News Article: Penguins told AHL coach to "stay quiet" about wife's sexual assault, lawsuit says

[SomeDude]

Oh, you mean when they fired Clark Donatelli after he missed the playoffs? He had 3 straight playoff appearances, then had 1 where he didn’t and well, see ya later Lester the molester.

Puts a wrinkle in your assumption, no?

You’re allowed to believe that if WBS had made the playoffs then the franchise would have orchestrated a Penn State level cover up to keep Donatelli. I do not believe it personally, but doesn’t mean it wouldn’t have happened.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Everyone knows about the past of all the players they signed who did terrible things. I certainly agree they should have never signed them in the first place but they didn’t sweep anything under the rug.

The Quinn incident was a criminal matter that when through the judicial process. I have never heard any accusations that the organization attempted to interfere with it, unless I missed something. That would be pretty big news.

They rationalized the Tibbetts one.

Then ignored addressing the Downie one, Zolnierczyk one, and especially the DeSmith one.

But hey mate, thank goodness he plays that weird disc throwing game during the pandemic, right? Gotta love those fluff pieces by people that assault women.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

You’re allowed to believe that if WBS had made the playoffs then the franchise would have orchestrated a Penn State level cover up to keep Donatelli. I do not believe it personally, but doesn’t mean it wouldn’t have happened.

Didn’t Ben’s accuser basically get bullied into dropping it?

People on the internet right now are bullying Amber Heard because they’re “Depp stan’s” and attacking Justin Bieber’s wife that she’s not Selena Gomez.

People are f***ed up, people also find ways to lie and do stupid shit and rationalize it. Mario Lemieux himself, rationalized Billy Tibbetts, a statutory rapist, as being a feel good story.

So sorry if I play the other side of this.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Didn’t Ben’s accuser basically get bullied into dropping it?

People on the internet right now are bullying Amber Heard because they’re “Depp stan’s” and attacking Justin Bieber’s wife that she’s not Selena Gomez.

People are f***ed up, people also find ways to lie and do stupid shit and rationalize it. Mario Lemieux himself, rationalized Billy Tibbetts, a statutory rapist, as being a feel good story.

So sorry if I play the other side of this.

Woke culture is ruining everything!

 

[SomeDude]

Didn’t Ben’s accuser basically get bullied into dropping it?

People on the internet right now are bullying Amber Heard because they’re “Depp stan’s” and attacking Justin Bieber’s wife that she’s not Selena Gomez.

People are f***ed up, people also find ways to lie and do stupid shit and rationalize it. Mario Lemieux himself, rationalized Billy Tibbetts, a statutory rapist, as being a feel good story.

So sorry if I play the other side of this.

I’ve heard of like 2 people that you referred to in this post.

I never said that signing some of the players they have in the past is okay, but using that to prove they did something wrong in this instance doesn’t make sense.

You don’t have to be a fan of the team, you know. I would caution you that you’re going to be hard pressed to find any professional team that doesn’t have their own Tibbetts and Desmiths in their recent history, though.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Woke culture is ruining everything!

How dare we question shitty people for doing shitty things and their employer ignoring them doing shitty things!

We literally see coaches and players being booted out, but then you wonder, is assaulting a woman, statutory rape, etc less severe than a group chat about a player’s wife’s weight and some puck bunny?

Then people wonder why the NHL is taken less seriously than the other pro sports, it’s not even in the same world, that’s not to say the NFL isn’t an epic joke with their criminals in the game and the MLB.

 

[SomeDude]

Woke culture is ruining everything!

Not so sure about that, but making decisions on a legal matter before it even begins after hearing one side of the story certainly is not a good trend.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I’ve heard of like 2 people that you referred to in this post.

I never said that signing some of the players they have in the past is okay, but using that to prove they did something wrong in this instance doesn’t make sense.

You don’t have to be a fan of the team, you know. I would caution you that you’re going to be hard pressed to find any professional team that doesn’t have their own Tibbetts and Desmiths in their recent history, though.

Tibbetts was far enough back that you can consider that just being ignorant.

Downie had multiple employers and that’s just wrong given Aliu spoke up about Peters and he’s thankfully done now.

But Zolnierczyk wasn’t that far back.

Casey DeSmith is a current player.

Show me a team right now that has someone that has done something as severe as Casey DeSmith.


I’ll wait.

Edit: Why should I have to change my allegiance to a team instead of wanting them to be better, be f***ing good in this and do the right thing?

