Quick Hits: June 8, 2020
1) Last week, out of respect for the social justice protests unfolding from coast to coast in the United States and well as in other countries, the Flyers quietly put a hold on all hockey content across the organization's media platforms.
The official website did not feature any new content, while the Flyers Broadcast Network had no new programs. Likewise, the only content featured on Flyers social media apart from the Comcast-Spectacor issued statement that came out on June 2 was the sharing of personal statements from Claude Giroux and James van Riemsdyk as well as the June 5 acknowledgement by Chuck Fletcher that the Skate Zone would officially reopen to Flyers players on the 8th.
Today is the day that hockey-related content returns in earnest. On the Flyers website this week, there will be a profile of the four prospects the Flyers have signed since the NHL pause began (Tanner Laczynski, Wade Allison, Linus Sandin and Linus Högberg), a deep-dive "Inside the Numbers" on the team's improved penalty kill this season, and an article looking at Sean Couturier's Selke Trophy candidacy. There will also be between-day articles as developing news merits.
Jason Myrtetus' "Flyers Daily" podcast on the Flyers Broadcast Network also resumes this week, In today's edition, Jason and I discussed Phase 2 and beyond of the NHL's return-to-play plan and how it impacts the Flyers. It's anticipated that there will be six Flyers players on the ice at the Skate Zone to/day.
2) On today's Flyers Daily, Jason and I also discussed the societal developments of the past week from the context of the hockey world. During Wayne Simmonds' tenure with the Flyers, whenever societal issues pertaining to race relations and social justice would arise (such as whether the "take-a-knee" protests in the NFL during the Star Spangled Banner would happen in the NHL), it was inevitably Wayne who had to be the spokesman even when the team had at least one or two other black players.
Simmonds has always handled these situations in exemplary fashion. He'd speak from the heart and from personal experience, both on and off the ice. He also understood the importance of making his voice heard, first and foremost, and then to bring the focus back to his identity as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers team. Meanwhile, each and every day, he maintained a strong commitment to serving the community and never seeking publicity for it.
When situations would arise that spotlighted racial inequalities, whether pertaining to hockey culture or society as a whole, I used to feel bad that Wayne was always the one who'd be expected to publicly address it while the rest of the team could simply talk about hockey. But Simmonds himself never seemed to resent it, and he's said that he feels it is a duty as a black man in the public eye to convey his views.
Inevitably, I felt like I learned something after listening to Simmer. He's not an orator who speaks in flowery language. He simply abounds in common sense, unflinching bravery and honesty, and understands the bigger picture while nevertheless wearing his heart on his sleeve.
Wayne admits that it took years to get to that point, because his natural inclination -- as anyone who has seen him play hockey can attest -- is to respond physically to a challenge. If you have not read Jay Greenberg's outstanding blog on this site, which includes quotes from Wayne Simmonds, I strongly encourage you to do so.
Today, Simmer, Chris Stewart, Evander Kane, Trevor Daley and several other current or former NHL players of black heritage announced the formation of the Hockey Diversity Alliance. Read their statement below.
We are proud to announce the formation of the Hockey Diversity Alliance 🏒✊🿠pic.twitter.com/TAucuYJxp2
— Wayne Simmonds (@Simmonds17) June 8, 2020
3) Former Flyers defenseman Lasse Kukkonen announced his retirement as an active player today. The 38-year-old fixture on Team Finland was never the biggest, fastest or most talented of players but he was always very hockey smart and utterly fearless on the ice.
Lasse Kukkonen (@Kukkolasse5) ripustaa hokkarit naulaan – “Poikkeuksellista omistautumista seuran toimintaan…
— Liiga (@smliiga) June 8, 2020
Lue lisà¤à¤ 👉 https://t.co/NnRgGv6E8j#Liiga #Kà¤rpà¤t pic.twitter.com/aKSTHi6q0m
4) Today in Flyers History: On June 8, 1983, the Flyers traded defenseman Behn Wilson to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Doug Crossman and a 1984 second-round draft pick (Scott Mellanby).
5) I think all human beings have a tendency to filter their views through the prism of their own experiences. I'm certainly not immune to that. Therefore, the most important skill people can cultivate is their own listening skills -- paying attention to what they're saying, and then having honest dialogue even if the conversation is uncomfortable. It's by no means an end point, but we all have to start somewhere.
