Giving him a letter of recommendation was what truly cemented this as straight up fucking evil That teenager is more of a man and has bigger balls than all of the people in that organization combined
Par for the course in business. Get the accused far away. That way he is not our problem anymore. Mickey Calloway was a coach with The Indians accused of sexual harassment. Indians management gave Calloway a glowing recommendation when he interviewed to be Mets manager. He got that job. Calloway was pitching coach with The Angels when his past caught up with him. Nick Francona is Terry's son. He had a public falling out with his father when Calloway's transgressions became public and how The Indians covered them up. Nick was a Marine officer from 2009-13. He had a tour in Afghanistan. Nick Francona was Assistant Director of Player Development for The Dodgers from 2014-16. In early 2016, Francona sought assessment from Home Base. They treat veterans who have "invisible injuries." That's code for PTSD, Depression, and other mental illness. Francona was pushed aside from his job with The Dodgers and fired. The Dodgers can use PR speak and that specifics of Nick Francona's case are private. But the Old Boy's Club had its way with him.
Theres actually no evidence to support that there was ever a letter of recommendation. As per the jenner and block report. That being said notre dame refused to share records. All the other places aldrich worked did however and there is no evidence of this recommendation letter.
@@mp40submachinegun81 regardless they would've had to call and ask about him. A coach that just won a title and is looking for work elsewhere had to raise a few eyebrows.
Seconded! I was astounded when I first learned about this in August and it happened 10 YEARS ago! The NHL clearly has done its best to bury it but exposure is what we need
I'm really glad you brought up Paul Kariya as an example. For context, many hockey fans who hear his name will immediately think of game 6 of the 2003 SCF where he was hit by Scott Stevens, had to go into the dressing room, returned four minutes later, and scored a goal to help the Ducks win the game. But here's the thing: he doesn't remember the goal. And a huge reason for that is all the concussions he suffered throughout his career. I'm sure there are many more examples.
Let’s not forget Marc Savard. Man was very talented when he played for the Boston Bruins but getting two concussions in 10 months destroyed him…even after his first concussion his play suffered, but after concussion #2? He literally couldn’t play anymore. He didn’t officially retire until 2018, but from January 23rd, 2011 onwards he might as well have been retired. At least the Bruins pushed for the NHL to include Marc Savard’s name on the Stanley Cup after they won it even though Savard didn’t play enough games to have his name be there automatically…
I have no idea how the CTE revelations hasn't broken the sport itself. The sad thing is, videos like this will only further the downfall of this league.
@@epicchk4319 At this point, why not go "Scorched Earth" on the sports realm? Nearly every big league has its own mess that impeded them from being a compelling option to watch and it's disgusting.
My first memory of him using the term in the NHL was the Boston Bruins "Lolcow" video around 2017, which entitled them "Professional Hockey's Boy's Club Lolcow".
@Ken Clarke The boy's club is more of a reference to the sense of tribalism that many higher up executives in the league have in regards to hires, and who gets to be in their "club". The reluctance to new ideas, theories, and ways of thinking and doing business. A certain player doesn't "fit the culture"? Okay, fair enough, but I expect a fair amount of introspection of what kind of "culture" you're building if that's the case.
I'm really glad you included the treatment of minor league and junior players as well. I would also throw in college players as well. I played in Juniors and College and had a long history of concussion issues that are impacting me today. Things such as memory loss and constant headaches and being able to adapt to daily living. One time on a tournament I had gotten a concussion in the third period of our semi finals, instead of being able to actually go and get treatment right away after getting the concussion I was told I would simply be the backup and told "rest it off on the bus home". When I was in college hockey I had taken a shoulder directly to the head which snapped my neck back so badly I was out for at least a minute. Instead of being able to take the time to recover properly (would've taken about 2-3 months to truly heal) I was basically forced back into the lineup because the goalie they had in my spot was bad, so to keep our playoff hopes alive I was basically forced to come back a month after the headshot. That season never actually finished because of COVID-19 but I was basically forced to play while recovering "for the good of the team". I love hockey, I watch every day, I watch videos daily, I will wake up super early just to watch some later KHL games because of my passion for the game, but the toxic culture of masculinity needs to change. Sometimes there is an i in team, when it comes to your health both physically and mentally. Real change needs to happen, I hope Beach doesn't quit and take the action needed against the Hawks just to set an example. Fuck the boys club.
I played triple a, junior, and college and this is my same experience. I was a black player and I feel what you said, hockey is a beautiful freeing sport but the toxic masculine bullshit and racism breaks my heart and honestly has left me feeling bitter towards the whole thing if you don’t tow the line. Had multiple kids on my team screaming the n word with a hard r, the constant black jokes, the toxic coaches who hid my skates in the nahl. It all fucked with my head. The sexual harassment of women, the gang like culture and protectionism, the homophobia, it all makes me never want to show up at the rink or see any of my former teammates again. It’s such a damned exhilarating sport ruined by a petulant insular culture.
I feel you, for such a rich sport the medical protocol is absolute shit. I had my fourth concussion and second major neck injury in the 2018-2019 season in USPHL Premeir that ended my competitive career. My own fucking defenseman went in to hit the guy I was battling along the boards with for the puck, and I got his cross-check to the cage and fell back and slammed my head on the ice. I was out for a full minute, and my teammates told me that the ref didn't stop play until half my bench got onto the ice to force him to stop it. I remembered waking up with my neck feeling so fucking sore and with blurry vision. Nobody called ems. They forced me to skate back to the locker-room, get showed and changed on my own, and call a buddy from church to drive me to the hospital. People were telling me not to go bc "they can't do anything for a concussion". the CT scan of my neck was one of the worst the doc had ever seen, and I would have never known. He said that the compression and damage to the top 4 vertebrae were so bad that if I took a hit like that again, or got into a car accident, I could break my next far easier than the average person and end up paralyzed. The organization never gave a fuck and was pissed at me for not showing up for practice the rest of the season. Hockey culture is a shit show the second that you actually need help with anything.
I got a concussion during the state final for my hockey team in high school and had to finish the last 15 minutes since I was the starting goalie. After the game I was told I was just “fatigued”. A couple months later I got another one, played on it for a week or two and next thing I knew I couldn’t function for an entire month. 4 years later I have memory loss and mood swings that are just absolutely brutal to deal with. Had to quit college hockey my junior year and I’ve never been happier
A bit late but this all breaks my heart to read. I hope you guys are doing well. Hockey is a beautiful game, the more people speak about these experiences the more light it'll bring
I watched Kyle play as a Silvertip in Everett, he saw me and my brother in the crowd during warmups, and flipped each of us a puck. I hope he finds peace.
It reminds me exactly of mass sh*otings in Usa. The only thing ever said is “thoughts and prayers” and other empty platitudes while absolutely f*ck all is done to prevent them going forward. Embarrassing and pathetic
Gary Bettman has been the commissioner of the NHL for WAY too long. It is pretty clear and obvious that he is in it for the money and willing to just make statements on social media to defend his reputation and that of the NHL. If anyone needs to go first, it needs to be Bettman, only then can the boys club league officially begin to be cleansed. I will also say this as a Sabres fan, I wasn't very thrilled that Eichel was denied the surgery he wanted. I get that Buffalo was hesitant due to the risks and potential damage (plus the fact that they were intent on trading him since the end of last season). However, it should have been up to him, not to the team. That whole situation was a huge mess when it didn't need to be, at the very least that stuff is done and over with, and now both Eichel and the Sabres can start fresh again. Not sure about the Blackhawks though.
Amen on that Gary Bettman fact! Seriously, every league except for the NBA have had shitty commissioners on board, with Adam Silver's only major sin since starting out being the China incident from the 2019-2020 season (which really looked worse once COVID-19 hit our shores). Even then, considering all the garbage the other commissioners have had on board, I'd rather take the bowing down to China's bullshit over some of the absolute crap the other commissioners are doing to each of their leagues!
Bowman has been pushing expansion into the USA without comprehending what it would take to make it win there. You think people in California, Florida goddam Arizona want to watch more old whites succeed in sports? Look at the predominantly Hispanic Cali and Arizona. Not one player for them to get behind on.
@@crazyluigi6664 Adam Silver is easily the best commissioner of all four major north american sports leagues. Yes, he has his faults, but he's been doing better than Bettman, Goodell and Manfred combined.
Silver is liked by the players, Bettman is not. Very easy for anyone who watched his Hall of Fame speech. He had the longest speech out of any player. Very selfish and his replacement is just him but taller...
Getting rid of Bettman won't do anything, unfortunately. Commisioners in North American sports aren't all-powerful; they serve at the pleasure of the owners, they get their 8-figure paychecks from the owners, they get all of their marching orders from the owners. Think of them like the head of a player's association like Donald Fehr: publicly powerful but really just a representative for the needs or whims of the greater group. Getting rid of Bettman would just lead to another stooge. The real problem, not just in hockey but in all big 4 leagues, comes with the owners.
Corporatism is truly self-righteous cancer When the NFL or NHL tries obscuring these scandals, it reminds me of how Brand Twitter will have rainbow backgrounds from June 1-30 but do nothing else for LGBTQ+
It really hurts as a Hawks fan that this scandal has shattered my view of what was once a joyous period for the franchise. I suffered through the worst parts of the Dollar Bill days and was fully expecting them to waste the talents of Toews and Kane like they had many players before them until Bill dropped dead. Now T & K and others on the team at the time are tarnished with the knowledge that some of them were making Beach's life a living hell after the abuse he suffered. I am also reminded of how Theo Fleury spent most of his career as a brawler on the ice and an alcoholic off of it and we thought little of it until he revealed that he was sexually abused during his time in the juniors. If that aspect of hockey hasn't cleaned itself up after all these years, then the next major scandal will be coming from there. And I know there have already been sex abuse scandals in the junior ranks before. edited to remove an unproven accusation of bullying about a player and clarify a statement
Your comment about how Kane bullied Beach has no basis in fact at all. It's a baseless accusation that had ZERO evidence or credibility. Don't try and play some superior moral hero and then throw around stuff that didn't happen
@@southsider3542 Honestly, you're right. I made the comment in frustration and didn't think it through. I will redact the statement and add a note. But, I am of the belief that there are beloved players from that team who only compounded Beach's misery.
@@jrm78 That belief doesn't make sense when Beach never played with Toews, Kane, Keith, or Seabrook. Beach never made the NHL, if he was getting bullied about the assault, it more than likely came from his teammates in Rockford
I remember just how insane the whole of Chicago went when they started winning, I was riding home in a taxi screaming that the Hawks won at random people on the street. It's all fucked now, all those memories, the parades, celebrating in Wrigleyville, everything's tainted. What a disgrace.
As a Preds fan, I’d like to send my condolences to our former captain Greg Johnson and Wade Belak. Taken too soon. It maddens me to see how little the NHL gives a shit about mental health, especially given how many former NHLers(like the two I just mentioned) have committed suicide in the last 20 years.
The same could be said for the NFL on the topic of CTE over a decade ago, the difference being that the NFL can't deny CTE now. The NHL on the other hand refused to admit that CTE and concussion related deaths are linked (I might be wrong about this).
Tree, thank you for addressing this and taking it just as seriously as it deserves to be. I appreciated your comments on how people view being sexual assaulted as some sort of failure on the victims part. That crap needs to be stamped out. The NHL needs to be nuked and rebuilt from the ground up. Players need more protection from being exploited, in just about EVERY sport.
It's especially worse because that's how a lot of sexual predators can get away with it. If the criminal can use it to his advantage, you're damn right it needs to be fixed.
@@drewvonawesome8851 He’s been addressing this long before this video. We didn’t know how bad it was with the Boy’s Club Culture. The Bruins Lolcow, Leaf’s Leagacy of Failure, and Canucks video should’ve been the eye openers and yet we turned a blind eye because Tree made us laugh our asses off. He knew something we didn’t or he just figured it out long before this happened.
Penguins rumored to be connected with Stan Bowman, and Rangers rumored to be connected with Joel Quenneville. The fact that these guys are even rumored to try to come back to the NHL shows how little the culture has changed. Really disgusting.
Brooks reported about a week before this video came out that the Rangers were not pursuing Quenneville. That said, the fact it was even a rumor or being considered is still pretty fucked up
Stuff like this makes me NOT want to be an NHL fan anymore (no, not the rainbow jerseys or stuff like that I couldn't give less of a shit). But imagine the ones who've gotten away with this for probably DECADES!! This will start a HUGE rabbit hole of rings like what we've never seen in sports...
