Bill Peters Under Investigation

[Moses]

Could there be a new 'Me Too' movement from retired NHL players against former coaches?

Like what, Tanner Glass comes forward to say that Coach V said he would keep him on the roster if Glass had sex with him?

[MZac]

Yes he will be fired. Probably before the end of the week.

I doubt he's behind the bench tomorrow night.

[tweetdrivr]

I doubt he's behind the bench tomorrow night.

Probably right.

[Dennis]

I think some contrition from Peters would've been his only shot at keeping the job and it's been radio silence from him as far as I know.

Also, this is the first story I've noticed where the Athletic disabled their comments section. ugh

[Godin]

Like what, Tanner Glass comes forward to say that Coach V said he would keep him on the roster if Glass had sex with him?

Not sure what you mean, but no. I know this is a serious allegation and should be handled accordingly. I didn't mean to compare it to the original 'Me Too' movement in that sense. I guess I was referring to the latest complaints against coaches. Some more serious than others.

[Axeman33]

Does anyone see any irony in listening to black people call each other the "n" word as a term of endearment among friends or even in rap music but when a white man says it its offensive.

I'm not trying to create havoc but I do find it funny and not in a ha-ha way. I always think back to watching Coach Carter and how he reacted when he heard his bball players call each other that and he corrected them for saying it as a term of endearment.

Being a middle aged white Male, that's something I'll never understand.

[Rylant]

Does anyone see any irony in listening to black people call each other the "n" word as a term of endearment among friends or even in rap music but when a white man says it its offensive.

I'm not trying to create havoc but I do find it funny and not in a ha-ha way. I always think back to watching Coach Carter and how he reacted when he heard his bball players call each other that and he corrected them for saying it as a term of endearment.

Being a middle aged white Male, that's something I'll never understand.

It's definitely an interesting conversation. There is a largely popular belief that white people should not be able to use the N-word in any context due to its harsh history. Afterall, it is a word firmly established as a derogatory name and it remains a principle term of white racism. One belief out there is that black people have earned the right to say it; it belongs to them now and some even embrace it as a term of endearment. There is a movement among some in the black community who think that even black people should stop using the word. Russell Simmons, founder of Def Jam who signed Public Enemy and Run DMC, stated recently his belief that people, and rappers in particular should stop using the word on the grounds that it is "a racially derogatory term that disrespects the pain, suffering, history of racial oppression and multiple forms of racism against African-Americans and other people of color". People like Ice Cube and Jay Z embrace the word now.

For me personally, as a white male, I would never say the word. I do see your point though, Axe.

Rylant

[ericdaoust]

It's one of the many things in life that are outside of our control

[stevegamer]

Also, this is the first story I've noticed where the Athletic disabled their comments section. ugh

They did that with the Darryl Morey tweet about Hong Kong. If they can't handle the comments, maybe they shouldn't have a comments section.

[stevegamer]

Does anyone see any irony in listening to black people call each other the "n" word as a term of endearment among friends or even in rap music but when a white man says it its offensive.

I'm not trying to create havoc but I do find it funny and not in a ha-ha way. I always think back to watching Coach Carter and how he reacted when he heard his bball players call each other that and he corrected them for saying it as a term of endearment.

Being a middle aged white Male, that's something I'll never understand.

I can say that I had a very unusual relationship with the "n" word. I am white, from the projects originally, and got called it by black friends as a term of being like them. I can say with all seriousness that when I was hanging out or chatting with some friends of a different race on a street corner or at a store while there are local racial tensions due to a murder, and adults come up and ask what's going on (thankfully no cops), and one of them says something like, "I'm just hanging with my N----s", and I'm clearly white, it got really, really, weird. That was the 80's and into the 90's. I haven't been called that in decades, but it did happen in my 20's, and I'm over 50 - so I am also a white middle aged male.

I've been mistaken for being black before being met in person by people's other friends, girlfriend's co-workers, and even a college recruiter. It's happened often enough, that it no longer surprises me.

[agentzero]

Fire him if you must but don’t let anything be a pretext... fire him because his coaching is not effective and say that. Don’t fire him just because of this story, because it likely doesn’t reflect who he is today and he should be made to apologize and have to work with peers and players to learn from his mistakes. Facing them in the workplace every day is harder than getting fired and disappearing into nothingness. It also doesn’t teach any good lessons. Having the guy publicly work through it accomplishes more.

[hockeymanG23]

Does anyone see any irony in listening to black people call each other the "n" word as a term of endearment among friends or even in rap music but when a white man says it its offensive.

I'm not trying to create havoc but I do find it funny and not in a ha-ha way. I always think back to watching Coach Carter and how he reacted when he heard his bball players call each other that and he corrected them for saying it as a term of endearment.

Being a middle aged white Male, that's something I'll never understand.

I hear ya.

One of the things I wonder about this story is specifically what Akim Aliu was usually listening to because of how he claims Peters used the word. Here is the quote from Seravallis article on TSN.

