The NHL has a massive problem. It had this problem well before Friday, when the Boston Bruins signed defenseman Mitchell Miller to a three-year entry-level contract. Friday's signing only shows the issue is not going away any time soon.
I feel the need to provide a content warning before I continue. This piece will deal with racism, sexual violence, and bullying/hazing. If these topics are uncomfortable for you, please click away now.
The Bruins signed Miller on Friday to a massive wave of backlash. The Arizona Coyotes originally drafted the 21-year-old defenseman in 2020, but the team rescinded his rights shortly after.
Following the draft, very disturbing information about Miller's past came to light. Miller and a classmate were found delinquent in an Ohio juvenile court on charges of assault and violating the Ohio Safe Schools Act.
An expose was released on Miller that brought to light his harassment of a black disabled classmate, Isaiah Meyer-Crothers. Miller engaged in racist abuse, often calling Meyer-Crothers the n-word and other racial slurs.
Furthermore, Miller forced Meyer-Crothers to eat a piece of candy that he wiped in a urinal. Other evidence collected showed Miller punching and kicking his victim on multiple occasions.
The court ordered Miller and the other bully to apologize to Meyer-Crothers. According to the victim's mother Joni, Miller never apologized to her son personally.
That is, until his conversations with the Bruins began, it seems. Joni Meyer-Crothers told Guy Flaming of The Pipeline Show that Miller did reach out to her son on Instagram. His apology included the curious caveat of “it has nothing to do with hockey.”
Clearly, that's not true. The apology not only had to do with hockey, it had everything to do with hockey. If Miller wanted to sign with the Bruins, he must send some sort of an apology to his victim.
Bruins GM Don Sweeney attempted to justify his decision on Friday. He tried to explain why he felt this player deserves a second chance. In the end, he failed, and it all marks another example of NHL teams turning a blind eye because of talent.
Sweeney sounded a lot like former Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin following the 2021 NHL Draft. The Habs drafted defenseman Logan Mailloux. Days prior, Mailloux requested not to be drafted. This stemmed from the revelation that he photographed a sexual encounter without the consent of the woman he was with.
Mailloux's ask didn't matter to NHL teams, however. What mattered was that he was a great player on the ice. The Canadiens couldn't pass on him, Bergevin reasoned, because other teams were interested in drafting him.
Potentially the biggest example of NHL teams favoring play on the ice is the Kyle Beach story. A Chicago Blackhawks video coach sexually assaulted Beach in 2010 during the team's run to the Stanley Cup.
The Blackhawks organization systematically covered up what happened to Beach. They covered this up in order to protect the team's momentum during their playoff run.
The NHL needs to change this culture of prioritizing talent over everything. It allows toxic people to exist within the sport for years and make millions while their victims are more or less forced to watch.
Miller only apologized for his actions because he had an NHL opportunity lined up. He didn't feel remorse for his actions, and from all available information, he still doesn't feel remorse.
The NHL knows these things are bad. However, their answer isn't to actually do anything about it. They want to run away and hide from it all like Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz attempted to do when the Beach story first broke.
When that doesn't work, they will talk about change. They'll talk about how things have to be different and how important it is that these things don't happen again.
And yet, they don't change. Nothing has changed. The NHL still endorses incredibly disgusting behavior so long as the player in question is good at the sport.
If the NHL refuses to make any changes, things like this will just continue to happen. We are stuck in a vicious cycle of watching as they tolerate this behavior and wondering how the NHL could possibly think this was okay.
NHL teams disrespect the victims of these people. They show these victims that their experiences do not matter to the NHL. After all, they aren't the ones who put up a point-per-game pace in a lower-level league. Of course, these teams don't care.
Their experiences should matter. These actions hurt no one more than them. And the NHL must change its current culture before its reputation suffers a permanent hit.
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