7 months later and this has completely blown over and no one talks about it anymore. So much for change. This was nothing more than a media fad. It's fucking depressing. Hockey is supposed to be so much more than this.
It's a shame that people would rather chase celebrities wiping their tears with $1 than fight for people who lost their careers and years of healthy living...It's fucking disgusting.
It really is a Boys Club league, hurts my soul whenever people say “hockey is boring” “who tf watches hockey”, but the sport just hasn’t made itself marketable, hasn’t moved on with the times.
It's the NHLs fault. They want fans to love the league not players. That way it's easier to make the players look greedy during CBA negotiations. If the NHL makes it's players household names the league loses the leverage.
Can we say Brad Aldrich is the modern-day Gordon Stuckless? I sincerely hope that Kyle Beach and the other ex-Blackhawk player can heal from that traumatic event. The one thing that Chicago did right was request the NHL to remove Aldrich's name from the Stanley Cup.
@@hotrodriguez549 Graham James. Now, there's a first-class dirtbag who should never coach another hockey team, let alone enjoy his freedom. He abused his power as a head coach and destroyed the trust of many young hockey players. Sheldon Kennedy and Theo Fleury come to mind.
This video has aged extremely well in the wake of the Hockey Canada scandal, where five players have been arrested for sexual assault during the 2018 World Juniors and as the news broke of the arrests the NHL comes out and announces that Salt Lake City is interested in receiving an expansion franchise, because the National Hockey League has not learned from the Blackhawks scandal, because the sport values it's "culture" instead of decency
Growing up the Blackhawks meant everything to me. I loved going to see the games in the UC, I loved going to Coach’s Corner and watching the games on TV and hearing the horns go off in the room, I loved seeing the only team I followed ever win a championship not once, but three times. This team was everything, the players were heroes, and Coach Q was be of the best coach’s ever to be in Chicago, perhaps being up there with Mike Ditca. *But it was all ruined*, or at least tainted. But most of all I just feel bad for those who suffered, and I can’t feel that all those I admired over the years did the same. everything hurts EVERYTHING HURTS *EVERYTHING HURTS*
The downfall and death of Derek Boogard was the first time I knew for certain that hockey had a culture problem. Growing up in Minnesota you know it does. The price of ice time and the way that parents subordinate kids with even a shred of hockey talent to youth coaches is the first serious hint. But you sort of absorb that as just another aspect of sports in general (and maybe it is, our relationship with sports is EXTREMELY dysfunctional) until you see shit like "popular and prominent hockey player dies years later of brain trauma he received on the ice" happen.
I can agree as a fellow Minnesotan and Wild fan. It’s the reason why I stopped my playing career early because the locker room can be your sanctuary, but can be your prison at the same time.
That offseason with him, Rick Rypien, and Wade Belak all leaving us was a red flag. I was only 13 at the time, so I didn't think much else of it, but it definitely set the tone going forward (in my mind)
@@TheGerrok I hope hell is real just for the chance that Sandusky and Nassar suffer there forever. I hope they suffer an eternal fate worse than Sam describes in WKUK's "Nailgun" sketch. "I drowned in wasps! My dick split open, and locusts came out!"
@@TheGerrok Can't forget the University of Michigan sexual assualt/rape scandal that broke this past summer. A team doctor was sexually assaulting and raping young men on the football team, Bo Schembechler knew, as did other high ups at the university and they did nothing. Even today the University refuses to acknowledge the fact and wont even have Bo's name or statue removed.
I think it's oddly poetic and hilarious in an awful way that all this horrific and nightmarish stuff is coming to light after the NHL returned to ESPN.
@@southsider3542 Love the way you intentionally misinterpreted what I said and forgot the "in an awful way" part. Take your manipulation and gaslight somewhere else. God help anyone that has to deal with you in real life. Seek help.
@@southsider3542 get a grip snowflake, if you literally read the comment properly and don’t just pick the one part you want to cherry pick and get mad about you’d get the context
For Toronto … this is NO surprise to us … not at all. What with the 1990’s “Gardens sex scandal” at Maple Leaf Gardens involving Gordon Stuckless abusing Martin Kruze, who ended up committing suicide by jumping off of the Bloor St. Viaduct and falling past the Don Valley Parkway on his way to the ground. Which proved to be just the tip of the iceberg about the Gardens, with rumours that even the late Leafs owner Harold Ballard had knowledge about it but did nothing. Of course … it’s just rumours. Unfortunately, sexual abuse is not just confined to hockey; with the Penn State child sex abuse scandal by Jerry Sandusky, which led to the firing of the, once revered head coach, Joe Paterno. It is sad, it is tragic. And all that we, as a society, can do moving forward is to practice our own due diligence. If we see or are aware of suspected abuse, call the police or 911. Or at the very least, ask people if they are okay or feeling alright.
@@MathRaven1910 All of this came to light in the late 1990’s … 1997 to be exact. Considering that I was a child attending games with my family in rink-side seats in that era. Looking back … it does make the hairs on my neck stand up.
@@Micktaylorify Me too,as a Brazilian who loves hockey and the Leafs since 2005 yeah the 05 lookout plus the NHL 2K5 made me fall in love with the sport i understand every who going to MLG or the ACC now when thats things goes to media we are very ashamed and broken bcs we suport everyone and the boys most special the owners don't give a shit for us and the players
This isn't a "hockey culture" problem, this exits everywhere where elites are involved and it not limited to hockey, the NFL for example has had its large share of issues. Plus look elsewhere in the media Industry or Hollywood and you start to notice a trend.
That’s a fair point I mean Hollywood has the same issue, the boys club is definitely felt in the NFL and while their scandals are mostly from POS killing and beating people up there’s probably some victims in there too
I’ve been a hockey player my entire life (I’m currently 18) the amount of mental strain that goes on players to suck it up and play is horrifying I’m a goalie myself I’ve had mental breakdowns due to the stress that comes with playing the position and I felt like I should stay quiet and smile away and play my best just so my team could make it to the playoffs when I should have checked myself into a mental hospital hockey culture has failed everyone in the sport from players to coaches and it’s sickening to see that nothing has changed and nothing will change
If you're having mental breakdowns as a result of playing a sport I think thats more on you to be completely honest man. It shouldn't get to you that much, unless the coaches are just on your ass all the time, in which case you should probably quit that team. If it stops being fun entirely, it's not worth it. Unless of course you're getting paid for it like nhlers are.
I'm a die hard Blackhawks fan who fell in love with the sport watching this dynasty as a kid. It sucks to know that this team will forever have this mark on what was an incredible season but I'm glad you're taking it a step further in this video. It happened on the Blackhawks yes but this situation could have happened on any other team and probably would have ended the exact same way. It's a problem that's so embedded in hockey as a sport and as a culture that people don't realize how deep it goes. Not only the Blackhawks but the entire league deserves to be put on blast. Thank you Tree
What happened is terrible but they can’t take away that dynasty from us fans, we had no knowledge of this happening. It’s so painful seeing that this happened. I feel really bad for Kyle beach.
@@m4xchillax959 they're not trying to "take away" anything. I love those cups too but I understand why people can't look back on them the same it's not rocket science
My understanding of defining injuries as “upper-body” and “lower-body” was to avoid players targeting a specific body part when the injured player returns to play. (For example if Brayden Point had a broken arm, an opposing player may start hacking and slashing his healed arm).
Tree has good points but this is not one of them... If a player has a nagging injury they describe it in a general way to avoid opposing players targeting them. If the injury is serious and the player will miss significant time they will disclose the exact injury. I thought this was common hockey knowledge
@@internetgoob It happens in every sport. It provides a competitive advantage if you can injure another teams star. Hockey is just one of the few sports where it’s really easy to injure someone (American Football, Hockey, and Baseball imo are the easiest to injure sports based on how the game is played, not who the players are and their culture).
In my 1st year of University in the UK I played rugby at a decent level. But due to the 'Locker Room' culture where we were forced to do antics which I considered immoral, I left and have never played again. Keep in mind I was given a scholarship to play rugby for this University, but due to the culture I started to hate the sport and I still have the mental scars that never healed.
bang on about rugby mate. the shit that happens in locker rooms is disgusting. i love that sport and i love playing it but the rampant racism and sexism plus the almost predatory coaches in the clubs really made me hate it
By what I had been told, my father was a very good hockey player growing up, but the whole boys club mantra ruined his dreams; kids parents were all lawyers and police officers where his worked on the railroads. Would never make any teams and lost out on an opportunity. It stems much further down than just the NHL and it's the aging men who are the pinnacle of the issue
And it's not just the NHL, or the NFL, or any other organization. The entirety of western civilization is like this. Modern-day society and capitalism are constructed to keep the poor at arm's length from the rich, insulating themselves from the "unmentionables" while feeding us slivers of bullshit to fight over amongst ourselves and to keep us from realizing that we're being treated as livestock. The worst part is that it happens at every level, because the level of greed that's inherently built into the system causes nearly everyone who gets a leg up to perpetuate the same principles against those "beneath" them, burning the bridges so that nobody else can follow in their footsteps. "I got mine, fuck you and yours."
@@jmarx3943 There is truth to that, but the split has been thoroughly exploited and maximized in the west since the industrialization that began in the Victorian Era. If modern nations weren't crafted to be corporatocracies, the common man would have greater recourse and a better chance at attaining both equity and equality. But I'm sure that I'm preaching to the choir, considering your screenname lol
If I was in your shoes I would just celebrate the memories you got from those titles and the players on those teams who weren't privy to what was going on that still went out and won the Stanley Cup. The organization, yeah fuck them. Obviously what happened is really shitty but you can still find something good in the way you felt watching those triumphs.
Arizona Coyotes: Hosted illegal combine tryouts, ended up losing their first round pick. Chicgao Blackhawks: Had a player sexually assaulted and covered it up for years with millions of dollars. Gets a slap on the wrist and rewarded the first overall pick with a generational player. Your Culture, Ladies and Gentlemen.
Would've been last years pick anyways, cope and seethe. They fired everyone, paid their fine(albeit a very light one, I wont disagree there), and settled the matter with Beach.
Sadly what happened to Kyle Beach can happen to anyone anywhere and still does. It can happen in any institution/ workplace. Kyle's bravery in coming forward with his story will hopefully show people how their actions and inactions can have an everlasting negative impact on a victim, their families, and others. The NHL will suffer from this. This is the kind of stuff hard working/honest/normal people will not want to support. You nailed it on every corner tree. Keep up the good work my friend.
As a Blackhawk fan am pissed and ashamed like wtf bro I hope somewhere down the road that this organization can regain not only dignity but also trust in the fan base again
I'm a new subscriber who only recently started watching, but this may be one of the best videos I've seen on UA-cam. It's good to see creators with personalities mostly outside of politics or social issues take a stand when it matters.
I am 17 and I’ve wanted to be an NHL gm for about 10 years now and I have made it my goal. I am going to show all the managers and front office people that there needs to be people who are highly educated on sports management running their team and now former nhl player and their friends (Boys Club)
Well if the people up top won’t do anything about it it will be the same for every team, simple. Chicago is a big market and tbh since the hawks started sucking millions stopped watching. Now I hear they’ll have celebrini possibly too. It’s an endless circle of getting fucked and the people in power control everything
Even as a Blackhawks fan, I will never see the Blackhawks the same way anymore. This whole situation with the Blackhawks is truly the worst thing I would ever hear from a team and it makes me sick to my stomach. For now, I am distancing myself as a fan of the Blackhawks until further notice.
Its not just the hawks. Not defending them but the entire league has this issue. I grew up with my uncle in the nhl and I can say similar shit happened in Dallas and Calgary and thats just what he knew of. Hockey has a gary bettman and team owner problem.
Same here man it not only made me distance myself from the hawks but also from the Rockford Icehogs as well they also knew about this scandal and did nothing and as someone who used to work for them it makes me sick to have worked for a team that would cover this kind of scandal up
It speaks volumes on how "good" the culture of hockey is when the face for Canadian hockey up until the year of 2019 was Don Cherry, somebody who has outstayed his welcome by more than 10 years...
as a german hockey fan for 15+ years i started watching the nhl around 6 years ago. i remember watching my first coaches corner and cherry on some anti european player rant, where he would get the players names wrong, the co-host than doing the thumbs up, and i thought to myself: "how the fuck is this shit on tv? they are so going to lose their jobs!". basically changed my view of canadien hockey culture, when i found out that this is normal there!
