Boston Bruins signing Mitchell Miller shows hockey culture still has long way to go Opinion
The NHL would like you to think things are getting better and that the league is actively combating the talent-over-morality mindset and culture of racism that have permeated the sport for decades.
After the Black Lives Matter movement gained momentum in 2020, the NHL announced a series of initiatives to “combat racism and accelerate inclusion,” including mandatory diversity training for all league employees.
Those measures didn’t seem to have much of an impact on the Boston Bruins, who signed prospect Mitchell Miller to a three-year contract Friday.
Miller, whose 2020 draft rights were renounced by the Arizona Coyotes after The Arizona Republic reported he admitted to an Ohio juvenile court he bullied a Black classmate with developmental disabilities four years earlier.
The classmate, Isaiah Meyer-Crothers, was tricked into licking a candy push pop that Miller, who was 14 at the time, and another individual wiped in a bathroom urinal. Meyer-Crothers told The Republic that Miller also repeatedly directed racial slurs toward him.
The Bruins did not consult the NHL before signing Miller and he is not and may never be eligible to play in the league, according to commissioner Gary Bettman, who called Miller’s actions “reprehensible, unacceptable” Saturday during the 2022 NHL Global Series in Finland.
