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The Myth: “The female judge literally said Carter Hart did nothing wrong.”
The Reality: Justice Carroccia never said anything close to that. In fact, she made it clear she was only ruling on the legality of the men, not the morality:
“It is not the function of this court to make determinations about the morality or propriety of the conduct... sole function of this court is to determine whether the Crown has proven each of the charges... beyond a reasonable doubt” (section E.479).
This statement is two fold: it implies that the conduct could be morally reprehensible despite the legal outcome, and it is a reminder that the burden of proof is high. If the “judge literally said they did nothing wrong”, she would not have had to make that clarification.
Hart’s supporters love to point to the LEGAL results as their main argument. But when you look at the results outside the courtroom, it is crystal clear that Hart and his teammates did something unequivocally wrong.
Following the accused’s acquittal, the league did not immediately reinstate the players. If they had truly done no wrong, you would think that their lengthy absence from the game would pressure the league to reinstate them ASAP. Instead the league had this to say:
“The events that transpired after the 2018 Hockey Canada Foundation Gala in London, Ontario, prior to these players’ arrival in the NHL, were DEEPLY TROUBLING AND UNACCEPTABLE...
In relying on both our OWN INVESTIGATION, and the conclusions reached by Justice Carroccia in her OPINION, and the players’ acquittal, the League has determined that the conduct at issue falls woefully short of the standards and values that the League and its Member Clubs expect and demand...
Given their conduct, we carefully evaluated the players’ acquittal in court and the time spent away from the game. Taking into account that the players have been away from the game for 20 months... we have determined that the players will be eligible... to play in NHL games no sooner than December 1, 2025, bringing their total time out of the League to nearly two years.”
Some context for the severity of the suspensions:
Todd Bertuzzi was suspended 33 games for literally crippling Steve Moore with a dirty hit.
Chris Simon was suspended for 30 games for stomping on the leg of Jarkko Ruutu.
In comparison the Hockey Canada 5 were forced to miss over 22 months, or the equivalent of 140 or so games.
So the league, with the benefit of a private investigation and free of the legal loopholes that compromised the evidence allowed in trial, ruled that the players conduct warranted a suspension 4x the length of Bertuzzi breaking someone’s neck.
The NHL made it clear: what the players did was wrong. The player’s association did not fight the league’s unprecedented punishment.
For everyone that defaults to the now infamous “tHe FeMaLe JuDgE sAiD...” nonsense, our response should be simple: “the male commissioner said...”
For everyone that points to a lack of appeal as proof the players did nothing wrong, our response should be simple: “Why did the NHLPA not appeal the league’s ruling?”
And that is just the NHL’s stance. Hockey Canada agreed what the players did was wrong. In 2022, after reaching a 7-figure settlement with EM, the organization stood in the House of Commons, and based on their own findings (including critical testimony not heard in trial) determined “harm was caused” to EM.
When both the league and Hockey Canada, the de facto employers of the accused, are making it clear there was wrongdoing, illegal or not, we should take note.
something evil happened in the us Olympics locker room (besides the obvious filmed stuff) because there’s no ethical reason for all of these players to suddenly be requesting trades out of their own and to very specific teams😒
Another surprise in Porto tonight! 🖤
The Cure have just played “In Your House” from Seventeen Seconds for the first time since 2011.
They dedicated the entire first encore to Seventeen Seconds, performing four songs from the album back-to-back:
• In Your House
• M
• Play for Today
• A Forest
Following the return of “Treasure” earlier in the set, this latest surprise is making Porto one of the most memorable shows for longtime fans.
@thecure
#TheCure #InYourHouse #SeventeenSeconds #Porto #TheCureLive
Genuinely god bless Dana for being so incredibly skilled in sid-handling every time the subject of sids incredible autism comes up I blow a kiss to the sky for Dana