[Signing] Bruins Sign former Renounced Coyotes Draft Pick Mitchell Miller to ELC [UPDATE] BRUINS RESCIND CONTRACT

[King Heffy]

Just now, Goal:thecup said:

Yeah, the ones voicing their displeasure are in the dozens or perhaps a hundred or so; they get like 20,000 freak'n jerks out to every game.

Cheering Mason's broken back, beating up fans of other teams, cheering for that other pos Marchand..  now I gotta go wash my typing fingers.

I'm not a fan, but a link to a thread was posted earlier and the feedback was overwhelming against this signing.  For once, even Boston fans are doing the right thing.

[Drive-By Body Pierce]

1 hour ago, King Heffy said:

If he ever makes the NHL I will make sure to get to a game and make sure my tickets are close enough so he's in earshot.

Bring a sign, and a sharpie. Have something benign to disguise it and then write how I truly feel once at the game and he is on the ice for warm ups.

[Goal:thecup]

Just now, King Heffy said:

I'm not a fan, but a link to a thread was posted earlier and the feedback was overwhelming against this signing.  For once, even Boston fans are doing the right thing.

I read about 20.

Every generalization is flawed.

[N4ZZY]

43 minutes ago, 204CanucksFan said:

I don't get this. The only reason he apologized is because Sweeney literally made him do it before he was allowed to sign a contract, Sweeney even admitted he had to theaten the kid that if he didn't Sweeney wouldnt sign him. It was the most pathetic and shallow attempt at an apology and only done for his personal gain. 

 

He has shown absolutely no remorse for what he did, only that he got caught, convicted and lost his NHL opportunity (temporarily). He has never accepted any responsibility for his actions and tries to hide behind the "I was young" excuse. Especially when even his own words, in his own, most recent statement try to downplay this as basically a single event, not years of abuse.

 

"When I was in eighth grade, I made an extremely poor decision (WTF?!?!, note the singular use of the word decision) and acted very immaturely. I deeply regret the incident (Again, SINGULAR) and have apologized to the individual. (For the first time, more than 7 years after his COURT CONVICTION)

 

BTW, the "apology" was sent as a PM via Instagram.

 

BEING YOUNG IS NOT AN EXCUSE FOR YEARS OF ABUSING SOMEONE!!!

Bruins so desperate for young talent, that they had to go out and sign this toxic kid. 

 

I think there is a place for second chances though. But it doesn't seem like 7 years has changed him. If Sweeney had to force him to apologize to the victim before signing him. That should be all that the GM needs to know about the kid, no? As always, fuck Boston. 

 

If they're this dumb, maybe you can get them to trade for Miller and the next 8 years. JT and Boston would seem like a good fit. 

 

[Coconuts]

31 minutes ago, dm_ranger said:

Don't like the Bruins but hats off to the passionate response to this from the Bruin fans.  Or former fans.  The reddit thread is a good read. 

Boston gets a bad rep for being a racist city and I don't think it's fair, I believe the sentiment shared on their own subreddit as well as the larger hockey reddit make that clear. They're passionate about their team and home the way many Vancouver fans are and moves like this don't represent the fanbase very well, their response was nice to see. 

 

I'm all for not liking the Bruins when it comes to hockey but this goes beyond what happens on the ice. You know it's a tone deaf move when even the fans don't like the signing of a free prospect and when current roster players ask why they'd do it. 

Edited November 4, 2022 by Coconuts

[Coconuts]

And yes, the Boston sub doesn't represent the fanbase as a whole, but there are also a lot of casual hockey fans. I'm pretty confident that if those who aren't in the know about this dude knew more about him they wouldn't be thrilled with this signing. You're always going to get some folks who don't care what players are like off the ice but a lot of people do care.

 

But I also believe that people are by and large decent and good when you give them the opportunity to be. 

Edited November 4, 2022 by Coconuts

[-AJ-]

17 minutes ago, 4petesake said:

The victim’s  mother says that it continued in 2018. Is Miller trying to say he was in grade 8…when he was 17???

Jeez even in his statement he tries to minimize his actions.

Hmm, yeah 17 is getting pretty recent, which makes it less likely that he's actually changed--adding to that is that he was a bully for so many years. Still, four years is some amount of time to change. I guess we'll see.

[DrJockitch]

28 minutes ago, Coconuts said:

Boston gets a bad rep for being a racist city and I don't think it's fair, I believe the sentiment shared on their own subreddit as well as the larger hockey reddit make that clear. They're passionate about their team and home the way many Vancouver fans are and moves like this don't represent the fanbase very well, their response was nice to see. 

 

I'm all for not liking the Bruins when it comes to hockey but this goes beyond what happens on the ice. You know it's a tone deaf move when even the fans don't like the signing of a free prospect and when current roster players ask why they'd do it. 

I used to live in the Boston area and it was very racist at least where and when I lived there. Has been many years though so may be very different. 

[4petesake]

18 minutes ago, -AJ- said:

Hmm, yeah 17 is getting pretty recent, which makes it less likely that he's actually changed--adding to that is that he was a bully for so many years. Still, four years is some amount of time to change. I guess we'll see.

I’m all for second chances too. Change happens over time but not just because time has passed.

