Capitals: Brendan Leipsic's Instagram messages are 'unacceptable and offensive'

[Smashian Kassian]

26 minutes ago, Toews said:

Leipsic was going to end up in Europe anyway, he just fast-tracked himself there. I have no objection to his dismissal, the Caps have to make a business decision which is understandable. I am just looking at social media and all these people who are just ripping on this guy. Why would anyone abuse someone at the lowest point in their life? What is that supposed to accomplish, other than get likes and retweets? I wonder if they look in the mirror and see a fat hypocrite...

 

Agreed, I've consciously been trying to stay off as much as I can. Twitter can be a horrible place.

[Patrick Kane]

1 hour ago, Maniwaki Canuck said:

This circle of jerks in the chat group are/were fringe NHLers or less.  It's not a stretch to suggest that they might be dumping on others to make themselves feel better about their own shortcomings.  Often that's how this stuff works. 

Of course the Capitals would have responded differently if it was Ovechkin.  But they don't have to because Ovechkin is Ovechkin and doesn't do this stuff because he is comfortable with his own worth as a player and a person.  Not the case with these guys.

Or Ovechkin's private conversations were not screenshotted/recorded/taped and leaked...

 

[CaptKirk888]

On 5/6/2020 at 10:03 PM, Standing_Tall#37 said:

That’s actually a very good point. That leads me to kind of an interesting point. What if somebody said something 10 years ago and they’ve grown as a person or they’ve become tolerant and grown with society and changed. Should they still be crucified for a text they sent maybe 10 years ago?  I’m a big believer in people becoming better as they age. 

Our prime minister is a good example of that. Sorry if someone else pointed that out, only a quarter way through this thread.

[CaptKirk888]

51 minutes ago, Patrick Kane said:

Or Ovechkin's private conversations were not screenshotted/recorded/taped and leaked...

 

That's not the point. Who knows where Ovechkin's moral compass points? The point is that Leipsic and his pals got caught. 

Is it right to make the comments they did in private? Depends on your own morals and beliefs I guess. 

Personally, I am not of that ilk. I have always (no lie here) lived by the rule my parents taught me "If you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all".

We live in a online society where virtually everything is "hackable" and not private. If you don't mean what you are saying, don't say it. 

[Maniwaki Canuck]

1 hour ago, Patrick Kane said:

Or Ovechkin's private conversations were not screenshotted/recorded/taped and leaked...

 

Just going to go out on a limb here and say that if Ovechkin were putting this kind of stuff out, it would be more newsworthy than this and we'd probably know about it. 

[King Heffy]

7 hours ago, Down by the River said:

 

Putting hockey players in front of a mic and then thinking that they are definitely going to have anything valuable to say will always be a game of Russian Roulette. 

 

Brett Hull's comments that he didn't like hockey, he was just good at it, seem to have some truth to him. He doesn't like hockey, he likes the lifestyle that comes with being rich. He's upset here because now you can get caught. He liked things before when nothing could be proven.

 

I'd argue that the Hull family might be worse than the Leipsic family. Either way, I'm not shocked. I'm not offended. Just stop thinking that hockey players are a bunch of good old Canadian kids and you'll stop being disappointed in a given player's behavior.  

Brett's an outright traitor.  Calling that waste of oxygen Canadian is like calling Messier a Canuck.  Absolute garbage family.

Edited May 10, 2020 by King Heffy

[lmm]

10 minutes ago, King Heffy said:

Brett's an outright traitor.  Calling that waste of oxygen Canadian is like calling Messier a Canuck.  Absolute garbage family.

I am not sure how you can call the number of other humans you do garbage and continue to feel superior?

You are kind of making Manawaki's point as quoted by Pat Kane in the top post on this page.

[King Heffy]

4 minutes ago, lmm said:

I am not sure how you can call the number of other humans you do garbage and continue to feel superior?

You are kind of making Manawaki's point as quoted by Pat Kane in the top post on this page.

At least I didn't literally betray my own country or promote Nazism.  The Hulls are absolute scum.

[cuporbust]

5 hours ago, nuckin_futz said:

For some reason this reminded me of the song "Vicarious" by Tool .........

 

Eye on the TV
'Cause tragedy thrills me
Whatever flavor it happens to be like
Killed by the husband
Drowned by the ocean
Shot by his own son
She used a poison
In his tea
And kissed him goodbye
That's my kind of story
It's no fun until someone dies

 

Don't look at me like
I am a monster
Frown out your one face
But with the other
Stare like a junkie
Into the TV
Stare like a zombie
While the mother
Holds her child
Watches him die
Hands to the sky crying
"Why, oh why?"

 

'Cause I need to watch things die
From a distance
Vicariously I live
While the whole world dies
You all need it too, don't lie

 

 

****************

 

Bottom line in all this debate is that every NHL contract contains a 'morals clause'. Stating that you will not do anything to embarrass the organization. It's a public business and teams do not want to have their brand represented by bad behavior. Is it not illegal for someone to have multiple affairs and be a homewrecker. But would you want that guy representing your brand? It is not illegal to get drunk and run your mouth. Would you want that guy representing your brand?

 

Of course there are different rules for different people. If Ovechkin said these things they'd make him apologize and that would end it. Unless they wanted out of his contract. Leipsic might think he's more important than he actually is. Being 25 yrs old and making $700k might make you a big shot in general society. In the NHL it makes you an expendable has been.

