Case not getting a lot play in U.S.
I had an fascinating dialog final evening with Mark Lazerus, a senior NHL author for The Athletic, based mostly in Chicago.
Two of his colleagues, Katie Strang and Dan Robson, are right here overlaying the trial, however in any other case, Lazerus says the case doesn’t appear to be on the radar of many sports activities journalists or followers within the U.S.
“It was a fairly large deal when the gamers’ names got here out, once we had been capable of put names to this, sort of like, thriller, as a result of everyone knew who was on that roster. I felt like that was going to be a watershed second,” he advised me.
“I bear in mind writing a column saying like, ‘You possibly can’t disguise from it anymore. You possibly can’t fake this is not actual. … These are the gamers you have rooted for. These are gamers whose jerseys you have purchased.’”
And whereas the general public curiosity and media protection have continued in Canada, it has died down within the U.S.
“It does not appear to have had the affect that I believed it was going to have. … It was sort of shifting on to the subsequent factor.”
Proper now, Lazerus says, everyone seems to be rather more within the NHL playoffs than a trial about some then junior hockey gamers in Canada, though the 5 have all had ties to NHL groups.
Lazerus hopes this trial, irrespective of the decision, will finally draw consideration to issues inside the junior hockey system — a tradition many have criticized for creating an environment of misogyny and homophobia — and possibly present impetus for change.
“I do not know if there’s been such a high-profile case involving such outstanding gamers that had been so younger on the time,” he says. “It appears like we have seen much more of it come out of the hockey world than now we have in different sports activities at that age.”
Source link