The banner of Mike Ribeiro’s retired jersey is no longer in the heights of the Glencore Arena, home of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. This is a “preventive” decision, says the organization, while its former star faces two counts of sexual assault.
Posted yesterday at 11:10 p.m.
The information was first reported by Radio-Canada Abitibi-Témiscamingue on Wednesday afternoon. Then contacted by telephone by The Pressthe operational director of the Huskies, Gilles Bérubé, said he made the decision during the summer.
“It’s a preventive decision,” he said. Except that this summer, the nacelle was in the arena to change the ceiling lights. At the same time I asked the guys to pick up [la banderole]. She’s in my office right now. I see her, she is next to me, she is curvy. »
Last May, The Dallas Morning News reported that Ribeiro was once again facing justice. The Texan daily said that the former Canadian allegedly assaulted a first woman “with his finger” and another with his “sexual organ” at the end of June 2021, in eastern Texas. The Montrealer was arrested on April 28, then released after paying his $200,000 bail. No decision has yet been rendered in the case.
“Embarking the basket on the ice is a bit risky and there is a cost that comes with that,” says Mr. Bérubé. It wasn’t against Mike Ribeiro at all. It was a financial and image issue. With everything going on…”
“We didn’t want it to happen at the beginning of December, whether it was [coupable] and it takes me a month to take it off,” he adds.
PHOTO FROM TWITTER ACCOUNT @JMBELZILE
A life-size card of the former team captain in 2019, Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, was also placed in front of a large Ribeiro banner, in Mr. Bérubé’s office at the arena.
Next winter, the organization plans to retire the jersey of Marc-André Bourdon, a former player and general manager of the Huskies who is now a scout for the Tampa Bay Lightning. This will be an opportunity to put Ribeiro’s banner back on the ceiling, if he has been found not guilty at this time.
“We do not throw it in the trash, it is not officially withdrawn. We do not give this number to other players as long as[il n’est pas reconnu coupable]. »
If Ribeiro is found guilty, however, “it is certain” that the banner will not find its place in the arena. “We hope it’s wrong and that we can put it back. There were only two banners of players in the heights, ”adds Mr. Bérubé.
No complaints
The Huskies organization had not received any requests from fans, players or members of the organization to remove the banner after the news broke in May. It was Gilles Bérubé who made the decision.
The first time someone asked me a question was during the preseason matches. Not many people noticed it.
Gilles Bérubé, operational director of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
Mr. Bérubé was a business owner for 20 years before joining the Huskies in 2019. “I have already had cases of assault, not necessarily sexual, in my businesses, and I have never accepted that . I have always punished these people in another way. There was no banner, but they have a job or benefits they lost during that time. »
Ribeiro was one of the greatest players in Rouyn-Noranda Huskies history. In his first two seasons with the Huskies, in 1997-98 and 1998-97, he scored 125 and 167 points respectively.
“He’s a player who has been outstanding for Rouyn. He was truly in a class of his own as a hockey player. […] When I came to the arena, I came to see Mike Ribeiro and the Huskies play. It was a sight to see him with his skates unattached.
“He’s probably the greatest player the Huskies have had, whether he’s guilty or not. »
This is not Ribeiro’s first run-in with the law in connection with sexual assault. In 2015, a nanny who worked for the Ribeiro family accused the ex-hockey player and his wife of covering up his assault, which allegedly took place in 2012. The lawsuit was settled before an arbitrator.