 

 

You have to "have been" to be a "has been". If the bar is simply making the NHL, then ya, i guess that applies.  I would call him a dink that never made it as a true NHLr personally. 

 

There will always be Brendan Leipsic s in the world . He is one of the reasons parents are leery about their kids playing the game.  Thankfully,  the culture has been changing though, little by little. 

Edited May 10, 2020 by cuporbust

[You Mad Bro?]

Just scrolled thru 22 pages. Summary, people with thin skin got their feelings hurt. Obviously what he said is nasty. But holy smokes folks. Relax. 

[ItsAllOursBoys]

7 hours ago, Katobaron said:

Part of the reason that celebrities and pro athletes make the money they do is that you live your life under the scrutiny of public opinion. It was Leipsic’s responsibility to represent both himself and the franchise according to the team’s code of conduct. You can argue legality vs morality all you want, but his contract stipulates following the code and he didn’t. If your job asks you to dress in a suit and you show up in khakis, is that social totalitarianism or a workplace violation?

 

Also, the argument that a digital medium somehow lends itself to leniency is laughable. If he’d written all this in a letter to a pen pal and had it intercepted would it make it any different?

My point wasn't about the legitimacy of any specific code of conduct created/enforced by the Capitals, so I don't disagree with your premise that Leipsic's responsibility was to represent himself within the bounds of such a code. He placed himself under that code and should be held accountable to it. But again, that's not the point I was making.

 

Neither was I attempting to make a case for leniency due to the medium through which the speech crime occurred. With all due respect, that is your assumption only.

 

My point was highlighting the hypocrisy of society's policing of certain speech crimes under the banner of tolerance and inclusiveness and the definition of right/wrong speech being determined solely on the basis of majority consensus, hence totalitarian control of society by consent. Right  or wrong, any such code of conduct implemented by every NHL team would then be a natural outflow of such consensus.

 

 

[spur1]

Well like they say...you can put Leipsic on a pig...even with Leipsic Liepsic still is not a NHL player. 

[LeanBeef]

 just realized he mentioned Jett Woo too, pretty random

[189lb enforcers?]

Shades of 1984. 
 

Big Brother is watching you, without a twist. 
 

Soon comments like those will affect your credit scores, etc. 
 

I see why we need it now. Not much room left in here for a poster to state from the moral high-ground. 
Small Man Bad. 

[-DLC-]

Yeah, why drag Jett in?  What the hell?  

 

Obviously there's some fringe players who feel threatened by those who actually show potential that they maybe don't.  What they lack in skill and talent others are showing and it's truly sad that their egos are using more real estate in their heads than their brains are.  Lash out instead of working harder, which is what most players focus on.  These guys tried to pump each other's tires by throwing others under them and it blew up on them.  Coke fueled to boot.  No wonder he sucked.

 

 

 

[Mikeyboy440]

12 hours ago, King Heffy said:

At least I didn't literally betray my own country or promote Nazism.  The Hulls are absolute scum.

Lmao! You do realize Canada didn't want him and the US did? It's not betrayal if you were never there to begin with.

[ItsAllOursBoys]

19 hours ago, RWMc1 said:

Sorry but that is not a respectful disagreement. That bit at the end is low.

 

You basically paraphrased me to disagree with me.

 

Your method of interaction is disingenuous. I'm not going to respond to you any further so you can strawman the heck out of it.(as usual by the looks of it)

If you misunderstood something I said, I would have been happy to explain my point. Unfortunate that you take offense so easily. 

 

For those who understand, no explanation is necessary, but those who refuse to understand, no explanation is possible.

[Monty]

19 hours ago, cuporbust said:

Because it's not about breaking the law , but breaking a private company's code of ethics.  It has nothing to do with the law. What does legality have to do with it? If someone owns a company,  they have every right to hold their employees to a basic code of eithics .

That’s all fair. After discussing with @Fateless after that statement, this made sense.

 

At the end of the day, guess I feel that private texts and conversations between family and friends are meant to remain there. I don’t need to hear or see what anyone discusses behind closed doors.
 

As I’ve maintained the entire time, the exchange between Leipsic and Co is bad. They will all (hopefully) learn from it, as all young men and women do from their poor choices. They will still (hopefully as no one should wish harm on others) live a long life. Long enough to pass wisdom to their kids and grandkids about how to act and how not to act.

 

If they don’t learn from it? Well, that’s a shame.

[-DLC-]

If we're going to argue for the sake of people's privacy, I'd like to see that extend to those whose interactions with these guys were exposed/shared.  The element of privacy for them was breached in these crude, lewd conversations.  The girls who were out with these guys who probably didn't want their private experiences "shared" with others either.

 

[Master Mind]

11 minutes ago, debluvscanucks said:

If we're going to argue for the sake of people's privacy, I'd like to see that extend to those whose interactions with these guys were exposed/shared.  The element of privacy for them was breached in these crude, lewd conversations.  The girls who were out with these guys who probably didn't want their private experiences "shared" with others either.

 

I think this is what @apollo was getting at, that there's a negative consequence to these conversations being leaked.

 

Yes it shines a light on how Leipsic and his friends interact, but Pearson's wife was probably better off not seeing their comments for example.