee that in almost every situation if a person were hired by a company and they found out information that showed they lied, or did not disclose the full truth, they would be dismissed immediately, and this is no different.

If Miller wants to get past this, he needs to show he is sorry, he needs to show he is not a racist, he needs to show some remorse, and make some form of reconciliation.

[30ranfordfan]

I will add here, one narrative I've heard over and over again on this topic - questioning if this young man "deserved" to have a shot at making the NHL.

It's a word I think I've grown to hate..... or at least I hate the usage of it.

When this story broke (before he was released by the Coyotes) I would have said this: The kid has a massive problem in his past. I don't know him, I don't know what he's done to try and make up for it. I don't know what the Coyotes (or any other team) have seen & heard from him.

It should not have taken any kind of PR expert to expect this story would come out (am I suffering from some kind of Mandela-effect, vaguely remembering the story from four years ago?). If a team felt his talent was so strong that he was worth the storm that would come with picking him, then be all means he "deserved" to be drafted.

The notion that professional sports should be reserved for only those that are pillars of the best qualities in humanity is a joke. While plenty of them are genuinely good people, plenty of them are not.

I'll switch gears to another sport for a moment, but I'm sure plenty of you watch football too. Ray Rice beats up his girlfriend, and his career effectively ended. Kareem Hunt did the same thing, but he's playing again. What's the difference? Rice was caught on video doing it (and that video went viral) - I don't doubt that was a big part of it..... but age & talent also have a lot to do with it. Hunt was a young & rising star when he did it, Rice was already past his peak.

While I don't doubt for a moment that Colin Kapernick was black-balled from the league, I think there's a little more to it than "he knelt, so he no longer gets to play". Nobody is going to be able to convince me that he was not one of the best 60 Quarterbacks on planet earth when he could no longer find a job..... and I think you would get very few arguments about that point from anyone...... however it was also clear to me that there wasn't a coach in the league that felt his talent was good enough to warrant the media storm that was coming, if he signed.

Back to Miller. People love to point out that we all did dumb things when we were 14. That's true. Most of us have used language in the past that we'd probably not use today. Racial slurs were never something I used.... but I can think of plenty of things I used to say, that would embarrass me to have on video now.

What he did to that kid was not just a 14 year old kid acting out, being irresponsible, or uttering a few words that he shouldn't have. It's beyond my comprehension how someone can read about what he did, shrug their shoulders, and say "boys will be boys".

Do I believe people an change? Of course I do. Do I believe that how he acted at 14 should define his life, and limit his options going forward? No I do not. What I do believe is that once you've decided that picking on a handicapped kid, taunting him with racial slurs, and giving him urine-soaked candy is a thing you should do...... you will need to work harder for the rest of your life to prove that you are NOT that person anymore. It does not seem to me that Miller has done any of that hard work. He's done whatever was ordered by the courts - and if that's all he wants to do, that is all he should have to do...... but if he's going to try and make it as a semi-celebrity, then he's going to have to do more, and he's got nobody to blame but himself.

[piper1]

I totally agree with the above statement:

"The notion that professional sports should be reserved for only those that are pillars of the best qualities in humanity is a joke. While plenty of them are genuinely good people, plenty of them are not."

How many are still in their respective HOFs despite having been sexual predators, and there are many who committed crimes in their youth yet they are still playing their sport. This one guy is being singled out for having been a kid with behaviour issues. There are plenty out there, so is your solution to cancel them all. For those of you who say he isn't cancelled do you actually believe he will ever play competitive hockey in North America again. His only possible option for a hockey career is likely the KHL.

Wouldn't it be nice if political leadership was reserved for only those who are pillars of the best qualities in humanity.

[30ranfordfan]

I totally agree with the above statement:

"The notion that professional sports should be reserved for only those that are pillars of the best qualities in humanity is a joke. While plenty of them are genuinely good people, plenty of them are not."