@@evkin3454 yeah, that's a weird thing about American/Canadian talking heads in general. Just look at Stephen A. Smith's "analysis" on Doncic pre-draft. He even admitted that he has seen no tape on Doncic because he played in Europe. I mean it's literally your job to look at the players you're supposed to talk about and you can't even do that!? Übrigens, Grüße aus Bayern!
I agree on everything but injury designation. The Upper Body/Lower Body split is because there’s a high likelihood opposing players will passively target that area with physical contact upon the players return in an attempt to re-aggravate it. Example: just came back from a Hip injury? Don’t be surprised if you get hip checked a few extra times when you get back. In a sport where there’s no structure as to where and how contact occurs, keeping the injury ambiguous to the public is a way to protect the player.
alternatively they could actually let players heal from their injuries and have refs call calls instead of managing games, while having a DoPS that actually does it’s job and proactively protects players from these types of actions you know, move forward instead of trying to justify the status quo
but having players allowed to play with bad injuries make your so called pro sport look bush league, yes let them play with those and see how bad there life's are after there playing days are over
@@TomBrent I’m not making a judgement on how players are cleared to play by doctors and team staff, just explaining the rationale of the current injury announcement procedure. Its possible for even a person who has fully recovered to re-aggravate an injury. Its a contact sport and I think not giving others a target makes sense.
He's unafraid to speak his mind. A rare quality. And that goes equally for both serious issues like this and dunking on every single team in every possible way.
@@southsider3542 More so calling out the hypocrisy of the NHL and the Blackhawks organisation in dealing with such a serious incident and the rascals involved in it. The culture problem is an added bonus.
On the one hand, yes, you're right, this is a dark time. On the other hand, the exposure means things must be fixed. People like Lehner and Beech are heroes. The fact that Eichel gets to go play on a team with Lehner means we will see these players advocate for one another. And hell, if the Vegas staff and executives can get on board and show a change in culture and lead by example, by not hiding these players or their experiences, and by treating their players right, maybe this is the dark night of the soul for hockey's boy's club culture. There's definitely no coincidence this all comes out at a time when people are harking about "cancel culture". This falls right in line. Because there's no such thing, it's just people demanding that those with power be held accountable for their abuse of power. So thank you for calling out coach Q and the NHL in general, people that knew what was going on and chose to cover it up. We change the culture when we hold these people accountable.
@@DJ1NS4N1TY except that this is exactly the kind of behavior that people do that then turn around and decry "cancel culture" or "woke mob" about in order to move the conversation away from accountability. So when tree says coach q shouldn't be behind the bench right now because he is culpable for abetting assault against young players, I agree. He needs to be held accountable for protecting a criminal, for putting winning hockey games above protecting his players from a predator. And that is when people will call it "cancel culture". Whether you like that or not, its a way people are attempting to undermine accountability.
@@kellyactormosgoog i just don't think your application of cancel culture works in your point. you're saying that cancel culture is the thing that would stop quenneville bowman etc. from getting sacked on the spot instead of being allowed to gracefully 'resign', whereas cancel culture is more about blacklisting people for past wrongdoings, which is the opposite of what happened.
@@DJ1NS4N1TY so the events in question happened over a decade ago, ergo past wrongdoings. I guess asking people not to go to panthers games is moot since nobody goes anyways, but also the concept of blacklisting is pretty inaccurate here, too, given that most people who get "canceled" still have jobs and platforms, just highly reduced. See Gina Carano and her immediately being cast in like 2 movies or Rosanne Barr who's still collecting royalties. What the culture actually is, is pointing out a bad thing happened and assigning responsibility to those who did it, and those who allowed it to happen. Hell, in my opinion, when the one dude is tried, any person in the nhl who covered it up should be charged for aiding and abetting assault. But calling for bettman and quenville and any other person to resign, at least, is saying "we don't support you because you allowed this to happen, we will not continue to support your product until you are removed". Or, as some might put it, canceled.
It’s sad to see my favorite sport struggle with this problem. I hope the nhl can learn from the 2010 Hawks scandal and create a much better culture that can help the game for the future
I got into the NHL about 6 years ago, and while I had heard about the Blackhawks incident, I didn't know the full extent of what happened, and I thought it had been long resolved. I'm absolutely appalled by the information that's been coming out recently. I wanted to cry when I read what Kyle Beach was subjected to. I hate that it took this long for him to get any support. These players deserve so much better.
@@ImmortalWombat I want you to sit down and take 3 deep breaths, give your eyes a good rub and have a good stretch Now sit and read what you just wrote and let it sink in for a good minute
As a hawks fan, what happened leaves me with mixed feelings. I grew up watching the dynasty and have great memories from that time. But at the same time, knowing what I know now, leaves me sickened. On on hand: How can I root for a team that pulls this shit? On the other hand: how can I stop cheering for one of my favorite teams? I wanted Bowman out long before this came out, but hearing about Coach Q hurts. He was the guy that coached the hawks to 3 cups in 5 years. But he also knew about the situation and did nothing. Now I can never see the dynasty in the same light. Hopefully they can turn the season around and we get another dynasty to look upon with a better light.
The part that is confusing is the question of how many other players knew, what could they do legally, and who were the players that bullied Kyle Beach.
@@bone_krusher5474 Alledgedly, Captain Serious knew about it, and didn't say anything. With the alleged homophobic slurs that were used towards Beach in preseason training camps by Hawks regulars, it doesn't look good for Towes, Kane, Keith, Crawford, Saad, or Shaw at this point in time.
The NHL needs to just axe every major executive, GM, coach, scout, whoever knew about this scandal and blacklist them. Then they need to get Bettman to step down. Only way I can see any sort of real progress towards making things happen. We need people who take the issues seriously in charge, and the NHLPA should have an expanded role in player safety.
I agree, but the NHLPA also knew about this scandal and did jack shit. The union should exist to benefit the players, not to cover up scandals. The NHLPA also needs a purge.
Of course I’m a Seattle fan just getting into hockey and now I’m learning about this. Impeccable timing NHL, not only have you had multiple felonies occur within your organization, known about it, and done nothing about it, you’ve timed it with the expansion of a new franchise into the NHL, that being the lucrative Seattle market. And of course when this problem arises, you don’t address the issue or hand out serious punishments for the people involved, you try to sweep it under the rug to avoid the media fallout. Many people from Seattle will be new fans of hockey as a whole, and this is their first introduction to the sport? The crazy thing is to me is that what do we not know? What has been going on behind the scenes that we have no clue about?
Fucking hell. I've supported this team for a decade now, I wore all those championship stuff and showed it off loud and proud. I even MET one of those players when they visited my grade school. They were almost a last bastion to a golden time... and to realize I had been indirectly supporting such horrid acts is almost soul crushing. This may have permanently tainted my fanhood for a good long while, I'll admit that right now. I defended this team... but I can't defend this.
I'd also maintain that you can still support the players who won that championship without necessarily endorsing the organization that covered up this awful sexual assault. Unless the players were in on it and did nothing (which doesn't seem like the case) I actually feel sorry for those players who will have their likely best career achievement continually overshadowed for decades now.
I'm a Sharks fan. I don't remember too much from 2010 but I know they went to the Western Conference Finals that year and got swept by Chicago. Pretty sad that while we got kicked to the curb and they got fame and glory, there was a horrible crime being committed. Can't imagine how Flyers fans feel about this.
And this is completely reinforced again after the news that Hockey Canada maintains a fund for paying out settlements in cases of sexual assault. The fund comes from the registration fees of the players
Thank you for making this video, Tree. When you talked about how the league chews players up and spits them out, it made me think of the article that Colin Wilson wrote a couple of weeks ago about how playing in the league caused him to develop a crippling cocaine addiction to that came very close to killing him. The article is called "Addiction," for anyone who wants to look it up. Countless guys are wrecking their lives at this very moment for the chance to play in the NHL, and it needs to stop. I'd like to hope that the Blackhawks scandal will be the catalyst to bring about some positive changes, but knowing Bettman's NHL, I'm not optimistic.
@@josepharmstrong1531 I think its gonna take more than a rebuild. He'll even Duncan Keith is being called on shit and he not on team no more. Was Hossa on team for 09
"The culture is pretty damn toxic, I think I'll cancel it." - This video. Thank you from one Yinzer to another for this and handling it with such class. This is disgusting.
I pop in and out of watching hockey as a casual fan, CBJ mainly. I've had always interest for its pace and physicality. Hearing about Chicago is disgusting because people like this exist in PROFESSIONAL teams. Playing rugby and football myself, it doesn't surprise the amount of pain these players are in, but the level of disregard for their health from trainers and after they leave the game is despicable. Changing it is going to be a brutal process, and there's going to be some crater in some organizations. (Sorry for the rant. Keep you heads up and keep moving forward people.)
I played hockey for ten years. It’s the worst possible environment for a kid to grow up in. All the parents flex their wealth, every parent’s kid is the next big thing despite them not doing anything after youth levels finish, you’re constantly sexually harassed, not taught how to handle hitting, and in the end you’re an embarrassment if you don’t like any of it. I’m lucky I didn’t get permanent damage from playing, it took me a couple years to look back and realize how terrible of a culture it really is. It’s an awfully expensive way to realize you hate everything to do with the game. I used to love the NHL but now I can’t even watch it anymore because it just reminds me of the toxic culture. Just let the kids play hockey if they have to play at all. The NHL is just a mere extension of the underlying community.
@@spectrelfc1152 from a Canadian perspective, a lot of what you described is an American/Ontario issue. Up in BC everyone played mostly for their home town and we learned how to hit and take a hit at 12. Hockey has ultimately only taught me positives in life. I played with people of every race, played with girls (as a guy) and there were never any issues.
@@laffytaffyking4490 I’m glad to hear that. I think the problem was that in places where it’s not cold, hockey is reserved for those with money. So everyone’s egotistical to some degree. You get maybe two trust fund babies per team that make the locker room pretty bad in some cases. I’m not some victim or anything, I knew what I was getting into, however it took me awhile to step back and realize how crazy it actually is. A lot of it stems from the parents.
8:19 The power in those words. The sheer anger and disapproval of the actions compared. The way he said "Fuck off. Just fuck off." By far the most impact in one line of a video I have ever seen. This video is my favorite vid from tree, cause he doesn't make jokes or make stupid funny commentary. He is just rightfully pissed.
@@matthewshortle5274 nba has like 5% of the league vaccinated and that was the number in October (number probably went up) it’s just news cause Kyrie isn’t and can’t play cause of it Edit: 5% of the league is unvaccinated
I fell in love with the sport, I dreamed of playing in the NHL when I was young, but I always hate the culture from the beginning...and that was 30 years ago. I had depression from not going further. I tried to coach and change the culture, but the problem is much deeper than I thought. Maybe I'm not rich, but at least my quality of life is better than some of them after their careers end. Great stuff again. Cheers 🍻 👏 ✌
I overcame opiate addiction and I appreciate you speaking up about the addictions in the NHL, and sports in general. Seems to be swept under the rug but recently has been gaining more spotlight. When you look into it it's insane the amount of players its affected
As a woman who has watched hockey culture being slowly revealed publicly as toxic and harmful especially to someone like me, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you making this breakdown. There are a few other things that I would have liked to hear about, but they’re only tangentially related and I understand that you couldn’t talk about everything in such a limited platform. Thank you, Tree.
More problem surface in hockey realm. This time 5 players surrendered for sexual assault case during WJC 2018. This video is getting more relevant by the minute.
Only thing one can hope is that the Sponsors start to asks pertinent questions; that's when owners get antsy, that's when things change: when the money threatens to or actually does walk away.
I remember Freddy Freeman (first basemen for the Atlanta Braves) admit that he abused painkillers throughout last season while battling an arm injury. The issues described in this video don't begin and end with hockey, they exist in every part of sports and every part of life. Tyler Skaggs would still be alive if the "suck it up and take some pain pills" mentality didn't exist in American culture.