“He walked in before a morning pre-game skate and said ‘Hey Akim, I’m sick of you playing that n----- s---,’ ” Aliu told TSN, with Peters, who was then the Ice Hogs head coach, referring to Aliu’s selection of hip-hop music. “He said ‘I’m sick of hearing this n-----s f------ other n-----s in the ass stuff.’
“He then walked out like nothing ever happened. You could hear a pin drop in the room, everything went dead silent. I just sat down in my stall, didn’t say a word.”

https://www.tsn.ca/akim-aliu-speaks-...ters-1.1403974

Notice, he doesn't use the term in reference to Akim as an individual, but towards the music Akim was listening to.

Some of the things that many of the most popular rappers have been known for over the past few decades are gang and drug glorification, misogyny, violence, murder, sexual violence directed towards women and men, liberal use of racial slurs including but not limited to the N-bomb, and the list goes on. Basically subject material that most respectful people of EVERY background find extremely disturbing but is marketed often to young black men specifically as what is normal and something to aspire to or measure themselves by and that is certainly not just my opinion. I did a Google search about toxic hip-hop and found many links, heres one from 2003 that, while been quite a long read, was very well written on this subject.

On the other hand there are many thoughtful rap artists out there who try to spread a message of positivity, fun, inclusivity, and the desire to make positive progress in areas of society and life in general, etc.

Should it matter what the general themes were of what Akim was listening to?

If it was that type of toxic hip hop, then yes. People of any colour should be free to denounce the glorification of those kind of lyrics without being labeled a racist, and considering he was quoted as saying ‘I’m sick of hearing this n-----s f------ other n-----s in the ass stuff.’ I would think its most likely this was the style of music being played especially since it is some of the most popular content found in the genre.

If on the other hand the content was harmless or empowering then I can see the intolerance being unacceptable certainly from a stand point of inclusivity.

Was it wrong for Peters to use the words he did regardless of the content and considering his position of authority? Yes, no doubt about it. Regardless of it being unacceptable though I can see there being an argument that it came from a place of frustration in the one scenario and a possibly place of intolerance escalating up to true racism if it were the other case.

Considering the stories that are coming out in addition to this of violence towards his players back in that time period also, its very possible that coming to the conclusion that Peters was making derogatory comments to Akim is absolutely true and that he is an overall jackass of a man. At the same time it should be fair to leave open the possibility that he was merely showing frustration with a style of music that is often called out for its toxic storytelling by foolishly using terminology common to that genre in which case he shouldn't necessarily be treated any worse than PM "Blackface" Trudeau.

Fire him if you must but don’t let anything be a pretext... fire him because his coaching is not effective and say that. Don’t fire him just because of this story, because it likely doesn’t reflect who he is today and he should be made to apologize and have to work with peers and players to learn from his mistakes. Facing them in the workplace every day is harder than getting fired and disappearing into nothingness. It also doesn’t teach any good lessons. Having the guy publicly work through it accomplishes more.

Agreed. When Carolina let him go there were many concerns within the analytic and old-school hockey types about whether he was just a bad coach and the results of last years playoffs along with this years struggles have added plenty of weight to that argument.

[2014olympicgold]

The bigger issue is that from when this happened to now, 4teams have employed him.
1 additional yr in the AHL
3 seasons with Detroit
4 seasons with Canes
2 seasons with the Flames.

Teams are willing to employ these guys even with knowledge of wrong doings like this. I know everyone is saying they didn't know, but no way this stuff can't be found if a team wants too.

Also, the player has felt his career was in jeopardy if he had said something. Development leagues (AHL, ECHL, NCAA, minor league baseball) put a lot of control into the coaches hands and who really knows who else has been "roadblocked" because of this sort of thing. A lot of the time a GM talks to the minor league coach on who to bring up and if you have a coach like Peters, he might just ignore Aliu when suggesting a player to be called up. I'm sure this could be changing in some organizations who have enough money to employ maybe a scout to watch the minor league teams play, but it will still be an issue.

Also, it's reported Bill Peters will NOT be coaching tonight's game while this investigation continues.

[Axeman33]

There's so much we don't know to this story and it continues. Again, I am not excusing what Peters said 10 years ago, but maybe, just maybe, he's learned from that and isn't the same person today. It was a LONG time ago and a lot can change during that time. Is it fair to judge the man on something that was done so long ago when he could have done things to alter his outlook? Is it fair to take away his career if he has made changes in his life? We are all too quick to assume the worst without all the details.

I think Calgary is doing the right thing in their investigation. Do I think he gets out of this unscathed? No. He's probably going to lose his job because Calgary won't want to be seen in a bad light and feel the only way out of this is to remove him from the situation. Even if he's changed his ways, the stigma will still be there.

I dont know. What I do know is a lot of people did a lot of stupid things YEARS ago and to have this stuff thrown back in their face after such a long time ago seems wrong to me.

[ericdaoust]

He had no problem taking advantage of the NHL's protective structure to make millions over the past 10 years. Plus it's not like he was an angel after that.