 

Some sort of system is required for this.
The league is sh!t at handling these kind of issues so I’m not sure we could trust them but the player should have to apply for reinstatement. Demonstrate that he has grasped, learned and atoned for what he’s done. Has he taken any courses or sought  professional help to get insight into his actions.
Most importantly the league should ask to talk to the victim(s) and get their side of the story. Apologies can be made and accepted or rejected. If the league decides to reinstate him he can go back into a draft to avoid this “well if we didn’t sign him someone else would have.”

[Coconuts]

13 minutes ago, DrJockitch said:

I used to live in the Boston area and it was very racist at least where and when I lived there. Has been many years though so may be very different. 

I can't speak to your experience as that is your own. I'm not saying racism doesn't exist in Boston, or Vancouver for that matter, but I question generalizations when they relate to something as complex as racism and bullying. There's so much to unpack, if only historically and in an American context. 

 

There was a rise of anti-Asian racism in BC during the pandemic for a while, and we have our own racist history that stems all the way back to the building of railroads and other things like the Asiatic Exclusion League. Most places have their history. https://www.labourheritagecentre.ca/asiatic-exclusion-league-riot-1907/#:~:text=With high unemployment and a,part of BC's labour history.

 

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/komagata-maru

 

Subjects like this are multifaceted and complex, and there's a lot that goes into them. But yeah, I've no issue with believing that Boston fans are upset about this signing for the same reasons other hockey fans are. I can still dislike the Bruins but I'm not gonna smear the fanbase forever because we lost in a cup final. 

Edited November 4, 2022 by Coconuts

[Goal:thecup]

1 minute ago, Coconuts said:

I can still dislike the Bruins but I'm not gonna smear the fanbase forever because we lost in a cup final.

Good post up til this smear.

[Provost]

It was years ago and cost the guy a lot… at the same time, why invite the hassle to your organization for very little upside.

[JeremyCuddles]

56 minutes ago, 4petesake said:

The victim’s  mother says that it continued in 2018. Is Miller trying to say he was in grade 8…when he was 17???

Jeez even in his statement he tries to minimize his actions.

I completely forgot this came out. It does make it harder to believe his apology. Given he tried to downplay it by saying "I did something wrong in grade 8." But the optimist part of me really, really wants to believe he grew as a person. Cause the sad fact of the matter is, he got his second chance at the NHL whether he changed or not. So I don't want to learn down the line he's still a POS. This is definitely a very complicated issue. We don't want to hold him accountable for this mistake his whole life, but at the same time it's hard to know if he's changed for the better.

[Coconuts]

1 minute ago, Goal:thecup said:

Good post up til this smear.

There are a lot of strong opinions about this, think and feel whatever you want. 

[Goal:thecup]

Just now, N7Nucks said:

I completely forgot this came out. It does make it harder to believe his apology. Given he tried to downplay it by saying "I did something wrong in grade 8." But the optimist part of me really, really wants to believe he grew as a person. Cause the sad fact of the matter is, he got his second chance at the NHL whether he changed or not. So I don't want to learn down the line he's still a POS. This is definitely a very complicated issue. We don't want to hold him accountable for this mistake his whole life, but at the same time it's hard to know if he's changed for the better.

Yup.

Without going through the process properly, there is no forgiveness.

[Goal:thecup]

1 minute ago, Coconuts said:

There are a lot of strong opinions about this, think and feel whatever you want. 

Your conclusion that the comments were made because we lost in the final are off base.

[Miss Korea Bob.Loblaw]

 

3 minutes ago, 4petesake said:

I’m all for second chances too. Change happens over time but not just because time has passed.

 

Some sort of system is required for this.
The league is sh!t at handling these kind of issues so I’m not sure we could trust them but the player should have to apply for reinstatement. Demonstrate that he has grasped, learned and atoned for what he’s done. Has he taken any courses or sought  professional help to get insight into his actions.
Most importantly the league should ask to talk to the victim(s) and get their side of the story. Apologies can be made and accepted or rejected. If the league decides to reinstate him he can go back into a draft to avoid this “well if we didn’t sign him someone else would have.”

Most of those questions seem to have been answered.  He has not taken any further steps to improve his image, other than... play good hockey.  The whole apology to the family was court-mandated, and Miller hasn't done anything since.

 

Clearly the 10-1 start was not good enough for Sweeney.

[24K PureCool]

Well hope the guy gets crushed by every team he plays against and his teammate don't stick up for him until he is controversy free for like 3 years or so. 

[Alflives]

Bullying a person who is mentally incapable of understanding what’s going on is sick.  Even high school age kids know that’s beyond sick.  Who, in grade 8, would pick on a mentally handicapped person?  Then this Miller guy continued to puck on this other kid (who is mentally not all there) for several more years.  Then Miller still can’t even apologize and admit his actions were sick.  That’s the sign of a very sick person.  No empathy.  

[Coconuts]

7 minutes ago, Goal:thecup said:

Your conclusion that the comments were made because we lost in the final are off base.

Some folks have a serious hate on for Boston, and in my experience when they're Canucks fans it's directly impacted by how the final went, that might not be so in your case but it's pretty obvious from your post on the third page that you've got some serious negative bias involved. 

 

But I've said my piece, I'm not gonna go round and round on this. 

Edited November 4, 2022 by Coconuts