@@southsider3542 Not if their fears and people that work with em or the higher ups can do whatever to make sure they participate or get shut out. Free will isn’t exactly strong especially if you, a player are expected to perform no matter what obstacle comes in your way and say if you do refuse or don’t try to by some reason even moralistic. If the higher ups don’t take it well, they can do more that isn’t just benching you or say take you off of the team. I can understand in some terms how a player will feel pressured to continue on regardless of the means and sometimes not just by pure will and passion unfortunately
This is probably gonna be quite long, but I hope that hockey fans can heed these words. After finding out about Tree's channel and watching his detailed takes on the the NHL and the sport of hockey itself, I wanted to get into watching the sport of hockey, so I did. I officially started watching hockey last season..when everyone was in the bubble. I almost immediately fell in love with the sport. The speed, accuracy, and fan reactions to goal's had me hooked, and my interest for the sport was magnified during playoff time , especially since I was a hurricanes fan (as this was the only team I knew of before watching the sport) at the time. After that season, I found out that Chicago, the city closest to where I live, has a hockey team, the Blackhawks. After learning about them, watching documentaries, and researching their history, I became a fan of the Hawks. Not long after I made that decision, the allegations came through. I continued being a fan of the team, as I didn't know if they were true or not. A crappy offseason went by, followed by the official season. A few games into the Blackhawks season, the allegations were proven to be true and then some. I am nothing other than fucking disgusted with not only the Blackhawks, but the entire fucking NHL. I feel betrayed and gutted. No longer am I able to properly say that I am a fan of the Hawks. The team I chose as my favorite. The team where I could brag about their history like a fricking snob. THE TEAM THAT I WAS GOING TO BELIEVE IN NO MATTER WHAT. Honestly, I don't if I can watch the NHL anymore after knowing about all of this stupid fucking bullshit. I haven't been able to bring myself to watch another game since I first watched the TSN interview with Kyle, and I don't know if I will again. I might, as the thought has been in the back of my head, but I don't know anymore. This just fucking sucks.
after the 2023 draft lottery, chicago is paying for this sin by having the right to draft connor bedard 1st overall. season ticket sales after the result amounted to 2.5M$, more than the beach scandal fine. Arizona lost a 1st for combine abuse, NJ lost a 1st for a legal contract for kovalchuk. but reapeated SA only nets you a fine and slap on the wrist. good fucking job gary.
Sometimes you come across a video that displays precisely everything you've been thinking & contemplating about a specific issue. This video just did that for me. Tree, you are an incredible talent and seriously under appreciated. Thank you
What makes hockey players so admirable doesn't also have to be the source of the moral rot at the heart of the League. The toughness and grittiness that is embodied by so many players doesn't have to exist independent of a regard for their basic humanity. And while those players win out hearts by battling through terrifying injuries and unfathomable pain, a sense of self-preservation should not be looked at as weakness or lack of toughness. And they especially should never be made to feel that winning or "team cohesion" is more important than their right not to be treated like an object by anyone involved with the team. At the end of the day, a game isn't worth anyone's life or their quality of life.
Every time I remember the Avalanche-Red Wings rivalry of the late 90’s, I always think about how the Avs got constantly screwed over by the NHL when it came to punishing players. Darren McCartney gets nothing for shoving Adam Foote’s face into the boards, but Claude Lemieux gets 2 games for a 5 minute game misconduct AND a two game suspension for hitting Kris Draper? Sure, Drapers injury was terrifying, but Foote’s nose got wrecked! And now this? $2 million and the loss of their GM for covering up SEXUAL ASSAULT, while the Devils lose $3 million and TWO of their draft picks for just going over the salary cap?!?! What the actual heck, NHL? I thought there would be fairer punishments handed out after the Avs-Wings sh!t, but you’ve all learned nothing. Shame. P.S. I know this was two years ago, but I don’t care. It’s still a big deal.
My only wish is that Kyle Beach is getting the respect he deserves from this, he was only one year older than me when he was assaulted you know, I could only imagine what that would be like.
I'm extremely casual about hockey, but I came up in Chicago listening to the Hawks on the radio in the Amonte-Zhamnov-Eric Daze days, just because I love sports. When those 2010 Blackhawks finally won, it was euphoria here, and now that's all a blistered memory. This is up there with the Maple Leaf Gardens sex ring. Fucking awful.
What is sad is, this is only the tip of the metaphorical iceberg. Not just for hockey but all sports and career opportunities alike. I really hope that these types of problems will be resolved and changes made for any future inhuman treatments. Thank you tree, I’m glad you and others are able to use the platform you have to express your thoughts on things that are difficult to talk on.
It's almost like to be the best of the best and to make the tens of millions they make they need to make some sacrifices. It's almost like people want to see the best of the best and pay to see the best of the best. It's almost like all of this is really simple but you're just trying to shove some crybaby narrative into it.
What plagues the NHL is the same thing that plagues every other professional and collegiate sports league. Deviant sexual behavior, drugs, and criminal activity. And far worse, once they’re caught, they’ll do anything and everything to try and sweep it under the rug, do hypocritical PR moves or try to ignore it and hopefully it blows over instead of addressing the problem, holding those accountable and punishing them if found guilty, and doing everything to ensure that these things never happen. It makes me wonder sometimes why I watch sports in the first place. Even though I don’t follow hockey, this is a very informative perspective to those who don’t know what’s going on. And you do put a human element to this video. I’ve personally seen first hand how injuries and life in professional sports effect a lot of retired players both physically and mentally. It’s very sad as it unfolds. Thank you Tree, well done with this video good sir.
It's a shame that hockey has a culture problem. This is a sport that I discovered on my own when I was a kid and fell in love with. Sadly, now it is tainted and it is a dark time for any fan base.
Thank you for this video Tree. Such an important topic and one that should be talked about far more than it is. As someone whose played hockey his whole life I’ve seen how toxic the culture can be, and it pains me because I know the sport can be so much more than it is. This story is just the tip of the iceberg, and I hope one day that those who eventually make it to the top in hockey can make the right changes to truly bring hockey to its full potential.
As a former player (but nowhere near the professional level), I was a 3rd line black and blue player in high school. I blocked tons of shots, threw big hits, and was tethered to the crease in the offensive zone. Playing through injuries is a big deal especially at that level. During the regular season I have had teammates play through torn muscles and broken bones left and right. Guys wouod be in school in slings and on crutches and playing the night after. Robin Lehner's twitter rant hit me very close to home. Since playing hockey, I have had significant shoulder issues, post-concussion syndrome, and minor wrist damage to both wrists as a result of the grind of the game and its aftermath. I absolutely love the sport of hockey it's the greatest sport out there, but the players' bodies are pushed to the limit far to often compared to most contact sports.
“You know, the culture, is actually damn good.” - NHL owners, probably
"this is fine." gary bettman, probably
Yes
That's exactly what I was thinking.
Where have I heard that before? 🤔
Where have I heard that before? 🤔
Bruce Allen: “Now this is a league with a culture in my wheelhouse.”
The culture is actually damn good
Unfortunately no women so not quite Allen's wheelhouse
Needs to sexually exploit cheerleaders and circulate the pics around the league
Nhl sucks anyway..not worth watching
Daniel Snyder: "Damn right Bruce"
So what are solutions we can put in place to move on?
Giving him a letter of recommendation was what truly cemented this as straight up fucking evil
That teenager is more of a man and has bigger balls than all of the people in that organization combined
Par for the course in business. Get the accused far away. That way he is not our problem anymore.
Mickey Calloway was a coach with The Indians accused of sexual harassment. Indians management gave Calloway a glowing recommendation when he interviewed to be Mets manager. He got that job.
Calloway was pitching coach with The Angels when his past caught up with him.
Nick Francona is Terry's son. He had a public falling out with his father when Calloway's transgressions became public and how The Indians covered them up.
Nick was a Marine officer from 2009-13. He had a tour in Afghanistan. Nick Francona was Assistant Director of Player Development for The Dodgers from 2014-16. In early 2016, Francona sought assessment from Home Base. They treat veterans who have "invisible injuries." That's code for PTSD, Depression, and other mental illness. Francona was pushed aside from his job with The Dodgers and fired.
The Dodgers can use PR speak and that specifics of Nick Francona's case are private. But the Old Boy's Club had its way with him.
@@edalder2000 par for business is right. The catholic church has laid out the blueprint for how to deal with this sort of thing.
Theres actually no evidence to support that there was ever a letter of recommendation. As per the jenner and block report. That being said notre dame refused to share records. All the other places aldrich worked did however and there is no evidence of this recommendation letter.
@@mp40submachinegun81 regardless they would've had to call and ask about him. A coach that just won a title and is looking for work elsewhere had to raise a few eyebrows.
@@thedevilsadvodkate no evidence to support that.
Great video bud, good on you for making it.
hey its the best star wars youtuber
My mentally slow mind was trying to figure out why a Canadian made you tube channel cares about the NHL, Then it hit me.
Aye what’s up eck weird seeing you here
Seconded! I was astounded when I first learned about this in August and it happened 10 YEARS ago! The NHL clearly has done its best to bury it but exposure is what we need
@Eckhartadder Eck! Your vids rock. Good to see you in the wild.
I'm really glad you brought up Paul Kariya as an example.
For context, many hockey fans who hear his name will immediately think of game 6 of the 2003 SCF where he was hit by Scott Stevens, had to go into the dressing room, returned four minutes later, and scored a goal to help the Ducks win the game. But here's the thing: he doesn't remember the goal. And a huge reason for that is all the concussions he suffered throughout his career. I'm sure there are many more examples.
Literally sitting a foot away from that White Kariya Jersey while wearing my 25th Anniversary Perry.
What about Chris Pronger, who suffered a heart attack on the ice early in his career and then concussions that impacted his life after hockey?
@@AEMoreira81 Another great example!
@@AEMoreira81 I think Pronger is ok in the end. HOF and a Cup is a nice trade.
Let’s not forget Marc Savard. Man was very talented when he played for the Boston Bruins but getting two concussions in 10 months destroyed him…even after his first concussion his play suffered, but after concussion #2? He literally couldn’t play anymore.
He didn’t officially retire until 2018, but from January 23rd, 2011 onwards he might as well have been retired.
At least the Bruins pushed for the NHL to include Marc Savard’s name on the Stanley Cup after they won it even though Savard didn’t play enough games to have his name be there automatically…
As a wise man once said "the culture is actually damn good"
Bruce Allen.
Bruce Allen, whose brother once called an Indian a macaque.
The NHL and hockey, in general, needs an exorcism considering the amount of information that has come out recently
You mean a visit to the Shadow Realm?
In that case can we also perform one on FIFA?
I have no idea how the CTE revelations hasn't broken the sport itself. The sad thing is, videos like this will only further the downfall of this league.
@@epicchk4319 Say less, Epic. I AM a sperg of the people.
@@epicchk4319 At this point, why not go "Scorched Earth" on the sports realm? Nearly every big league has its own mess that impeded them from being a compelling option to watch and it's disgusting.
Tree has been calling NHL a “Boys Club” for a long time. I never knew how right he was…
My first memory of him using the term in the NHL was the Boston Bruins "Lolcow" video around 2017, which entitled them "Professional Hockey's Boy's Club Lolcow".
Mirroring what he once said about the Oilers, the NHL was "a boy's club before the boy's club was even considered to be a popular entity."
Is there a sports league that isn't?
@Ken Clarke The boy's club is more of a reference to the sense of tribalism that many higher up executives in the league have in regards to hires, and who gets to be in their "club". The reluctance to new ideas, theories, and ways of thinking and doing business. A certain player doesn't "fit the culture"? Okay, fair enough, but I expect a fair amount of introspection of what kind of "culture" you're building if that's the case.
A "Boys Club" is a hockey team who still repeatedly has the same star quality players every year-and-year all over again.
I'm really glad you included the treatment of minor league and junior players as well. I would also throw in college players as well. I played in Juniors and College and had a long history of concussion issues that are impacting me today. Things such as memory loss and constant headaches and being able to adapt to daily living. One time on a tournament I had gotten a concussion in the third period of our semi finals, instead of being able to actually go and get treatment right away after getting the concussion I was told I would simply be the backup and told "rest it off on the bus home". When I was in college hockey I had taken a shoulder directly to the head which snapped my neck back so badly I was out for at least a minute. Instead of being able to take the time to recover properly (would've taken about 2-3 months to truly heal) I was basically forced back into the lineup because the goalie they had in my spot was bad, so to keep our playoff hopes alive I was basically forced to come back a month after the headshot. That season never actually finished because of COVID-19 but I was basically forced to play while recovering "for the good of the team".
I love hockey, I watch every day, I watch videos daily, I will wake up super early just to watch some later KHL games because of my passion for the game, but the toxic culture of masculinity needs to change. Sometimes there is an i in team, when it comes to your health both physically and mentally. Real change needs to happen, I hope Beach doesn't quit and take the action needed against the Hawks just to set an example. Fuck the boys club.
I played triple a, junior, and college and this is my same experience.
I was a black player and I feel what you said, hockey is a beautiful freeing sport but the toxic masculine bullshit and racism breaks my heart and honestly has left me feeling bitter towards the whole thing if you don’t tow the line.
