Red Wings’ All-Star Dylan Larkin revitalized by team’s youth infusion – MLive
“I feel as we’ve improved our roster it’s taken a lot of pressure off myself to feel I have to try to be everything and do everything. Eased myself mentally,” he said.
“We gave a great group of guys in our locker room, and it’s really brought a joy back for myself and probably a lot of guys having younger players around because I can relate to them. I’m not far removed from that period of my life. I still like to think I’m with them as a young person playing in the NHL. There’s been times I’ve been able to help them, but they’ve definitely helped me and a lot of older players on our team.”
New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes placed on NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list after All-Star Weekend – ESPN
The Devils announced the move on Sunday, a day after Hughes played for the Metropolitan Division. The 20-year-old Hughes has 12 goals and 15 assists in 28 games this season. He was selected by New Jersey with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 draft and signed a long-term extension with the club last year.
Oopsie
Chicago Blackhawks fire athletic trainer of minor-league team for sexual harassment, sources say – ESPN
When reached by ESPN on Sunday, the Blackhawks confirmed that Rockford IceHogs head athletic trainer D.J. Jones’ employment had been terminated in November. According to sources, the person was a member of the team’s ice crew and the allegations were from an incident that happened years ago.
“Under our new leadership, we have made it crystal clear that nothing is more important than the safety and well-being of our players and employees, and there is a zero-tolerance policy for any violation of our standards of conduct in our organization. We have done a lot of work to ensure an environment where employees are encouraged to feel safe coming forward, even if it is about wrongdoing that occurred in the past,” the team said in a statement.
“Recently, when allegations of sexual harassment in 2014 by D.J. Jones, the head athletic trainer for the Rockford IceHogs, were reported to the Blackhawks on October 27, 2021, we adhered to our new protocols and procedures, suspended Mr. Jones, conducted an in depth investigation over 5 days and, following the conclusive results, terminated Mr. Jones on November 3, 2021.”
So somebody reached out with a story about the team apparently doing the right thing (finally) all the way back in early November. I wonder why this story didn’t find its way to a national publication prior to right now. Almost like they’ve been sitting on this just in case they needed it.