What we have here is failure to communicate— Strother Martin as The Captain Cool Hand Luke.

The best failure to communicate states that there are three sides to every story. Our side. Your side. And the facts. With its lurid sexual allegations and hockey background, the sexual assault trial of the World Junior Hockey gold medalists of 2018 was a field day for narratives in the media and the courtroom. The facts, meanwhile, were stowed away beneath the surface of social media.

The alleged victim, known as EM, was championed by feminist leaders as symbolizing all women trapped by the patriarchy, ignored by the police and cast aside by the courts. Outside diligent reporters such as Katie Strang of The Athletic and Rick Westhead  of TSN, the media universe simply assumed guilt in the five players, because. hockey… Social media liberally smeared them as rapists, symbols of women’s degradation.

The five players on trial, meanwhile, were young, privileged fools, yes. But they had been unfairly branded as criminals by Hockey Canada which rushed to condemn them in a quick civil settlement of EM’s charges. HC never consulted them about their side of the story before surrendering the cash. This drive-by panic eventually would cost the five their NHL careers. Meanwhile, the 20 or so players on the 2018 Team Canada gold medal winners graduated into the NHL, with no one in the public knowing who was under suspicion? Who was innocent?

And then there are the facts. The most prominent was the 2018 decision of the London, Ont., police not to press charges after their investigation of the incident at a local bar and then hotel. With a single witness– who only came forward at the urging of her mother,  made a puzzling video from the incident itself and the contradictory evidence from the five players and others on the team— they knew it would not stand the scrutiny of a public trail with skilled defence lawyers.

Especially with a jury drawn from the hockey-mad city of London. So they passed on laying charges. It was suggested that a civil suit might be the best way to get some measure of justice. Which was what happened in 2022. Hockey Canada executives, spooked by the prospect of bad publicity, used a secret slush fund to pay EM a reported $3 million. The players were hung out to dry. And there it was supposed to rest.

Until the fastidious Strang/ Westwood duo revealed the presence of the slush fund, partially drawn from the registration fees of young players across the country. Hearings were quickly held on Parliament Hill excoriating the HC brass. This was followed by the resignations of said HC executives. There were promises of reform, withdrawal of sponsors and a blanket condemnation of the male hockey culture in Canada by people who thrive on such things.

In this favourable media cycle, the Crown suddenly decided to try its luck in court against the quintet. The political pressure for a conviction was tremendous as supporters of the Liberal government as well as its NDP partners demanded guilty charges. Social media demanded retribution. In this atmosphere a trial date for late 2024 was set.

Anyone who recalls the infamous 2016 sexual assault trial of former CBC host Jian Ghomeshi could have told you that it was going to be a reach to get convictions. In the Ghomeshi case the “traumatized” witnesses against him were revealed to have later contacted him for more meetings, promising more intimacy. Plus the witnesses conspired between themselves on their testimony. Ghomeshi was acquitted but never forgiven, his CBC career crushed.

In London, the Crown had to make the case of an intoxicated young woman who’d voluntarily gone to the hotel for sex with a player, who’d never been restrained or bound from leaving and who’d done videos saying she’d voluntarily spent the night in group sex with the players. The details were lurid, even if some teammates’ memories of the night were conveniently hazy on the stand.

There was hope among feminists that a jury might look past the shaky evidence and sympathize with EM. But that hope collapsed when the judge, citing complaints of harassment of jurors by defence counsel, declared a mistrial and took over the case herself.

In the end, Justice Maria Carroccia found EM not “credible or reliable” enough to send the players to jail. While scolding their behaviour she declared the young men not guilty. It was a courageous decision, knowing it would prompt backlash. The Globe&Mail led the charge, declaring “After the Hockey Canada verdict Advocates fear survivors will fall silent”.

Jesse Rodger, executive director of a local London sexual-assault centre: “Unfortunately, I think what this does is reconfirm that the legal system is perhaps not the safest place to find justice. I think it may deter people from coming forward.”

Supporters of EM outside the courtroom used words like “gutting”, “devastated” and “insulting” upon hearing the decision. In a society where The Handmaids Tale indoctrinates women into a culture of victimization there were willing ears for the purported messages against hockey players.

But as Joanna Baron wrote, “a criminal trial is not a symposium on sexual morality or trauma psychology. It is a process bound by the high threshold of the presumption of innocence. Today’s verdict reaffirms that principle.” And justifies the earlier decision not to seek a criminal trial

Predictably there are calls for reforms in the hockey culture. But how? As we saw in cases from Graham James to Dave Frost the bonding of teams often excludes females beyond mothers and sisters. Scoring with girls and women is almost as valued as scoring on the ice. (Make no mistake they have plenty of compliant partners in this.)  Similarly, in a climate where immature young men make millions they are going to attract ever more young women eager to punch a lottery ticket for life, whatever the price.

In that context the players will act according to their privilege. They’ve heard about the sexual spoils of stardom and are eager to collect. EM’s motives seem unclear beyond a wild night out with some famous hockey players. Why she stayed, why she offered sex to so many players and why she complied with the video are unknowable.

Had her mother not intervened it would have been a private story among those in the room that night. The civil suit would have given her some compensation and privacy.  It’s too late for that now. The London police read the room properly. And hockey has a costly own-goal.

Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster  A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada’s top television sports broadcaster, his new book Deal With It: The Trades That Stunned The NHL And Changed hockey is now available on Amazon. Inexact Science: The Six Most Compelling Draft Years In NHL History, his previous book with his son Evan, was voted the seventh-best professional hockey book of all time by bookauthority.org . His 2004 book Money Players was voted sixth best on the same list, and is available via brucedowbigginbooks.ca.

Because he has nothing else on his plate president Donald Trump has decided to revisit the Woke name change of the Washington NFL club from Redskins to Commanders and the Cleveland MLB name from Indians to Guardians. “The Washington ‘Whatever’s’ should IMMEDIATELY change their name back to the Washington Redskins Football Team. There is a big clamoring for this… Likewise, the Cleveland Indians, one of the six original baseball teams, with a storied past.

“Our great Indian people, in massive numbers, want this to happen. Their heritage and prestige is systematically being taken away from them. Times are different now than they were three or four years ago. We are a Country of passion and common sense. OWNERS, GET IT DONE!!!”

If that wasn’t enough, Trump decided to leverage funding for a new stadium in DC. “I may put a restriction on them that if they don’t change the name back to the original ‘Washington Redskins,’ and get rid of the ridiculous moniker, ‘Washington Commanders,’ I won’t make a deal for them to build a Stadium in Washington. The Team would be much more valuable, and the Deal would be more exciting for everyone.”

He received support from Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner, a former NFL player in Washington. “I played in the NFL and was drafted by the Washington Redskins. Not the ‘Washington Football Team’ or the ‘Commanders,’” he wrote on X. “@POTUS is right. It’s time to bring the Redskins’ name back.”

Before you do the tomahawk chop on POTUS 45/ 47, bear in mind that in a post-Stephen Colbert America the elites are on the run. Many people revere the Redskins nickname and the Cleveland Indians name as well. To say nothing of the Edmonton Eskimos fans who loathe the politically correct change to Elks. The name cult behind the Eskimos change is the same combination of today’s Indigenous activists, furious lefty politicians and media scolds like Bob Costas and Keith Olbermann.

As we wrote in November of 2017, the entire change-the-name stunt was a fraud. “It would seem from reading media accounts that a vast movement of native Americans and Canadians is underway. Yet, what’s unique about this struggle is the almost total indifference for these virtuous pearl clutchers from the people most affected by the alleged abuse. Polling consistently demonstrates that, as tempests go, this one is predominantly hot air.

A 2004 poll showed that 90 percent of those native Americans polled did not object to the Redskins nickname. A 2016 Washington Post poll which duplicated the poll question asked in 2004, produced an identical result.

To be sure, there is a range of native symbols caught up in this debate. The Indians name, allegedly to honor native player Louis Soxalexis who played for Cleveland in the first decade of the twentieth century, might be fairly benign. The Cleveland logo, Chief Wahoo, is offensive of just about every level. ”

The general public is not gripped by the Redskins debate either. As journalist George Will reports, “A 2013 AP-GfK poll showed that 79 percent of Americans of all ethnicities opposed changing it, and just 18 percent of ‘nonwhite football fans’ favoured changing it.” National public opinion polls finds that a majority of the general public support the team’s continued use of the name, ranging from 60 to 83 percent in recent years.

Those who object to the nicknames are no doubt sincere about their feelings, but as crusades go this one is several demonstrators shy of the Selma March of 1964. (Which never stops progressives seeking to educate the “deplorables” in American culture.) Sure enough, Canadian native activist Douglas Cardinal thought it was time to get his name in the media again. But his belated complaint was briskly shut down by a judge.

The Chicago Blackhawks name and logo seem to be respectful of the culture. The name was originally to honour not the native tribe itself but a branch of the U.S. military who used the nickname during WW I. In fact, natives often wear the Blackhawks logo themselves as cultural symbols. Ditto for the Braves’ name— although the fans’ war chant owes more to Hollywood than native culture. 

Because the Redskins play in the political fever swamp of Washington D.C. they have naturally received the most attention from activists and from media slavishly following the latest glittering progressive/ left object. Which allows people such as native activist Amanda Blackhorse, a Navajo, to proclaim, without facts, that “the majority of Native American people who have spoken out on this” want the name Redskins banned. And not get laughed into the Potomac.

Other zealots prefer a more hands-on approach to convincing natives how badly they’re served by these nicknames.  Folks such as Costas are free to use their platforms to make their feelings known. Which is their right. But it doesn’t mean that they’re aided by the facts.

As happened when Colin Kaepernick jumped on Black Lives Matter propaganda saying that blacks were being disproportionately targeted by police, the media have leapt in feet first to promote the right to his First Amendment rights while ignoring his data. BTW: The high school football team at Miss Blackhorse’s reservation New Mexico? The Redskins.

All of which begs the question: If so many of those affected by this supposed insult don’t see it as an insult… then who is the progressive culture industry doing it for?  I’ll take your answer off-air.”

Now, in Trump’s 2025, we may finally get an answer as to who calls the shots in pro sports. Using stadium financing to restore the Redskins name might be the answer.

Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster  A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada’s top television sports broadcaster, his new book Deal With It: The Trades That Stunned The NHL And Changed hockey is now available on Amazon. Inexact Science: The Six Most Compelling Draft Years In NHL History, his previous book with his son Evan, was voted the seventh-best professional hockey book of all time by bookauthority.org . His 2004 book Money Players was voted sixth best on the same list, and is available via brucedowbigginbooks.ca.