Had multiple kids on my team screaming the n word with a hard r, the constant black jokes, the toxic coaches who hid my skates in the nahl. It all fucked with my head.
The sexual harassment of women, the gang like culture and protectionism, the homophobia, it all makes me never want to show up at the rink or see any of my former teammates again.
It’s such a damned exhilarating sport ruined by a petulant insular culture.
I feel you, for such a rich sport the medical protocol is absolute shit. I had my fourth concussion and second major neck injury in the 2018-2019 season in USPHL Premeir that ended my competitive career. My own fucking defenseman went in to hit the guy I was battling along the boards with for the puck, and I got his cross-check to the cage and fell back and slammed my head on the ice. I was out for a full minute, and my teammates told me that the ref didn't stop play until half my bench got onto the ice to force him to stop it. I remembered waking up with my neck feeling so fucking sore and with blurry vision. Nobody called ems. They forced me to skate back to the locker-room, get showed and changed on my own, and call a buddy from church to drive me to the hospital. People were telling me not to go bc "they can't do anything for a concussion". the CT scan of my neck was one of the worst the doc had ever seen, and I would have never known. He said that the compression and damage to the top 4 vertebrae were so bad that if I took a hit like that again, or got into a car accident, I could break my next far easier than the average person and end up paralyzed. The organization never gave a fuck and was pissed at me for not showing up for practice the rest of the season. Hockey culture is a shit show the second that you actually need help with anything.
I got a concussion during the state final for my hockey team in high school and had to finish the last 15 minutes since I was the starting goalie. After the game I was told I was just “fatigued”. A couple months later I got another one, played on it for a week or two and next thing I knew I couldn’t function for an entire month. 4 years later I have memory loss and mood swings that are just absolutely brutal to deal with. Had to quit college hockey my junior year and I’ve never been happier
A bit late but this all breaks my heart to read. I hope you guys are doing well. Hockey is a beautiful game, the more people speak about these experiences the more light it'll bring
There may be no “i” in team, but there is a “me”.
I watched Kyle play as a Silvertip in Everett, he saw me and my brother in the crowd during warmups, and flipped each of us a puck. I hope he finds peace.
"You know the culture is actually damn good". The NHL Commissioner
all things equal,I just think the culture is... too good right now.
THAT quote alone - I hope Bettman gets booed unlike any other year before.
Bettman is the NHL's version of David Stern
It reminds me exactly of mass sh*otings in Usa. The only thing ever said is “thoughts and prayers” and other empty platitudes while absolutely f*ck all is done to prevent them going forward. Embarrassing and pathetic
Gary Bettman has been the commissioner of the NHL for WAY too long. It is pretty clear and obvious that he is in it for the money and willing to just make statements on social media to defend his reputation and that of the NHL. If anyone needs to go first, it needs to be Bettman, only then can the boys club league officially begin to be cleansed.
I will also say this as a Sabres fan, I wasn't very thrilled that Eichel was denied the surgery he wanted. I get that Buffalo was hesitant due to the risks and potential damage (plus the fact that they were intent on trading him since the end of last season). However, it should have been up to him, not to the team. That whole situation was a huge mess when it didn't need to be, at the very least that stuff is done and over with, and now both Eichel and the Sabres can start fresh again. Not sure about the Blackhawks though.
Amen on that Gary Bettman fact! Seriously, every league except for the NBA have had shitty commissioners on board, with Adam Silver's only major sin since starting out being the China incident from the 2019-2020 season (which really looked worse once COVID-19 hit our shores). Even then, considering all the garbage the other commissioners have had on board, I'd rather take the bowing down to China's bullshit over some of the absolute crap the other commissioners are doing to each of their leagues!
Bowman has been pushing expansion into the USA without comprehending what it would take to make it win there. You think people in California, Florida goddam Arizona want to watch more old whites succeed in sports?
Look at the predominantly Hispanic Cali and Arizona. Not one player for them to get behind on.
@@crazyluigi6664 Adam Silver is easily the best commissioner of all four major north american sports leagues. Yes, he has his faults, but he's been doing better than Bettman, Goodell and Manfred combined.
Silver is liked by the players, Bettman is not. Very easy for anyone who watched his Hall of Fame speech. He had the longest speech out of any player. Very selfish and his replacement is just him but taller...
Getting rid of Bettman won't do anything, unfortunately. Commisioners in North American sports aren't all-powerful; they serve at the pleasure of the owners, they get their 8-figure paychecks from the owners, they get all of their marching orders from the owners. Think of them like the head of a player's association like Donald Fehr: publicly powerful but really just a representative for the needs or whims of the greater group.
Getting rid of Bettman would just lead to another stooge. The real problem, not just in hockey but in all big 4 leagues, comes with the owners.
"Words mean nothing when you just say them to get likes on social media."
FACTS
Corporatism is truly self-righteous cancer
When the NFL or NHL tries obscuring these scandals, it reminds me of how Brand Twitter will have rainbow backgrounds from June 1-30 but do nothing else for LGBTQ+
@@warlordofbritannia Yep. This why I don't take these social media trends seriously.
Honstly a huge reason i don't want go to the NFL is because of this bs
@@jackrock121 Agreed. I was never a football fan and never will be.
Like Tree is doing here?
PRESENTING YOUR CONNOR BEDARD SWEEPSTAKES WINNER!
We are all in eternal suffering
It really hurts as a Hawks fan that this scandal has shattered my view of what was once a joyous period for the franchise. I suffered through the worst parts of the Dollar Bill days and was fully expecting them to waste the talents of Toews and Kane like they had many players before them until Bill dropped dead. Now T & K and others on the team at the time are tarnished with the knowledge that some of them were making Beach's life a living hell after the abuse he suffered.
I am also reminded of how Theo Fleury spent most of his career as a brawler on the ice and an alcoholic off of it and we thought little of it until he revealed that he was sexually abused during his time in the juniors. If that aspect of hockey hasn't cleaned itself up after all these years, then the next major scandal will be coming from there. And I know there have already been sex abuse scandals in the junior ranks before.
edited to remove an unproven accusation of bullying about a player and clarify a statement
Your comment about how Kane bullied Beach has no basis in fact at all. It's a baseless accusation that had ZERO evidence or credibility. Don't try and play some superior moral hero and then throw around stuff that didn't happen
@@southsider3542 Honestly, you're right. I made the comment in frustration and didn't think it through. I will redact the statement and add a note. But, I am of the belief that there are beloved players from that team who only compounded Beach's misery.
@@jrm78 That belief doesn't make sense when Beach never played with Toews, Kane, Keith, or Seabrook. Beach never made the NHL, if he was getting bullied about the assault, it more than likely came from his teammates in Rockford
@@southsider3542 agreed
@@southsider3542 hilarious to see people calling for the titles to be stripped
I remember just how insane the whole of Chicago went when they started winning, I was riding home in a taxi screaming that the Hawks won at random people on the street.
It's all fucked now, all those memories, the parades, celebrating in Wrigleyville, everything's tainted. What a disgrace.
They should have their Cups stripped. Banners taken down and not just Aldrich name off the Cup!
@@ktowniecity7269 Nah there’s so many innocent players that knew nothing of the situation, stripping all that work away from them would be unfair.
@@ktowniecity7269 Not gonna happen
Not tainted for me. The players who won it had nothing to do with it
@@ktowniecity7269 fuck no
As a Preds fan, I’d like to send my condolences to our former captain Greg Johnson and Wade Belak. Taken too soon. It maddens me to see how little the NHL gives a shit about mental health, especially given how many former NHLers(like the two I just mentioned) have committed suicide in the last 20 years.
Unrelated but hi (I'm on the Chel Amino too)
@@ErinEpica Oh, hey Erin.
The same could be said for the NFL on the topic of CTE over a decade ago, the difference being that the NFL can't deny CTE now. The NHL on the other hand refused to admit that CTE and concussion related deaths are linked (I might be wrong about this).
Tree, thank you for addressing this and taking it just as seriously as it deserves to be.
I appreciated your comments on how people view being sexual assaulted as some sort of failure on the victims part. That crap needs to be stamped out.
The NHL needs to be nuked and rebuilt from the ground up. Players need more protection from being exploited, in just about EVERY sport.
It's especially worse because that's how a lot of sexual predators can get away with it. If the criminal can use it to his advantage, you're damn right it needs to be fixed.
@@drewvonawesome8851 He’s been addressing this long before this video. We didn’t know how bad it was with the Boy’s Club Culture. The Bruins Lolcow, Leaf’s Leagacy of Failure, and Canucks video should’ve been the eye openers and yet we turned a blind eye because Tree made us laugh our asses off. He knew something we didn’t or he just figured it out long before this happened.
@@chrismaxwell6192 Oh of course, I was meaning in a more general sense when it comes to sexual harassment/assault towards male targets.
Nobody is saying that. You and Tree are literally getting angry at stuff that wasn't said
There’s a culture in sports that to be a victim is to be weak.
Penguins rumored to be connected with Stan Bowman, and Rangers rumored to be connected with Joel Quenneville. The fact that these guys are even rumored to try to come back to the NHL shows how little the culture has changed. Really disgusting.
The Stan Bowman thing was BS
Brooks reported about a week before this video came out that the Rangers were not pursuing Quenneville. That said, the fact it was even a rumor or being considered is still pretty fucked up
Penguins are trying to get Dubas I thought?
People move on from it 2 business days later that's how it is.
Stuff like this makes me NOT want to be an NHL fan anymore (no, not the rainbow jerseys or stuff like that I couldn't give less of a shit). But imagine the ones who've gotten away with this for probably DECADES!! This will start a HUGE rabbit hole of rings like what we've never seen in sports...
7 months later and this has completely blown over and no one talks about it anymore.
So much for change.
This was nothing more than a media fad. It's fucking depressing. Hockey is supposed to be so much more than this.
It's a shame that people would rather chase celebrities wiping their tears with $1 than fight for people who lost their careers and years of healthy living...It's fucking disgusting.
“The culture, is actually damn bad”
-UTree
It really is a Boys Club league, hurts my soul whenever people say “hockey is boring” “who tf watches hockey”, but the sport just hasn’t made itself marketable, hasn’t moved on with the times.
Anyone who says that hockey is boring is a damn fool.
Betman is "bood" for a reason
It's those "Not a real sport" and "Basketball is a real sport" trolls
It's the NHLs fault. They want fans to love the league not players. That way it's easier to make the players look greedy during CBA negotiations. If the NHL makes it's players household names the league loses the leverage.
@@matthewshortle5274 who claims that hockey isn't a real sport?
Can we say Brad Aldrich is the modern-day Gordon Stuckless?
I sincerely hope that Kyle Beach and the other ex-Blackhawk player can heal from that traumatic event. The one thing that Chicago did right was request the NHL to remove Aldrich's name from the Stanley Cup.
Graham James
Graham James would be a more apt comparison.
You wouldn't be far off with that assessment. Also, John Roby, Larry Nasser, and Jerry Sandusky come to mind.
@@hotrodriguez549 Graham James. Now, there's a first-class dirtbag who should never coach another hockey team, let alone enjoy his freedom. He abused his power as a head coach and destroyed the trust of many young hockey players. Sheldon Kennedy and Theo Fleury come to mind.
And the 16 year old. Such a horrible experience at a young age is something I would never wish on my worst enemy.
This video has aged extremely well in the wake of the Hockey Canada scandal, where five players have been arrested for sexual assault during the 2018 World Juniors and as the news broke of the arrests the NHL comes out and announces that Salt Lake City is interested in receiving an expansion franchise, because the National Hockey League has not learned from the Blackhawks scandal, because the sport values it's "culture" instead of decency
And yet nothing is going to come of it bc the boys club would rather burn everything than acknowledge what they’ve allowed to fester
Growing up the Blackhawks meant everything to me.
I loved going to see the games in the UC, I loved going to Coach’s Corner and watching the games on TV and hearing the horns go off in the room, I loved seeing the only team I followed ever win a championship not once, but three times.
This team was everything, the players were heroes, and Coach Q was be of the best coach’s ever to be in Chicago, perhaps being up there with Mike Ditca. *But it was all ruined*, or at least tainted.
But most of all I just feel bad for those who suffered, and I can’t feel that all those I admired over the years did the same.
everything hurts
EVERYTHING HURTS
*EVERYTHING HURTS*
The downfall and death of Derek Boogard was the first time I knew for certain that hockey had a culture problem. Growing up in Minnesota you know it does. The price of ice time and the way that parents subordinate kids with even a shred of hockey talent to youth coaches is the first serious hint. But you sort of absorb that as just another aspect of sports in general (and maybe it is, our relationship with sports is EXTREMELY dysfunctional) until you see shit like "popular and prominent hockey player dies years later of brain trauma he received on the ice" happen.
