‘Code of Conduct’ coming to NHL after bad behaviour comes to light: Report

According to Canadian sports journalist Elliotte Friedman, a “written code of conduct” is coming to the NHL. Ever since the incident with Don Cherry, sportscasters, coaches and players involved with the NHL have been cracking down on unprofessional and abusive behaviour. People involved are being called out for their actions, whether they have been committed in the past or present.

Former NHL player Akim Aliu has written about it on Twitter and spoken out against NHL coach Bill Peters for abusive and racist comments. He has opened a discussion about “fixing” hockey culture. Aliu met with Bill Daly and Gary Bettman to discuss the topic.

Following the meeting, Aliu spoke with the media saying, “I think there’s some big change coming… It’s long overdue, and I’m excited to see it come to fruition.”

Friedman being heavily involved in the ongoing conversation wrote, “Discussions are underway. Lawyers will tell you the NHL properly handled the Bill Peters investigation, but the slower pace in a frenzied world and the fact he resigned instead of being fired left a sour taste in many mouths. Clear guidelines eliminate grey area, and ease another percolating debate: Where is the line of acceptability?”

Friedman noted that “clarity” and “specific language” are in order if the NHL is to properly recognize when certain behaviour has crossed the line.

According to Friedman, Aliu is concerned with the way the NHL is currently being run. He claimed that players are afraid to speak up and let others know when such abusive instances occur for fear of being “labelled.”

According to Aliu, he has had his own experience in this field when, as a junior hockey player when he was picked out for “refusing to be hazed.” The next time a similar experience occurred, Alui held his tongue, not speaking up about an incident for close to 10 years.