Confirmed with Link: Drouin taking indefinite leave of absence for personal reasons - placed on LTIR (Mod warn #28, 382

[SOLR]

Hope it will be ok, I'm still a believer.

Feel better Jonathan.

 

[VAN-HAB]

Get well Jonathan, you are tougher than you think!!!

 

[Vachon23]

Can’t believe that needed to be said

Even the Habs where obliged to write it on Twitter... In what world do we live ?

 

[Spring in Fialta]

I'm not a doctor but if he is suffering from depression it doesn't really matter if he plays in Montreal or in Arizona.

Eh...depends. Doesn't mean that it would make everything okay but environment can definitely play a role on someone's mental health.

 

[Monsieur Miz]

I wish him all the best. It's hard being a Franco in this city and Drouin's been as much a target as anyone I've seen not named Brisebois. I mean, I'm a Habs fan and want to see the best from the players, but they're all human in the end and you can't but feel for then when they go through rough patches.

I think Theodore is in there too.

TQS sent a camera at his home once to make sure he wasn't faking an injury.

 

[First Line]

Hopefully he can get the help he needs. Mental health is important for all of us during these difficult times. Get well Jo and don’t be too proud to ask for help.

 

[crosbyshow]

Something hapened in March.

In January and February he was very good actually. He did even some checks on regular bases. He was good with the puck in all 3 zones

Then..nothing..he was scared to go in the corner etc...

 

[Adriatic]

There's quite a bit of a gap between the abuse Drouin received and discussing player performance.

Some people on social media are quite vicious.

I get it. Being in the spotlight is not for everyone.

 

[Guy Larose]

Drouin strikes me as a guy that reads press articles and goes on social media to read about himself. After so much negativity it probably got to him mentally. I could tell in his body language there was something not right. In the end, hockey players are humans too. Just hope he gets through it.

Anyone that thinks players don't look themselves up on the Net are kidding themselves, especially the younger generation.

 

[salbutera]

I wish him all the best. It's hard being a Franco in this city and Drouin's been as much a target as anyone I've seen not named Brisebois. I mean, I'm a Habs fan and want to see the best from the players, but they're all human in the end and you can't but feel for then when they go through rough patches.

FWIW - There have been rumors making the rounds, there’s been abuse directed at Drouin’s parents.

 

[Leon Lucius Black]

Although I'm all for player privacy we had this situation last year with Rask, where no statement was released when it would of been really simply to clarify and it just resulted in a lot of preventable resentment and hate sent his way.

Rask and the Bruins both said it was family related, they both owed it to no one to provide additional details.

No matter how much information teams or players will reveal, people will just create unnecessary speculation.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Ive looked at the clip where he leaves the warmup and it looks to me its not Jo who says he can't go, its Graham who tells him something. My guess is that its a family matter. Take care 92

I'm guessing it's a family member as well. I can only imagine the rumors spread on this news now!

 

[Fish on The Sand]

But why exactly are we entitled to know private information? I can’t call your company and ask why you’re on an extended leave of absence. Why is it different for players?

I definitely agree that for non-hockey related stuff that privacy is key and it should be the player's discretion as to what gets released.

However what I think @Lolonegoal was trying to say is that there are some benefits to disclosure that the player should consider when these situations arise.

 

[Mikah]

I wish him well, for whatever he has to take some time off.

That being said, I find it hard to believe that in 2021, their agents do not provide a service on how to handle social media, and counselling so they stop reading news/blogs/journals or whatever about themselves. Even if he was having a better season than McDavid, you could probably still find negative posts and comments. What good could come out of that? Their twitter accounts should be handled by comms people. And every player who read about themselves on the internet should get their cell phone the 'Baywatch' treatment (watch the donut and coffee scene).

The best advice an agent should tell their players is what Brisson told DeAngelo: How many times do I have to tell you to get the f*** off of Twitter. Go to bed.

 

[Techcoockie]

I wish him all the best. It's hard being a Franco in this city and Drouin's been as much a target as anyone I've seen not named Brisebois. I mean, I'm a Habs fan and want to see the best from the players, but they're all human in the end and you can't but feel for then when they go through rough patches.

Oh god brisebois.... He was so much ridiculed during his last years with MTL and after that at TVA sport..... Really suck for him cause he seems like a genuine human.

 

[Andrei79]

I think Theodore is in there too.

TQS sent a camera at his home once to make sure he wasn't faking an injury.

Right, forgot about that. They did go overboard with the rumors on Theo and his personal life back then.

Also reminded me of the idiot who went to take a picture of Koivu in the hospital too.

 

[Saundies]

Take all the time you need, Jo. It could be mental health, and if so, that's nothing to mess around with. Even if it's not, hockey's not everything in life.

Wish him all the best.

 

[le_sean]

I definitely agree that for non-hockey related stuff that privacy is key and it should be the player's discretion as to what gets released.

However what I think @Lolonegoal was trying to say is that there are some benefits to disclosure that the player should consider when these situations arise.

I’m 100% positive it would be addressed in the room with his teammates, the only people he’s accountable to.

 

[donghabs98]

Wishing Drouin the best. For all the criticism he takes, I do think Drouin cares about winning and succeeding. But whenever things get tough it seems to impact him more. Throw in how isolated he probably is due to the pandemic and the league's restrictions and its easy to see how he needs a break.

From a hockey perspective, we need Drouin on top of his game and if that means him taking time off then thats fine.

 

[Vachon23]

 

[JuicyHam]

There's quite a bit of a gap between the abuse Drouin received and discussing player performance.

Some people on social media are quite vicious.

And even if he doesn't see any of this (realistically he never will) he is aware that this is what people think of him when he plays poorly and that they are quite vicious and hateful. It definitely eats away at a player. It's not about being "weak" mentally either. I'm willing to bet people have harassed him on the street as well

 

[Vachon23]

I think Theodore is in there too.

TQS sent a camera at his home once to make sure he wasn't faking an injury.

That was so dumb

 

[Vachon23]

 

[Habs Halifax]

How so? Let's just close this board then if we can't discuss players performances because it might hurt their feelings.

Fans going to do what fans do. Talk about their team and the players. With Drouin, I feel it's been too much of a focus on a $5.5M cap hit and a guy that is producing near that cap hit (+/-) depending on the season. We expected more cause he has more to offer. Fair. I don't see any issues with this.

However, this is where the line is tricky. I think the level of attention has got to him and his family. If fans and media are attacking Drouin or his family directly, it's out of line! Some fans don't know where to stop. Is this the real issue at play? I don't know and all we can do is speculate. Speculation with fans is to be expected but that's where it should stop

 

[Habs 4 Life]

FWIW - There have been rumors making the rounds, there’s been abuse directed at Drouin’s parents.

I don't know what the case is here, but if that's the case that's pretty f***ing pathetic!! People need to get lives outside of hockey!