I can agree as a fellow Minnesotan and Wild fan. It’s the reason why I stopped my playing career early because the locker room can be your sanctuary, but can be your prison at the same time.
Bob Probert was another unfortunate soul lost to this 'great culture'. RIP to both of them.
That offseason with him, Rick Rypien, and Wade Belak all leaving us was a red flag. I was only 13 at the time, so I didn't think much else of it, but it definitely set the tone going forward (in my mind)
@@thedevilsadvodkate He died of a heart attack, nothing to do with his fighting.
@@braeden816 A heart attack can be brought on by doing a lot of drugs, including prescription meds for chronic pain prescribed to former pro athletes.
Thank you tree. As a massive hockey fan who's had family in the NHL this is a serious problem and needs to be talked about.
Agreed
Yes it hurts worse since I'm a blackhawks fan
Which family member was it? In my family, that player was Glenn Anderson.
What makes this even more sad was the year before I returned watching hockey for the Blackhawks. And all those memories are tainted
Anime profile opinion invalid
Man, this makes Washington Football Team’s scandal looked tame in comparison.
The only scandals in recent memory that are comparable are the US Women's national gymnastics team and Sandusky.
@@TheGerrok I hope hell is real just for the chance that Sandusky and Nassar suffer there forever. I hope they suffer an eternal fate worse than Sam describes in WKUK's "Nailgun" sketch. "I drowned in wasps! My dick split open, and locusts came out!"
This is an unbelievably stupid comment
@@TheGerrok Can't forget the University of Michigan sexual assualt/rape scandal that broke this past summer. A team doctor was sexually assaulting and raping young men on the football team, Bo Schembechler knew, as did other high ups at the university and they did nothing. Even today the University refuses to acknowledge the fact and wont even have Bo's name or statue removed.
@@wsmfp_4207 I didn't hear about that one, must've been hibernating in my cave when it broke.
Anyone else come back here after watching the Blackhawks win the Bedard lottery? Absolutely sickening.
I think it's oddly poetic and hilarious in an awful way that all this horrific and nightmarish stuff is coming to light after the NHL returned to ESPN.
Sexual assault is hilarious to you?
@@southsider3542 Love the way you intentionally misinterpreted what I said and forgot the "in an awful way" part.
Take your manipulation and gaslight somewhere else. God help anyone that has to deal with you in real life. Seek help.
@@WorldsMostWated How can something be hilarious in an awful way? Are you intentionally contradicting yourself?
@@southsider3542 get a grip snowflake, if you literally read the comment properly and don’t just pick the one part you want to cherry pick and get mad about you’d get the context
@@jordza2k11 Okay, but if something is awful, how is it hilarious? Why don't you tell Kyle Beach to his face how "hilarious" you think it is
For Toronto … this is NO surprise to us … not at all.
What with the 1990’s “Gardens sex scandal” at Maple Leaf Gardens involving Gordon Stuckless abusing Martin Kruze, who ended up committing suicide by jumping off of the Bloor St. Viaduct and falling past the Don Valley Parkway on his way to the ground.
Which proved to be just the tip of the iceberg about the Gardens, with rumours that even the late Leafs owner Harold Ballard had knowledge about it but did nothing. Of course … it’s just rumours.
Unfortunately, sexual abuse is not just confined to hockey; with the Penn State child sex abuse scandal by Jerry Sandusky, which led to the firing of the, once revered head coach, Joe Paterno.
It is sad, it is tragic. And all that we, as a society, can do moving forward is to practice our own due diligence.
If we see or are aware of suspected abuse, call the police or 911. Or at the very least, ask people if they are okay or feeling alright.
As a Leafs fan i really don't remember that but make me sick,why the sport can this type of idiot enter whatever the organization??
@@MathRaven1910 All of this came to light in the late 1990’s … 1997 to be exact.
Considering that I was a child attending games with my family in rink-side seats in that era.
Looking back … it does make the hairs on my neck stand up.
@@Micktaylorify Me too,as a Brazilian who loves hockey and the Leafs since 2005 yeah the 05 lookout plus the NHL 2K5 made me fall in love with the sport i understand every who going to MLG or the ACC now when thats things goes to media we are very ashamed and broken bcs we suport everyone and the boys most special the owners don't give a shit for us and the players
This isn't a "hockey culture" problem, this exits everywhere where elites are involved and it not limited to hockey, the NFL for example has had its large share of issues. Plus look elsewhere in the media Industry or Hollywood and you start to notice a trend.
And for so many, they “dealt with it”, so if they could do it, the next generation can too. Cycle of abuse.
@@PYLrulz1984 Let's hope our generation and the next ones that follow can break the cycle.
That’s a fair point I mean Hollywood has the same issue, the boys club is definitely felt in the NFL and while their scandals are mostly from POS killing and beating people up there’s probably some victims in there too
And the older generation expects you to bend over and take it. And if you cry about it your just a snowflake woke millennial, makes me sick.
@@Fiedman Yep. Talk about us like we're the problem. They're sick.
I'm glad someone called out the NFL's little blue tent of "privacy". They just don't want to go back to the trainers room for the drugs.
I’ve been a hockey player my entire life (I’m currently 18) the amount of mental strain that goes on players to suck it up and play is horrifying I’m a goalie myself I’ve had mental breakdowns due to the stress that comes with playing the position and I felt like I should stay quiet and smile away and play my best just so my team could make it to the playoffs when I should have checked myself into a mental hospital hockey culture has failed everyone in the sport from players to coaches and it’s sickening to see that nothing has changed and nothing will change
If you're having mental breakdowns as a result of playing a sport I think thats more on you to be completely honest man. It shouldn't get to you that much, unless the coaches are just on your ass all the time, in which case you should probably quit that team. If it stops being fun entirely, it's not worth it. Unless of course you're getting paid for it like nhlers are.
@@islowthingsdownI mean you got a point
I'm a die hard Blackhawks fan who fell in love with the sport watching this dynasty as a kid. It sucks to know that this team will forever have this mark on what was an incredible season but I'm glad you're taking it a step further in this video.
It happened on the Blackhawks yes but this situation could have happened on any other team and probably would have ended the exact same way. It's a problem that's so embedded in hockey as a sport and as a culture that people don't realize how deep it goes. Not only the Blackhawks but the entire league deserves to be put on blast. Thank you Tree
What happened is terrible but they can’t take away that dynasty from us fans, we had no knowledge of this happening. It’s so painful seeing that this happened. I feel really bad for Kyle beach.
@@m4xchillax959 they're not trying to "take away" anything. I love those cups too but I understand why people can't look back on them the same it's not rocket science
My understanding of defining injuries as “upper-body” and “lower-body” was to avoid players targeting a specific body part when the injured player returns to play. (For example if Brayden Point had a broken arm, an opposing player may start hacking and slashing his healed arm).
then the refs should call those penalties they dont call enough just watch a game sometime
Exactly! All these talking heads that never played have no clue about what the game is really all about.
Tree has good points but this is not one of them... If a player has a nagging injury they describe it in a general way to avoid opposing players targeting them. If the injury is serious and the player will miss significant time they will disclose the exact injury. I thought this was common hockey knowledge
Bro the video is about hockeys culture problem. Players targeting injuries might be a part of that.
@@internetgoob It happens in every sport. It provides a competitive advantage if you can injure another teams star. Hockey is just one of the few sports where it’s really easy to injure someone (American Football, Hockey, and Baseball imo are the easiest to injure sports based on how the game is played, not who the players are and their culture).
In my 1st year of University in the UK I played rugby at a decent level. But due to the 'Locker Room' culture where we were forced to do antics which I considered immoral, I left and have never played again. Keep in mind I was given a scholarship to play rugby for this University, but due to the culture I started to hate the sport and I still have the mental scars that never healed.
Same with high school hockey. Had discussions with my family, i just didn't enjoy it and felt ashamed to be a part of it.
@@ktowniecity7269 Hopefully times are changing. (Hopefully)
Be more of a man
bang on about rugby mate. the shit that happens in locker rooms is disgusting. i love that sport and i love playing it but the rampant racism and sexism plus the almost predatory coaches in the clubs really made me hate it
Stunning and brave decision.
Need to get rid of bettman. long overdue. so many L’s that man has taken. it’s time for a change. barely any word on the chi situation and others
Sad thing is that this is happening in all sports. Until people feel that decency trumps a trophy or medal, it will continue.
Thank you for this one.
There's an old saying: the nail that sticks out of the wood gets hammered back into place. This is the NHL's culture problem in a nutshell.
This. This is why we respect you, Tree.
By what I had been told, my father was a very good hockey player growing up, but the whole boys club mantra ruined his dreams; kids parents were all lawyers and police officers where his worked on the railroads. Would never make any teams and lost out on an opportunity. It stems much further down than just the NHL and it's the aging men who are the pinnacle of the issue
Yet they parade a few players like Subban and Seth Jones around and feel they have attained 'diversity'.
And it's not just the NHL, or the NFL, or any other organization. The entirety of western civilization is like this. Modern-day society and capitalism are constructed to keep the poor at arm's length from the rich, insulating themselves from the "unmentionables" while feeding us slivers of bullshit to fight over amongst ourselves and to keep us from realizing that we're being treated as livestock. The worst part is that it happens at every level, because the level of greed that's inherently built into the system causes nearly everyone who gets a leg up to perpetuate the same principles against those "beneath" them, burning the bridges so that nobody else can follow in their footsteps. "I got mine, fuck you and yours."
@@cheshirecynic4524 that's not just capitalism....that's simply the haves and have not, which has always existed, and will probably always exist
@@jmarx3943 There is truth to that, but the split has been thoroughly exploited and maximized in the west since the industrialization that began in the Victorian Era. If modern nations weren't crafted to be corporatocracies, the common man would have greater recourse and a better chance at attaining both equity and equality. But I'm sure that I'm preaching to the choir, considering your screenname lol
@@cheshirecynic4524 I'm not a Marxist lol, but you make a solid point. I have to agree.
As a Blackhawks fan, I'm speechless, everything is tainted, so angry, only Chicago would be able to fuck up something that should've been so great
If I was in your shoes I would just celebrate the memories you got from those titles and the players on those teams who weren't privy to what was going on that still went out and won the Stanley Cup. The organization, yeah fuck them. Obviously what happened is really shitty but you can still find something good in the way you felt watching those triumphs.
Arizona Coyotes: Hosted illegal combine tryouts, ended up losing their first round pick.
Chicgao Blackhawks: Had a player sexually assaulted and covered it up for years with millions of dollars. Gets a slap on the wrist and rewarded the first overall pick with a generational player.
Your Culture, Ladies and Gentlemen.
Would've been last years pick anyways, cope and seethe. They fired everyone, paid their fine(albeit a very light one, I wont disagree there), and settled the matter with Beach.
"you know the culture, is actually damn good"
Sadly what happened to Kyle Beach can happen to anyone anywhere and still does. It can happen in any institution/ workplace. Kyle's bravery in coming forward with his story will hopefully show people how their actions and inactions can have an everlasting negative impact on a victim, their families, and others. The NHL will suffer from this. This is the kind of stuff hard working/honest/normal people will not want to support.
You nailed it on every corner tree.
Keep up the good work my friend.
As a Blackhawk fan am pissed and ashamed like wtf bro I hope somewhere down the road that this organization can regain not only dignity but also trust in the fan base again
Same man, I thought we’d be better than that kind of shit
You're a fan of a Chiraq sports team, so what did you expect? Human decency? What is that?
@@lelouchvibritannia4028 Don't cut yourself on all that edge, bud.
I work for the Blackhawks in a low level job and I’m even ashamed to be connected to the organization
I'm a new subscriber who only recently started watching, but this may be one of the best videos I've seen on UA-cam. It's good to see creators with personalities mostly outside of politics or social issues take a stand when it matters.
I am 17 and I’ve wanted to be an NHL gm for about 10 years now and I have made it my goal. I am going to show all the managers and front office people that there needs to be people who are highly educated on sports management running their team and now former nhl player and their friends (Boys Club)
Good luck on your journey my dude
go for it man
Wishing you the best in your endeavors
Good luck dude, your gonna need it. Make your dreams true
Good luck man, Hopefully you can make a difference in the future 👍🏽
Now they get Connor Bedard. Never punished.
