The New York Rangers need to stay away from Ottawa Senators winger Mike Hoffman. The forward’s baggage outweighs his quality as a player.
Character goes a long way in team sports. The amount of time teammates spend together fosters a brother like relationship over the course of a six month season. There is not a direct correlation between chemistry in the dressing room and performance on the ice, but it is easy to see when things are not right. However, sometimes, things go far beyond just being a bad teammate.
There are several cases in the NHL of players that have committed heinous and disgusting acts off the ice. In addition to these cases there are situations that require organizational intervention. Although a crime was not committed, there are patterns of toxic and abusive behavior that require attention. A player will often just get traded instead of trying to work things out with their respective organization.
However, it is important to discern between a player having a bad attitude and a situation that requires legal intervention. Ottawa had a handful of ugly situations during this past season. In the case of Mike Hoffman and his long term girlfriend Monika Caryk, the team let a horrible situation persist.
The facts
During the course of this past season, Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson and his wife Melinda had a stillborn child. Recently, the Ottawa Star reported that Melinda Karlsson had filed for an order of protection against Caryk. An Ottawa judge signed said order on the grounds that Caryk had carried out a continued pattern of targeted harassment against Karlsson.
"According to Canada’s Department of Justice website, a peace bond is a protection order that requires a person to keep the peace and be on good behaviour, and is used when that person appears likely to commit a criminal offence, but there are no reasonable grounds to believe that an offence has actually been committed."
This means that if said allegations are true, the Senators allowed a poisonous environment to fester out of control. It is one thing if two teammates do not get along for some petty reason. Cooler heads can stomp out petty disputes stemming from ego. However, long term patterns of targeted harassment by a significant other is something that cannot just be squashed.
Hoffman and Caryk have both denied the allegations as the Senators carry out their own internal investigation.
The right way
Chief amongst the Rangers largest concerns this past season was a lack of personal accountability. From the coaching staff down, the team lacked someone that would take the heat when things went wrong. Last season, the team would surrender a goal in the first five minutes of the game and things would snowball. The players on the ice all had a simultaneous deer in the headlights look.
One of the big things the front office and ownership group have made a point of emphasizing on is character. The team needs to stay away from players like Hoffman to help foster a new culture. The Rangers developed a culture of winning this decade with players that grew under John Tortorella. Back under Tortorella, he constantly harped on doing things the right way. The coach molded players like Derek Stepan, Ryan McDonagh, Dan Girardi and Marc Staal.
The team is developing a new group of young players. Under their accomplished college coach in David Quinn, they will hopefully breed a new winning culture. This means prioritizing good character players over result on the ice. Winning at the cost of sacrificing the team’s moral fiber is no way to operate a professional sports franchise. Too often teams are willing to forsake what is right in the name of winning.
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The Rangers need to stay away from Hoffman at all cost this summer. A winger with the potential to score 30 goals is not worth it if his girlfriend carries out targeted harassment of another player’s wife due to a tragic family loss. This is a no brainer decision that Jeff Gorton can make in his sleep.