December 17, 2019

SportsFilter: The Tuesday Huddle:

A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 6 comments

Blackhawks assistant coach Marc Crawford apologizes for past behavior, will return to bench in January

Earlier this month, Crawford came under fire when several former players came forward with allegations of physical, verbal and emotional abuse.

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"Recently, allegations have resurfaced about my conduct earlier in my coaching career," Crawford's statement read. "Players like Sean Avery, Harold Druken, Patrick O'Sullivan and Brent Sopel have had the strength to publicly come forward and I am deeply sorry for hurting them. I offer my sincere apologies for my past behaviour."

In his statement, Crawford admitted to using "unacceptable language and conduct toward players in hopes of motivating them" and said he "sometimes went too far." The coach expressed regret for his transgressions and a desire to be better moving forward, saying he has sought therapy and counseling for the better part of a decade.

posted by NoMich at 07:54 AM on December 17, 2019

Crawford was the coach who sent Bertuzzi out to sucker punch Moore, ending his career in the process. I suppose the NHL gives coaches 3 strikes before they are out.


There are hundreds of excellent qualified coaches around, people who are successful without feeling so insecure that they have the need to belittle their players to be effective. It's a mystery why the Blackhawks want the guy around.

posted by cixelsyd at 10:38 AM on December 17, 2019

Crawford was the coach who sent Bertuzzi out to sucker punch pick a fight with Moore, which Moore refused, leading Bertuzzi to inexcusably sucker punch him.

The difference is important, and I'm not sure you can pin Bertuzzi's actions on Crawford. Moore fought with (and arguably cheap-shotted) Matt Cook a Canucks player during a fight-filled game.* Crawford, whether you agree with such retribution or not, sent Bertuzzi onto the ice to try to even the score through another fight. The much bigger Bertuzzi attempted to goad Moore into a fight, which Moore wisely refused. Bertuzzi then chased him down the ice and punched him in the back of the head and landed on him.

*We should all thank Moore for kicking Cook's ass, but that's beside the point.

posted by tahoemoj at 02:21 PM on December 17, 2019

Some teenage kid just scored his second lacrosse style goal of this NHL season.

posted by NoMich at 09:49 PM on December 17, 2019

Yes, against my Jets - Svechnikov, I believe, talented young player.

Staal and the Canes really exposed the Jets D tonite. They had looked fairly steady over the past 10 games or so, but a D core with 3 guys pulled from waivers isn't going to take you too far. Hope the reports of Buf recovering and working with the Jets are true ...

posted by cixelsyd at 11:24 PM on December 17, 2019

Yeah, coming into the game last night, I really thought that your Jets will be the ones to take this bunch of kids down a notch or three.

posted by NoMich at 06:52 AM on December 18, 2019

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