One of the extra curious facets to the entire Mitchell Miller saga has been that of his illustration.
Miller – the Bruins’ prospect signed on Friday who had been convicted in an Ohio juvenile courtroom of bullying a developmentally delayed Black classmate, conduct that included years of racial slurs – is represented by agent Eustace King of 02K Sports Management, a former Miami University participant who’s Black.
On Sunday, King launched an announcement to elucidate why he selected to characterize Miller.
“The decision to take on Mitchell Miller as client was not one that 02K Sports Management made lightly. As one of the very few Black NHL agents in the league, a member of the NHL’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and a Black man who has spent his entire life in hockey, I understand the gravity of the situation and respect the fierce emotions and reactions to the initial reporting and commentary around Mr. Miller’s past behavior,” King wrote.
“02K Sports Management would not have agreed to represent Mitchell without months of research, deliberation, introspection within our organization, and conversations with outside advisors. Moreover, when deliberating whether to represent Mitchell, we learned throughout the last six years, Mitchell has been volunteering with organizations such as Spread the Word Campaign, Little Miracles, Adaptive Sports of Ohio and Gliding.”
Continuing within the assertion, King wrote that over the summer time he and Miller met and dedicated to work with the teams White Men as Full Diversity Partners, The Carnegie Initiative and Hockey Equality. He additionally wrote that earlier than signing his contract with the Bruins that he dedicated to working with native bullying prevention, youth steerage and after college applications.
“We believe in restorative justice,” continued King. “Mitchell and I are on a path together and I welcome you all to join us. 02K Sports Management believes in accountability, and so does our client. After weighing all of those factors, we came to the conclusion to embrace the forward-thinking approach of Professor Loretta Ross and choose to ‘counsel not cancel’ as the path to racial healing and understanding.”
While King’s assertion didn’t say that Miller had but labored with Carnegie Initiative, a non-profit company devoted to inclusion in hockey, the group felt the necessity to launch a clarifying assertion Sunday evening to say that it had not accomplished any work with Miller.
“The CI was approached to consider working with Mitchell as he addresses his own recovery process related to social justice issues. This is one of many requests The CI frequently receives to collaborate on efforts to make hockey more inclusive,” stated the assertion.
“To be clear, we have not worked with Mitchell Miller. That said, we do encourage everyone involved to have the direct, difficult conversations needed so that all can find a positive healing path forward.”
King’s assertion didn’t comprise any point out of what sort of amends Miller deliberate to make on to his sufferer Isaiah Meyer-Crothers. In interviews with the Herald and different retailers, Isaiah’s mom Joni Meyer-Crothers has made it clear that these efforts so far have been sorely missing. Meyer-Crothers, who stated her son continues to be struggling emotionally from the bullying, stated Isaiah acquired nothing however a court-mandated letter till very not too long ago, when Miller reached out by way of social media on the behest of the Bruins, one thing she felt was extra expedient than remorseful.
No one from the Bruins had reached out to the household previous to signing. Joni Meyer-Crothers stated that former NHL participant Joel Ward, one of many founders of the Hockey Diversity Alliance (which has no formal ties to the league), has reached out to Isaiah and has been talking recurrently with him.
Miller’s skilled hockey future, in the meantime, is up within the air. On Saturday, Commissioner Gary Bettman stated that he’s not eligible to play within the NHL, although the contract he signed with the B’s was apparently registered with the league, and he’ll must clear some unspecified hurdles earlier than he’s ever eligible to play. AHL president Scott Howson plans to satisfy with Miller within the subsequent few days to find out what steps have to be taken earlier than he’s eligible to play in that league for the Providence Bruins, with whom he practiced on Friday.
McNab dies
Peter McNab — a outstanding member of the Bruins’ Lunch Pail AC group of the late Seventies and early ’80s — died on the age of 70, the Colorado Avalanche introduced on Sunday. McNab, who had been battling most cancers, had been a long-time broadcaster for Altitude TV, the Avs’ broadcast companion.
McNab was a member of the Bruins from 1976 to 1984 and recorded six straight seasons of no less than 35 targets and 74 factors.
Source: www.bostonherald.com