With NHL training camps set to open in a few weeks, the anticipation of a new season will begin. Still, the sport has received unwanted attention in an area that has had an unseemly history that goes back decades.
On July 24, five members of Canada's 2018 World Junior Championship team were found not guilty of sexual assault in a highly publicized trial. While the decision was favorable for the players involved, the incident itself paints an ugly picture and goes deeper into today's culture and society.
Katie Strang from The Athletic has covered the NHL as a reporter for Newsday and ESPN.com with her first work into investigative reporting being the Michigan State gymnastics trial in 2017.
Having written other pieces on sexual abuse, Katie joins Neil and Vic to discuss the London trial, hockey's history of abuse and the responsibility of hockey's governing bodies going forward.
IN THIS EPISODE:
[01:54] - Katie Strang joins Neil and Vic and shares what led to her career moving in the direction of investigative reporting.
[02:46] - Katie discusses her first major story as an investigative reporter covering the Michigan State Gymnastics case against Larry Nassar adding the indelible impact it had on her.
[05:03] - The difficulty and challenges of detaching from covering a story such as that at Michigan State amidst having a family life.
[06:43] - Strang speaks about the unusual happenings during the trial centering around five former NHL players who were accused of sexual assault while members of Canada's 2018 World Junior Championship Team.
[11:20] - Even after the decision, public opinion remained very split. Katie shares why she believes this is so.
[13:06] - Neil shares his personal revulsion to the the acts alleged in the case before raising the question of the future of the five players who were acquitted. Katie goes deep in her response noting Gary Bettman's ruling the players are still ineligible to return to the NHL, possible pushback from the NHLPA and what an internal investigation by the NHL may have revealed information which was inadmissible in court.
[20:16] - Should any of the five players be reinstated, which team(s) would step forward and sign any of them knowing the possible public backlash which could follow?
[23:04] - Katie turns the tables on Neil asking him what he would have done during the Rangers Cup run in 1994 had he been aware of a situation similar to the one which took place in Chicago in 2010.
[24:27] - Vic follows up asking Neil whether he would have hired a head coach not guilty of a crime but banned for "inadequate response" as Joel Quenneville was.
[25:59] - Given there has been a history of abuse in hockey that extends beyond the ice surface, the question is posed about the responsibilities of governing bodies such as the NHL and Hockey Canada to ensure a safe environment for all players. Katie goes a step further addressing systemic issues which still exist in hockey culture.
[32:21] - The role of the media and its coverage of abuse.
[34:57] - The discussion wraps up with another area of concern around hockey: concussions.
[40:27] - Vic and Neil put a wrap on the discussion.
X: https://twitter.com/NHLWraparound
Neil Smith: https://twitter.com/NYCNeil
Vic Morren: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vic-morren-7038737/
NHL Wraparound Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/nhlwraparound/
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