How many are still in their respective HOFs despite having been sexual predators, and there are many who committed crimes in their youth yet they are still playing their sport. This one guy is being singled out for having been a kid with behaviour issues. There are plenty out there, so is your solution to cancel them all. For those of you who say he isn't cancelled do you actually believe he will ever play competitive hockey in North America again. His only possible option for a hockey career is likely the KHL.

Don't get me wrong. I don't have an ounce of sympathy for him.... but clearly the worst thing that could have happened to him was being drafted. That's what turned him into a news story this year.

Since his conviction, he's been given plenty of opportunities to develop as a hockey player. He played high-level prepschool hockey. He's represented the USA three time. He's been an allstar in the USHL. He'd been playing at the University of North Dakota on a scholarship. The OHL's Sarnia Sting drafted him a couple of years ago, and might still have been hoping he'd quit school and join them.

He was able to do that, because "young kid who happens to be really good at hockey, and did a terrible thing" isn't a national news story. He could do all of that in relative anonymity. It's easy to write him off as a 4th round pick who was probably never going to make it..... but also remember that he fell about 50 spots in the draft, vs his ranking. If his behavior wasn't an issue, there's a good chance he would have been taken in the 2nd, and certainly the 3rd.

And let's all be really honest here. He was an "upper middle" tier prospect for the draft, so it's easy to walk away from him. If he had top 5 talent he might have dropped a few spots, but he still would have been taken in the first round, and I expect that whatever team took him would have been smarter about it (and got ahead of this story) than the Coyotes were.

It was easy for him to go out of state to play hockey, and what he's done never be a story.... but the moment he was drafted, that's not so easy.

If he wants any kind of pro hockey career in North America, not only is he going to have to work hard at hockey - but he's going to have to work hard showing everyone he's a better person now.

Wouldn't it be nice if political leadership was reserved for only those who are pillars of the best qualities in humanity.

Would be great, but so long as political leadership is decided by voters, it's not going to happen. lol.

[sparty07]

I have strong feelings about this as someone who has a family member with developmental disabilities. Being mean/harassing those with developmental disabilities has to be one of the worse groups to bully. I challenge anyone to spend a good amount of time with those with special needs and tell me that the vast majority are not some of the kindest/big hearted people they have met who are just trying to survive and thrive in a world they have a big disadvantage to.

I go back to the point about his lack of effort into making things better for himself or the kid he traumatized. If you can write a letter (if he even wrote it) to all 31 NHL teams, you can at a minimum write one to the kid you bullied. You can also make an effort to learn from your mistakes and do good by becoming a best buddy or volunteering for special olympics etc to show that you understand what you did was wrong and you try to make it better instead of worse for those with disadvantages.

If he wants to continue playing hockey he can go to Russia.

[icefields]

If he wants to continue playing hockey he can go to Russia.

this ... i love lol when i was young i used to tell people to go to Russia when i was mad.

not to bring up another subject but i remember another incident a few years ago - Dany Heatley - that proves an above statement about certain players with good upside get different treatment then most of us.

[30ranfordfan]

this ... i love lol when i was young i used to tell people to go to Russia when i was mad.

not to bring up another subject but i remember another incident a few years ago - Dany Heatley - that proves an above statement about certain players with good upside get different treatment then most of us.

All jokes aside, apparently he's been offered a deal in the KHL......


As for Heatley, I think it's a very different beast. I'm certainly not trying to minimize what he did - but there was no ill intentions there. Stupid decisions? Yes. He killed one of his best friends, and that's something he's going to have to live with for the rest of his life. Money likely got him off lightly on the sentence.... but I don't think he's ever tried to "not own" what he did, and the Snyder family was supportive of him getting off easy.

Craig MacTavish is another one with a similar past incident to Healtly.... though he killed a random woman in a drunk accident, rather than a friend / passenger. Pretty sure he did spend time in jail for it, and Boston dealt him to the Oilers afterwards - basically, get him out of town so he could start over.