Well if the people up top won’t do anything about it it will be the same for every team, simple. Chicago is a big market and tbh since the hawks started sucking millions stopped watching. Now I hear they’ll have celebrini possibly too. It’s an endless circle of getting fucked and the people in power control everything
The NHL will do whatever it takes to raise ratings and merch and anything in between, bedard to Chicago did exactly that
This video is 2 years old, and here we are again. Maybe not the Blackhawks, but Hockey Canada. No one learns.
Even as a Blackhawks fan, I will never see the Blackhawks the same way anymore. This whole situation with the Blackhawks is truly the worst thing I would ever hear from a team and it makes me sick to my stomach. For now, I am distancing myself as a fan of the Blackhawks until further notice.
As a Stars fan, I stand with you.
Same brother, the Blackhawks hats and sweaters are going into the closet and not coming out for a while.
Its not just the hawks. Not defending them but the entire league has this issue. I grew up with my uncle in the nhl and I can say similar shit happened in Dallas and Calgary and thats just what he knew of. Hockey has a gary bettman and team owner problem.
Becoming a new Blackhawks fan became a mistake
Same here man it not only made me distance myself from the hawks but also from the Rockford Icehogs as well they also knew about this scandal and did nothing and as someone who used to work for them it makes me sick to have worked for a team that would cover this kind of scandal up
It speaks volumes on how "good" the culture of hockey is when the face for Canadian hockey up until the year of 2019 was Don Cherry, somebody who has outstayed his welcome by more than 10 years...
as a german hockey fan for 15+ years i started watching the nhl around 6 years ago. i remember watching my first coaches corner and cherry on some anti european player rant, where he would get the players names wrong, the co-host than doing the thumbs up, and i thought to myself: "how the fuck is this shit on tv? they are so going to lose their jobs!". basically changed my view of canadien hockey culture, when i found out that this is normal there!
@@evkin3454 yeah, that's a weird thing about American/Canadian talking heads in general. Just look at Stephen A. Smith's "analysis" on Doncic pre-draft. He even admitted that he has seen no tape on Doncic because he played in Europe. I mean it's literally your job to look at the players you're supposed to talk about and you can't even do that!?
Übrigens, Grüße aus Bayern!
Cherry is a legend and deserved a proper farewell tour.
Don Cherry is a legend and national treasure. Show some respect.
Homeboy could have retired on good graces 10 years ago, but then it took a racist rant on live TV to push him out by force.
I agree on everything but injury designation. The Upper Body/Lower Body split is because there’s a high likelihood opposing players will passively target that area with physical contact upon the players return in an attempt to re-aggravate it.
Example: just came back from a Hip injury? Don’t be surprised if you get hip checked a few extra times when you get back.
In a sport where there’s no structure as to where and how contact occurs, keeping the injury ambiguous to the public is a way to protect the player.
alternatively they could actually let players heal from their injuries and have refs call calls instead of managing games, while having a DoPS that actually does it’s job and proactively protects players from these types of actions
you know, move forward instead of trying to justify the status quo
but having players allowed to play with bad injuries make your so called pro sport look bush league, yes let them play with those and see how bad there life's are after there playing days are over
@@TomBrent I’m not making a judgement on how players are cleared to play by doctors and team staff, just explaining the rationale of the current injury announcement procedure. Its possible for even a person who has fully recovered to re-aggravate an injury. Its a contact sport and I think not giving others a target makes sense.
Tree once again showing why he's my favorite sports commentator
He's unafraid to speak his mind. A rare quality. And that goes equally for both serious issues like this and dunking on every single team in every possible way.
By saying sexual assault is bad? I sincerely doubt he's doing this out of the goodness of his heart, just for likes and platitudes
@@southsider3542 More so calling out the hypocrisy of the NHL and the Blackhawks organisation in dealing with such a serious incident and the rascals involved in it. The culture problem is an added bonus.
Here after the Blackhawks (undeservedly) got the 1st overall pick.
Now watch them turn Bedard into the Andrew Luck of the NHL
NFL: We're the most corrupt, incompetent, selfish organization in sports!
NHL: Hold my sno-cone.
FIFA: Amateurs
@@epicchk4319 As a Brazilian i said
Conmebol and CBF:hold my WC bids
FIFA and all the other soccer organizations make them look like amateurs by comparison
Catholic Priests: Hold my bible
Any Eastern European Olympic program: hold my vodka
On the one hand, yes, you're right, this is a dark time. On the other hand, the exposure means things must be fixed. People like Lehner and Beech are heroes. The fact that Eichel gets to go play on a team with Lehner means we will see these players advocate for one another. And hell, if the Vegas staff and executives can get on board and show a change in culture and lead by example, by not hiding these players or their experiences, and by treating their players right, maybe this is the dark night of the soul for hockey's boy's club culture. There's definitely no coincidence this all comes out at a time when people are harking about "cancel culture". This falls right in line. Because there's no such thing, it's just people demanding that those with power be held accountable for their abuse of power. So thank you for calling out coach Q and the NHL in general, people that knew what was going on and chose to cover it up. We change the culture when we hold these people accountable.
nice post but it could've done without your random thoughts on what cancel culture is
@@DJ1NS4N1TY except that this is exactly the kind of behavior that people do that then turn around and decry "cancel culture" or "woke mob" about in order to move the conversation away from accountability.
So when tree says coach q shouldn't be behind the bench right now because he is culpable for abetting assault against young players, I agree. He needs to be held accountable for protecting a criminal, for putting winning hockey games above protecting his players from a predator. And that is when people will call it "cancel culture". Whether you like that or not, its a way people are attempting to undermine accountability.
@@kellyactormosgoog i just don't think your application of cancel culture works in your point. you're saying that cancel culture is the thing that would stop quenneville bowman etc. from getting sacked on the spot instead of being allowed to gracefully 'resign', whereas cancel culture is more about blacklisting people for past wrongdoings, which is the opposite of what happened.
@@DJ1NS4N1TY so the events in question happened over a decade ago, ergo past wrongdoings. I guess asking people not to go to panthers games is moot since nobody goes anyways, but also the concept of blacklisting is pretty inaccurate here, too, given that most people who get "canceled" still have jobs and platforms, just highly reduced. See Gina Carano and her immediately being cast in like 2 movies or Rosanne Barr who's still collecting royalties. What the culture actually is, is pointing out a bad thing happened and assigning responsibility to those who did it, and those who allowed it to happen. Hell, in my opinion, when the one dude is tried, any person in the nhl who covered it up should be charged for aiding and abetting assault. But calling for bettman and quenville and any other person to resign, at least, is saying "we don't support you because you allowed this to happen, we will not continue to support your product until you are removed". Or, as some might put it, canceled.
It’s sad to see my favorite sport struggle with this problem. I hope the nhl can learn from the 2010 Hawks scandal and create a much better culture that can help the game for the future
I doubt it. Unless the owners lose real money from it.
I got into the NHL about 6 years ago, and while I had heard about the Blackhawks incident, I didn't know the full extent of what happened, and I thought it had been long resolved. I'm absolutely appalled by the information that's been coming out recently. I wanted to cry when I read what Kyle Beach was subjected to. I hate that it took this long for him to get any support. These players deserve so much better.
The fact that the Blackhawks just got Conner Bedard, this video becomes even more powerful
2010 is when I first started watching hockey and fell in love with the game and now this cup run is tainted in memory
i was really young in 2010 but watching highlights of it is gonna feel different from now on
It's really not tainted
Beach could have come out and he waited till now
Thankfully as a Rangers fan, I have no worries of experiencing this problem.
@@ImmortalWombat I want you to sit down and take 3 deep breaths, give your eyes a good rub and have a good stretch
Now sit and read what you just wrote and let it sink in for a good minute
As a hawks fan, what happened leaves me with mixed feelings. I grew up watching the dynasty and have great memories from that time. But at the same time, knowing what I know now, leaves me sickened. On on hand: How can I root for a team that pulls this shit? On the other hand: how can I stop cheering for one of my favorite teams? I wanted Bowman out long before this came out, but hearing about Coach Q hurts. He was the guy that coached the hawks to 3 cups in 5 years. But he also knew about the situation and did nothing. Now I can never see the dynasty in the same light. Hopefully they can turn the season around and we get another dynasty to look upon with a better light.
It's hard bro, I'm honestly debated on burning my Soupie Jersey
@@Yeayeayeayeayeayeayeayea Why would you burn a jersey of a player who had nothing to do with it?
@@Yeayeayeayeayeayeayeayea that's a little too far.
The part that is confusing is the question of how many other players knew, what could they do legally, and who were the players that bullied Kyle Beach.
@@bone_krusher5474 Alledgedly, Captain Serious knew about it, and didn't say anything. With the alleged homophobic slurs that were used towards Beach in preseason training camps by Hawks regulars, it doesn't look good for Towes, Kane, Keith, Crawford, Saad, or Shaw at this point in time.
The NHL needs to just axe every major executive, GM, coach, scout, whoever knew about this scandal and blacklist them. Then they need to get Bettman to step down. Only way I can see any sort of real progress towards making things happen. We need people who take the issues seriously in charge, and the NHLPA should have an expanded role in player safety.
I agree, but the NHLPA also knew about this scandal and did jack shit. The union should exist to benefit the players, not to cover up scandals. The NHLPA also needs a purge.
Of course I’m a Seattle fan just getting into hockey and now I’m learning about this. Impeccable timing NHL, not only have you had multiple felonies occur within your organization, known about it, and done nothing about it, you’ve timed it with the expansion of a new franchise into the NHL, that being the lucrative Seattle market. And of course when this problem arises, you don’t address the issue or hand out serious punishments for the people involved, you try to sweep it under the rug to avoid the media fallout. Many people from Seattle will be new fans of hockey as a whole, and this is their first introduction to the sport? The crazy thing is to me is that what do we not know? What has been going on behind the scenes that we have no clue about?
Welcome to the NHL, I’m so glad this sport is growing.
Yea, I'm sure the Starbucks hippies and weirdos around seattle will support that shitty team with a shitty name..
Boy does this video age like fine wine every year. Stan is back as the GM of the Oilers.
I’m a Sharks fan, and we were swept by the Blackhawks in 2010. I was really upset about that. I was only 9 years old.
I am flyers fan
Bet you're laughing your head off at this.
when the bruins lost to blackhawks in 2013 stanley cup that hurt.
@@GD-se8nv crying Marchand though.
@@2049571 why the heck would anyone be laughing
Fucking hell. I've supported this team for a decade now, I wore all those championship stuff and showed it off loud and proud. I even MET one of those players when they visited my grade school. They were almost a last bastion to a golden time... and to realize I had been indirectly supporting such horrid acts is almost soul crushing.
This may have permanently tainted my fanhood for a good long while, I'll admit that right now.
I defended this team... but I can't defend this.
There is no defending this and you're allowed to be sad at it. You're allowed to be sad at what you thought was but is no longer.
You were lied too and fooled, do not worry, they are the pieces of s, not you, you cannot read people's minds
I'd also maintain that you can still support the players who won that championship without necessarily endorsing the organization that covered up this awful sexual assault. Unless the players were in on it and did nothing (which doesn't seem like the case) I actually feel sorry for those players who will have their likely best career achievement continually overshadowed for decades now.
@@thisismyyoutubecommentacco6302 agree, a lot of people aren't thinking about this
I'm a Sharks fan. I don't remember too much from 2010 but I know they went to the Western Conference Finals that year and got swept by Chicago. Pretty sad that while we got kicked to the curb and they got fame and glory, there was a horrible crime being committed. Can't imagine how Flyers fans feel about this.
Not great, man.
Just typical Philly bad luck.
The Canucks fan in me feels the same.
Dude it wasnt the players fault, they were the ones who qon the Stanley cup, they deserve praise, not the executives and the one fucking rapist
Wtf are you talking about lol? The PLAYERS won that cup, the management didn't do shit. This is coming from a canucks fan, Chicago beat us...
You're a sharks fan...you should be sad all the time.
And this is completely reinforced again after the news that Hockey Canada maintains a fund for paying out settlements in cases of sexual assault. The fund comes from the registration fees of the players
Thank you for making this video, Tree. When you talked about how the league chews players up and spits them out, it made me think of the article that Colin Wilson wrote a couple of weeks ago about how playing in the league caused him to develop a crippling cocaine addiction to that came very close to killing him. The article is called "Addiction," for anyone who wants to look it up. Countless guys are wrecking their lives at this very moment for the chance to play in the NHL, and it needs to stop.