For the last week, I've debating with myself whether to end a blog by sharing a personal story that does not involve me. It involves my stepson, Nick, who is of mixed causasian and black heritage. I finally decided to go ahead and write it.
Nick is within a year of graduating college. He is a pretty exemplary young man. He very much wants to be a teacher and football coach at a high school level. I have no doubt he'll succeed. He could also be a success as a trainer, physical therapist or out in the business world; he's personable and charismatic. Through sheer determination, he became an outstanding high school football player who set a still-standing single-season rushing record as a tailback his season year. Several small college programs were interested in him, even after he tore his quadriceps in his next-to-last high school game.
Even back in high school, Nick understood that a Division I college football career probably wasn't in the cards, much less a pro football career. He lacks natural tailback speed but is powerfully built with a low center of gravity. As such, he could routinely break tackles at the regional HS level. It did not take him very long after graduating high school to shift his focus from playing sports to his long-term ambition of teaching (preferably history or a related area) and coaching.
Nick has a sardonic, boisterous sense of humor when he's among those he knows well. Among strangers or casual acquaintences, though, he is unfailingly polite and soft-spoken. He's not a troublemaker, by any stretch of the imagination. He doesn't touch alcohol. Doesn't smoke. Has never experimented with drugs of any kind. Socially, he is actually a bit of a homebody although he has a lot of friends of many different backgrounds. He has a steady girlfriend, and spends most of his free time either with her or with his immediate family. Physically, he's not someone that most people would want to tangle with -- he still lifts weights and has a tough exterior with a soft heart beneath it. He has a temper but has learned how to control it and he'd never initiate a physical confrontation.
A person such as Nick should never have to worry about trouble finding him. Nonetheless, too many times in his life, Nick has been subjected to various forms of racism. Most of it is subtle. He's gotten suspiciously watched at times when he walks into a store by himself -- nevermind that he'd never even think of stealing anything -- and especially if he's with a black friend. Another time, when he was driving to meet the rest of us on a family vacation to a secluded cabin, he stopped at a rural convenience store on the way simply to use the rest room and buy a bottle of water and a snack for the road. When he asked if they had a bathroom, the owner told him he wasn't welcomed and instructed him to leave immediately.
A few years ago, Nick worked a pizza delivery job to earn some spending money in the summertime. One night, after his last delivery, he was driving home a little too fast. A policeman pulled him over. By Nick's own admission, he deserved the ticket he was issued. What he did NOT deserve was to be interrogated -- even initally accused that the straw wrapper next to an empty Sonic cup was a rolling paper. His car was searched thoroughly. Finally, he was given his speeding ticket and allowed to drive home.
I have had black friends and acquaintances tell me similar stories. Back when I used to practice aikido, I was friends with a classmate who wore his hair in short dreadlocks and spoke with a hint of a Caribbean accent (his parents were from Barbados). He was a well-educated guy with a stable job and family. Nonetheless, he'd been pulled over many, many times, but often for no discernable reason other than being a black man driving a nice car in a predominantly white area.
As with Nick, thankfully, my friend had never experienced being falsely arrested. Periodically harrassed by authority figures and viewed suspiciously out in society for simply being black, absolutely yes. If you've read the story that Delino DeShields Jr. posted on social media about a time where police detained the future pro baseball player after he and black friends went to a batting cage and, naturally, had baseball bats in the car -- only to turn friendly and ask for his autograph (which he gave) once they learned who he was, this sort of thing is far too common to the experiences of blacks who are in the socioeconomic middle-class and even the wealthier segment.
For those African-Americans in the more impoverished portion of the population, the experiences are quite often far worse. It took me a long time to realize it. I filtered everything through my own prism, and my own experiences (including having friends in law enforcement, and genuinely liking most of the people I've met at Flyers Alumni fundraising games for police officers injured in the line of duty) have been largely positive ones. Although I do not personally know any African-American law enforcement officers, I have had known some who have family members in law enforcement. I regret not asking what their personal experiences were like over the years.
I hope that I have become a better listener over the years. When you listen and when you supplement it with study, that's when you learn and when you open the door to self-improvement. Nick is not one to share these sorts of things publicly and it's not something he goes through on a daily basis. So I hope I'm not embarrassing him here. I just admire him for the person that he is. I truly hate that there are things I can take for granted when I leave the house that there's at least a chance he'll randomly run into someone -- possibly a police officer -- who finds him threatening simply because his complexion is a few shades darker than theirs.