Policing the 
players

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This article was published 22/09/2015 (3852 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Prevention and personal relationships between the organization and its players is the Winnipeg Jets’ answer to controlling conduct.

“We try to build personal relationships with our players. We want them to be comfortable coming to us to talk about anything,” said Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff. “We talk about putting family first. But it can’t just be talk. We encourage a family atmosphere here, not only for the players but for their families. Our culture goes beyond the players in the room. It extends to their families. (Coach) Paul (Maurice) talks a lot about players taking care of one another. We repeat that a lot. We aspire to take care of one another in our organization.”

Code of conduct has become an oft-repeated phrase this summer as the hockey world has watched the Los Angeles Kings come apart.

One player went to jail for beating his wife. Another was arrested with a pocket full of cocaine. A third is before the courts for possession of a controlled substance. The Los Angeles Kings somehow developed a troublesome culture and GM Dean Lombardi has called what happened with his team over the last year “eye-opening,” and labelled the Kings’ approach to off-ice conduct as “negligent.” He’s now trying to turn it around with an education program and the hiring of recovering addict and former NHLer Brantt Myhres in a new player assistance position.

The Kings have adopted The Herren Project to educate players about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse. They’ve also added sexual-harassment training and a conduct-awareness program.

The Jets have been proactive in a number of ways, including bringing in former NHL defenceman Rob Ramage to talk to their players about drunk driving and the tragic results it can have on one’s life.

Ramage had a long and productive NHL career but was jailed in 2008 on an impaired-driving-causing-death charge as a result of a 2003 car accident in Woodbridge, Ont., that killed one of Ramage’s passengers, former Chicago Blackhawk Keith Magnuson.

Ramage provided a scared-straight speech to the Jets, and management followed up with its message of having open lines of communication between the players and the organization.

One NHL executive recently said to me, “When I played it was rye and coke. Now it’s just (cocaine). Times change. These kids have money and we can’t pretend they’re not doing what other kids are doing. Because they are and we have to be ready to deal with it.”

Cheveldayoff was asked about the changing times in the NHL

“It’s an interesting dynamic. The league is getting younger and younger all the time, when it comes to the players it’s composed of, and the contracts seem to be getting larger and larger on a quicker basis for some of these guys. And sometimes, those two things don’t meet. When younger people get a lot of money and reality, sometimes, isn’t per se, the normal thing that most people go through, there can be some difficult things. But we are concerned, we’re a family here. We’re concerned about our players, we’re concerned about our players’ wives, and obviously their families,” said Cheveldayoff.

“When you see issues happen with players, you certainly want to reach out and be able to provide guidance, or at least let players know there’s help around the corner here, within any organization. For the most part, I think there’s 700-some-odd players in the National Hockey League, and there’s a lot of mature players, a lot of players that, obviously, take pride in where things are at.

You do look and want to wish the best for everybody, but whether it’s that or even on the injury side of it, you take a lot of things very, very seriously. There’s players’ lives, long past the hockey world, that you’re concerned about.”

One way the Jets have tried to reach their players is through its player-development staff made up of Jimmy Roy and Mike Keane.

From the moment a player is drafted by the Jets, he gets a pair of new uncles and all the advice that comes from a combined 2,000-plus pro games.

“Jimmy and Mike spend a lot of time with our prospects. We try to prepare them for a lot of these pitfalls before they get to a pro camp or arrive in the NHL,” said Jets director of communications Scott Brown. “They talk a lot about how to be a pro. How to train, how to eat and all of the things that are part of reaching the NHL. They also introduce them to our organization and the culture we have here.”

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @garylawless