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Btw @SomeDude I’ve been a fan of this team pre-Mario, if I suddenly feel like I can’t follow this team anymore, I won’t. But that’s not something someone just does on a whim.

But to be ignorant that the team didn’t know what DeSmith did is crazy, them being quiet about it and pretending like it didn’t happen or even addressing it is also bad, it’s a situation where as long as he’s beneficial to them, they don’t care.

Which leads me to believe the Donatelli stuff from Skalde, isn’t just smoke.

 

[madinsomniac]

Two things... to BFD’s point about the pens sweeping stuff under the rug... its a not so well kept secret that every major pro sports team does that... it’s scummy, and its much harder now with social media but every team has a fixer on call and some of the stuff used to be pretty brutal from what i hear...


But anyone who will tell you about the seedy side of pro sports teams will also tell you how frequently teams and players are set up by people looking to extort them or sue them... Bettis is a prime example, because he got extremely lucky and his accuser was an idiot with a big mouth...

So yes teams can be shady and underhanded but sometimes their accusers are shady and underhanded too... which is exactly why it is best to wait and see how the facts play out

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Of course every team sweeps stuff under the rug. Shrugging and saying "everyone does it" is exactly why it continues to happen though.

If it's not sexual assault, it's blatant racism, or physical violence in the form of brutal hazing, or whatever else.

This isn't a case where the victims are looking for a huge payday, but what amounts to a pittance.

 

[madinsomniac]

Of course every team sweeps stuff under the rug. Shrugging and saying "everyone does it" is exactly why it continues to happen though.

If it's not sexual assault, it's blatant racism, or physical violence in the form of brutal hazing, or whatever else.

This isn't a case where the victims are looking for a huge payday, but what amounts to a pittance.

I am just pointing out that its a fairly widespread practice... not excusing it at all.. if anything I am saying it could well be true...

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I am just pointing out that its a fairly widespread practice... not excusing it at all.. if anything I am saying it could well be true...

I know, I'm just saying for others.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Two things... to BFD’s point about the pens sweeping stuff under the rug... its a not so well kept secret that every major pro sports team does that... it’s scummy, and its much harder now with social media but every team has a fixer on call and some of the stuff used to be pretty brutal from what i hear...


But anyone who will tell you about the seedy side of pro sports teams will also tell you how frequently teams and players are set up by people looking to extort them or sue them... Bettis is a prime example, because he got extremely lucky and his accuser was an idiot with a big mouth...

So yes teams can be shady and underhanded but sometimes their accusers are shady and underhanded too... which is exactly why it is best to wait and see how the facts play out

Let’s focus on the part that...

1. The Pens don’t deny Donatelli was let go after their internal investigations.
2. They didn’t mention it and wanted it to be a neat little “we’re losing Clark because of personal reasons”
3. They wanted it to be a neat little issue of a coach leaving for personal reasons so no questions get asked, which is shitty for the victims.

Which if you’re the victim of his actions, like the Skalde’s were, it’s a slap in the face so the Pens can avoid the backlash of employing a monster like Donatelli.

Also, their statue of limitations of the whistle blower is such a weak thing to tag the Skalde’s on, the thing is, in their own internal investigation, they found enough to dismiss him. 180 days means jack shit if they were right about it.

 

[Gurglesons]

What’s your take on Mario Lemieux saying Billy Tibbetts being signed is a great redemption story?

How about their ignorance to the type of person Harry Zolnierczyk is.

You can’t let your love for the team cloud your moral compass. You want to say Casey DeSmith is garbage, well mate, that stuff happened before. If we’re going to sit here and mock the Coyotes for not doing their due diligence for MM when they drafted him, or maybe they did and then didn’t expect it to blow up as much, we can’t sit here and act like our own favourite team isn’t a piece of shit for shitty people being employed by the team several times over.

As for Donatelli, we’ll find out if anyone comes forward. From Skalde’s suit, he claims this was something people knew about, as in he had been doing it for a while and he joined the organization with the Wheelers back in 2011, so who knows how far back this goes and if anyone else tried to come forward and how that went or if they ever did.


That is what I want to know. And let’s not pretend companies don’t squash that shit.

And yeah, rooting for Ben still doesn’t feel right for me, I keep hoping he just retires and goes away as we’ll never know the truth about his whole incident(s) and that uncertainty never sat well with me.

As I said, since the Crosby era has started in PIT they’ve been pretty sparkling.

Professional sports is always going to be full of individuals that take advantage of their power and handle themselves in completely unbelievable ways, that’s why these individuals are the best in their industry.

