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Sweeping bad behaviour under the rug is NOT the way to deal with it.

The gang rape of a woman by Hockey Canada players - including members of Canada’s national junior team, and guys who are now in the NHL - is obviously sickening. But does it cast the Logan Mailloux situation in a new light? In other words, was Mailloux’s action best understood a symptom of a diseased, misogynist hockey culture, the tip of a massive iceberg, the action of a guy who did nothing that many of his teammates wouldn’t do, but just had the misfortune to get caught? I hate to say it, but I would not be the slightest bit surprised if this were true. Not that every hockey player is a rapist (!). Rather the thought is that many teams have a critical mass of guys who think it’s swell to force themselves on women…and a critical mass of teammates who look the other way and protect them in order to be “good team guys.” In other words: it is entirely possible that these predators aren’t outliers. Misogyny and sexual predation are normalized in hockey culture. If this is true, then ironically it probably reinforces the case for keeping Mailloux in the organization. Not only is he more likely than his peers to now regret his brutalization and dehumanization of women, but for the Habs to deal him away would merely be to surrender a significant asset at a heavy discount, to no good purpose; after all, a critical mass of his teammates (wherever he lands) will likely have similar attitudes and probably a similar history of degrading/abusing women. And this could well be true of the assets we get back in return for him. It makes you want to puke when you think about it.