I'd like to hope that the Blackhawks scandal will be the catalyst to bring about some positive changes, but knowing Bettman's NHL, I'm not optimistic.
Its so disappointing as a Hawks fan that this happened. Hopefully the organization can change for the better and regain trust
I kinda hope fans boo the team for winning and loosing games
It's going to take a complete, top to bottom rebuild for this team to fix this scandal.
@@josepharmstrong1531 there’s only two players left from the 2010 organization what are you talking about ?😂
@@josepharmstrong1531 I think its gonna take more than a rebuild. He'll even Duncan Keith is being called on shit and he not on team no more. Was Hossa on team for 09
@@Sam-xu3xq Internally, not just Kane and Toews
"The culture is pretty damn toxic, I think I'll cancel it." - This video. Thank you from one Yinzer to another for this and handling it with such class. This is disgusting.
I pop in and out of watching hockey as a casual fan, CBJ mainly. I've had always interest for its pace and physicality. Hearing about Chicago is disgusting because people like this exist in PROFESSIONAL teams.
Playing rugby and football myself, it doesn't surprise the amount of pain these players are in, but the level of disregard for their health from trainers and after they leave the game is despicable. Changing it is going to be a brutal process, and there's going to be some crater in some organizations.
(Sorry for the rant. Keep you heads up and keep moving forward people.)
I played hockey for ten years. It’s the worst possible environment for a kid to grow up in. All the parents flex their wealth, every parent’s kid is the next big thing despite them not doing anything after youth levels finish, you’re constantly sexually harassed, not taught how to handle hitting, and in the end you’re an embarrassment if you don’t like any of it. I’m lucky I didn’t get permanent damage from playing, it took me a couple years to look back and realize how terrible of a culture it really is. It’s an awfully expensive way to realize you hate everything to do with the game. I used to love the NHL but now I can’t even watch it anymore because it just reminds me of the toxic culture. Just let the kids play hockey if they have to play at all. The NHL is just a mere extension of the underlying community.
We had wildly different experiences playing youth hockey
@@laffytaffyking4490 Arizona hockey would explain that. I had some good experiences from it, but overall it was quite negative
@@spectrelfc1152 from a Canadian perspective, a lot of what you described is an American/Ontario issue. Up in BC everyone played mostly for their home town and we learned how to hit and take a hit at 12. Hockey has ultimately only taught me positives in life. I played with people of every race, played with girls (as a guy) and there were never any issues.
@@laffytaffyking4490 I’m glad to hear that. I think the problem was that in places where it’s not cold, hockey is reserved for those with money. So everyone’s egotistical to some degree. You get maybe two trust fund babies per team that make the locker room pretty bad in some cases. I’m not some victim or anything, I knew what I was getting into, however it took me awhile to step back and realize how crazy it actually is. A lot of it stems from the parents.
@@spectrelfc1152 I can agree that most of it stems from the parents and how they over idolize their kids
8:19 The power in those words. The sheer anger and disapproval of the actions compared. The way he said "Fuck off. Just fuck off." By far the most impact in one line of a video I have ever seen. This video is my favorite vid from tree, cause he doesn't make jokes or make stupid funny commentary. He is just rightfully pissed.
I feel like football is having its own moment right now, too.
I think you mean Washington. The team that changed its name just to divert attention from their own scandals and degeneracy.
This is far worse, as far as we know
@@thee8904 I don’t know what you mean, the culture there is actually damn good
MLB: Facing a lockout
NBA: Selling out to China? Too many antivaxxers?
@@matthewshortle5274 nba has like 5% of the league vaccinated and that was the number in October (number probably went up) it’s just news cause Kyrie isn’t and can’t play cause of it
Edit: 5% of the league is unvaccinated
I fell in love with the sport, I dreamed of playing in the NHL when I was young, but I always hate the culture from the beginning...and that was 30 years ago. I had depression from not going further. I tried to coach and change the culture, but the problem is much deeper than I thought. Maybe I'm not rich, but at least my quality of life is better than some of them after their careers end. Great stuff again. Cheers 🍻 👏 ✌
I overcame opiate addiction and I appreciate you speaking up about the addictions in the NHL, and sports in general. Seems to be swept under the rug but recently has been gaining more spotlight. When you look into it it's insane the amount of players its affected
Stay strong 💪
I'm recovering from addiction and we are going to be fine bro
As a woman who has watched hockey culture being slowly revealed publicly as toxic and harmful especially to someone like me, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you making this breakdown. There are a few other things that I would have liked to hear about, but they’re only tangentially related and I understand that you couldn’t talk about everything in such a limited platform.
Thank you, Tree.
Cute flag
More problem surface in hockey realm. This time 5 players surrendered for sexual assault case during WJC 2018. This video is getting more relevant by the minute.
Only thing one can hope is that the Sponsors start to asks pertinent questions; that's when owners get antsy, that's when things change: when the money threatens to or actually does walk away.
I remember Freddy Freeman (first basemen for the Atlanta Braves) admit that he abused painkillers throughout last season while battling an arm injury. The issues described in this video don't begin and end with hockey, they exist in every part of sports and every part of life. Tyler Skaggs would still be alive if the "suck it up and take some pain pills" mentality didn't exist in American culture.
Players have free will you know? They can just not take the pills
@@southsider3542 wow yeah its really easy bro just ignore the societal pressure from coaches (your boss), fans, your reputation........
@@southsider3542 addiction is a mental illness, it is not free will
@@southsider3542 Not if their fears and people that work with em or the higher ups can do whatever to make sure they participate or get shut out.
Free will isn’t exactly strong especially if you, a player are expected to perform no matter what obstacle comes in your way and say if you do refuse or don’t try to by some reason even moralistic.
If the higher ups don’t take it well, they can do more that isn’t just benching you or say take you off of the team. I can understand in some terms how a player will feel pressured to continue on regardless of the means and sometimes not just by pure will and passion unfortunately
This is probably gonna be quite long, but I hope that hockey fans can heed these words.
After finding out about Tree's channel and watching his detailed takes on the the NHL and the sport of hockey itself, I wanted to get into watching the sport of hockey, so I did.
I officially started watching hockey last season..when everyone was in the bubble. I almost immediately fell in love with the sport. The speed, accuracy, and fan reactions to goal's had me hooked, and my interest for the sport was magnified during playoff time , especially since I was a hurricanes fan (as this was the only team I knew of before watching the sport) at the time.
After that season, I found out that Chicago, the city closest to where I live, has a hockey team, the Blackhawks. After learning about them, watching documentaries, and researching their history, I became a fan of the Hawks.
Not long after I made that decision, the allegations came through. I continued being a fan of the team, as I didn't know if they were true or not. A crappy offseason went by, followed by the official season. A few games into the Blackhawks season, the allegations were proven to be true and then some.
I am nothing other than fucking disgusted with not only the Blackhawks, but the entire fucking NHL. I feel betrayed and gutted. No longer am I able to properly say that I am a fan of the Hawks. The team I chose as my favorite. The team where I could brag about their history like a fricking snob. THE TEAM THAT I WAS GOING TO BELIEVE IN NO MATTER WHAT.
Honestly, I don't if I can watch the NHL anymore after knowing about all of this stupid fucking bullshit. I haven't been able to bring myself to watch another game since I first watched the TSN interview with Kyle, and I don't know if I will again. I might, as the thought has been in the back of my head, but I don't know anymore. This just fucking sucks.
after the 2023 draft lottery, chicago is paying for this sin by having the right to draft connor bedard 1st overall. season ticket sales after the result amounted to 2.5M$, more than the beach scandal fine.
Arizona lost a 1st for combine abuse, NJ lost a 1st for a legal contract for kovalchuk. but reapeated SA only nets you a fine and slap on the wrist. good fucking job gary.
Sometimes you come across a video that displays precisely everything you've been thinking & contemplating about a specific issue. This video just did that for me.
Tree, you are an incredible talent and seriously under appreciated.
Thank you
The NHL is just too good right now
underrated comment
Well done for addressing the overall issue as well as the latest one, Tree. You called out the old boys club for years.
What makes hockey players so admirable doesn't also have to be the source of the moral rot at the heart of the League. The toughness and grittiness that is embodied by so many players doesn't have to exist independent of a regard for their basic humanity. And while those players win out hearts by battling through terrifying injuries and unfathomable pain, a sense of self-preservation should not be looked at as weakness or lack of toughness. And they especially should never be made to feel that winning or "team cohesion" is more important than their right not to be treated like an object by anyone involved with the team. At the end of the day, a game isn't worth anyone's life or their quality of life.
Every time I remember the Avalanche-Red Wings rivalry of the late 90’s, I always think about how the Avs got constantly screwed over by the NHL when it came to punishing players. Darren McCartney gets nothing for shoving Adam Foote’s face into the boards, but Claude Lemieux gets 2 games for a 5 minute game misconduct AND a two game suspension for hitting Kris Draper? Sure, Drapers injury was terrifying, but Foote’s nose got wrecked! And now this? $2 million and the loss of their GM for covering up SEXUAL ASSAULT, while the Devils lose $3 million and TWO of their draft picks for just going over the salary cap?!?! What the actual heck, NHL? I thought there would be fairer punishments handed out after the Avs-Wings sh!t, but you’ve all learned nothing. Shame.
P.S. I know this was two years ago, but I don’t care. It’s still a big deal.
My only wish is that Kyle Beach is getting the respect he deserves from this, he was only one year older than me when he was assaulted you know, I could only imagine what that would be like.
I hope he regains the ability to produce tears again.
"You know the culture is actually damn good”
I'm extremely casual about hockey, but I came up in Chicago listening to the Hawks on the radio in the Amonte-Zhamnov-Eric Daze days, just because I love sports. When those 2010 Blackhawks finally won, it was euphoria here, and now that's all a blistered memory. This is up there with the Maple Leaf Gardens sex ring. Fucking awful.
What is sad is, this is only the tip of the metaphorical iceberg. Not just for hockey but all sports and career opportunities alike. I really hope that these types of problems will be resolved and changes made for any future inhuman treatments. Thank you tree, I’m glad you and others are able to use the platform you have to express your thoughts on things that are difficult to talk on.
Sadly too common across all sports these days. The “boys club” is toxic.
It's almost like to be the best of the best and to make the tens of millions they make they need to make some sacrifices. It's almost like people want to see the best of the best and pay to see the best of the best. It's almost like all of this is really simple but you're just trying to shove some crybaby narrative into it.
What plagues the NHL is the same thing that plagues every other professional and collegiate sports league. Deviant sexual behavior, drugs, and criminal activity. And far worse, once they’re caught, they’ll do anything and everything to try and sweep it under the rug, do hypocritical PR moves or try to ignore it and hopefully it blows over instead of addressing the problem, holding those accountable and punishing them if found guilty, and doing everything to ensure that these things never happen. It makes me wonder sometimes why I watch sports in the first place. Even though I don’t follow hockey, this is a very informative perspective to those who don’t know what’s going on. And you do put a human element to this video. I’ve personally seen first hand how injuries and life in professional sports effect a lot of retired players both physically and mentally. It’s very sad as it unfolds. Thank you Tree, well done with this video good sir.
It's a shame that hockey has a culture problem. This is a sport that I discovered on my own when I was a kid and fell in love with. Sadly, now it is tainted and it is a dark time for any fan base.
Thank you for this video Tree. Such an important topic and one that should be talked about far more than it is. As someone whose played hockey his whole life I’ve seen how toxic the culture can be, and it pains me because I know the sport can be so much more than it is. This story is just the tip of the iceberg, and I hope one day that those who eventually make it to the top in hockey can make the right changes to truly bring hockey to its full potential.
Considering how most of them start drinking by the age of 12 this makes total sense
As a former player (but nowhere near the professional level), I was a 3rd line black and blue player in high school. I blocked tons of shots, threw big hits, and was tethered to the crease in the offensive zone. Playing through injuries is a big deal especially at that level. During the regular season I have had teammates play through torn muscles and broken bones left and right. Guys wouod be in school in slings and on crutches and playing the night after. Robin Lehner's twitter rant hit me very close to home. Since playing hockey, I have had significant shoulder issues, post-concussion syndrome, and minor wrist damage to both wrists as a result of the grind of the game and its aftermath. I absolutely love the sport of hockey it's the greatest sport out there, but the players' bodies are pushed to the limit far to often compared to most contact sports.
Man it is so refreshing to see a real sports channel call this shit out and highlight the human aspect of these things. Well fucking done tree