That being said I’m a glass half full kind of guy. Downie and Z both seemed to get help for their problems. Donatelli was let go nearly immediately after finding out about the situation. Part of getting better is also allowing for recovery and retribution and not just putting everyone that has ever f***ed up on a stake in front of the city.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

As I said, since the Crosby era has started in PIT they’ve been pretty sparkling.

Professional sports is always going to be full of individuals that take advantage of their power and handle themselves in completely unbelievable ways, that’s why these individuals are the best in their industry.

Harry Zolnierczyk
Steve Downie
Casey DeSmith

Are all during the Crosby era.

 

[SomeDude]

Btw @SomeDude I’ve been a fan of this team pre-Mario, if I suddenly feel like I can’t follow this team anymore, I won’t. But that’s not something someone just does on a whim.

But to be ignorant that the team didn’t know what DeSmith did is crazy, them being quiet about it and pretending like it didn’t happen or even addressing it is also bad, it’s a situation where as long as he’s beneficial to them, they don’t care.

Which leads me to believe the Donatelli stuff from Skalde, isn’t just smoke.

Again, how did the Pens try to sweep Desmith, or any of the players you keep bringing up under the rug? Not addressing it is not the same as covering it up.

I keep seeing all the allegations that cover ups are common place in the teams history, but I cannot even think of one. There could be things we don’t know about, but there is no proof of that.

Who is saying the allegations from Skalde are smoke? I don’t think anyone believes that Skalde is lying. I do not personally think he’s lying about any of the info regarding Donatelli in the lawsuit.

My questions regarding the lawsuit are if the Pens had any prior knowledge about Donatelli’s previous behavior. That is a big deal and we need to see if it is proven. I also do not think Guerin or the team pressured Skalde into not going to the authorities as the lawyer and author of the article are trying to imply happened with their phrasing. I think they followed normal protocol (which you can thank vulture lawyers for requiring protocol like that to exist) that every decent sized company in the world would follow. I also doubt that Skalde was let go from the organization because he outed Donatelli, which is the only thing the lawsuit is about, but he has every right to prove otherwise if he can.

That’s it for me tonight, though.

 

[Pens x]

While we are discussing this team being an embarrassment, has anyone seen the documentary on the Russian Penguins? The preview is above, but I was having problems being able to watch the full documentary.

There was an article about it on yahoo a couple days ago that my wife sent me. Storyville: Red Penguins: Murder, Money and Ice Hockey, review: a story stranger than fiction

 

[Gurglesons]

While we are discussing this team being an embarrassment, has anyone seen the documentary on the Russian Penguins? The preview is above, but I was having problems being able to watch the full documentary.

There was an article about it on yahoo a couple days ago that my wife sent me. Storyville: Red Penguins: Murder, Money and Ice Hockey, review: a story stranger than fiction

It is awesome and stunningly dark. Worth a watch. Harold Baldwin is the king of jackasses.

 

[SomeDude]

Of course every team sweeps stuff under the rug. Shrugging and saying "everyone does it" is exactly why it continues to happen though.

If it's not sexual assault, it's blatant racism, or physical violence in the form of brutal hazing, or whatever else.

This isn't a case where the victims are looking for a huge payday, but what amounts to a pittance.

So, your argument is because other teams have hid or covered up things, then it must be happening with all of them?

How is that any different then assuming a person is more prone to criminal behavior because of their cultural or ethnic background?

 

[CascadiaPenguin]

sort of drifting OT here, but do you guys know more about the Casey DeSmith story? From this read it certainly sounds likes the alleged victim may have credibility issues? I don't know and haven't followed this. Former UNH goalie Casey DeSmith comments on media coverage of his arrest and suspension from UNH

 

[Night Shift]

It would have been nice of the Pens to offer an apologize and compensation to the victim.

 

[Gurglesons]

It would have been nice of the Pens to offer an apologize and compensation to the victim.

Lol. For what?

 

[Night Shift]

Lol. For what?

I mean Donatelli was employed and a representative of the Pens at the time. Just to show care and generosity is my point. I'm not faulting the Pens on this really but still. Why do you think it's possible the victim is lying?

 

[Gurglesons]

I mean Donatelli was employed and a representative of the Pens at the time. Just to show care and generosity is my point. I'm not faulting the Pens on this really but still. Why do you think it's possible the victim is lying?

I don’t. But I have no idea how you can justify why a company should compensate an individual for something that did not occur at work while said individual and her husband are having a personal night together..

To be honest, I don’t even see what the Penguins have to apologize for here.