Far from being discouraged by the rejection of the collective action he wanted to take with two other former players of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) to denounce the sordid acts of abuse that have been committed there over the years, Daniel Carcillo believes that this is a first step for the victims.
“What I want to say to all the victims is that there will be accountability and you can tell your story, which I think is the first step towards healing,” said the former National Hockey League player, staring at the camera, on set of the show Everybody talks about itSunday night.
He was there to comment on the rejection, on February 3, of a class action request filed by him and two other former CHL players, in June 2020 on behalf of the 15,000 others who have been associated, for 50 years, to one or other of the 60 teams of the Western Junior League (WHL), the Ontario Junior League (OHL) or the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (LHJMQ).
Hockey sticks inserted into the anus, mutilation of genitals, victims sprayed with urine or forced to throw feces at each other, repeated sessions of humiliation: the acts allegedly committed against the youngest players on these circuits during initiations revolted the public and the authorities1.
Gestures “witnessed” by players, coaches or managers of Canadian junior teams, or which have been “encouraged, neglected, tolerated, camouflaged or, in a cowardly and irresponsible manner, ignored” by these people, recalls magistrate Paul Perell.
“It’s only the tip of the iceberg,” says Daniel Carcillo, who expects to see other victims come out of the shadows to report on the tortures suffered during these initiation sessions of certain teams of the LCH.
While specifying that he could not reveal more on Sunday evening, Daniel Carcillo said he expected a “procedure” to be put in place to allow victims “to come forward anonymously or to be heard by a court “.
Recall that in his decision to dismiss the plaintiffs’ class action, however, Judge Perell ruled that while all of the defendants could not be sued as a single entity for their “systemic negligence”, each of the organizations and leagues may to be individually.
A panic attack
It was after reading an article published three years ago about abuse suffered by players at St. Michael’s College in Toronto that Daniel Carcillo realized the extent of the abuse he himself had suffered in the junior ranks.
“I had what you might call a panic attack. Before that, I never really thought about what we had to go through that season, when I was 16,” he recalled.
According to him, the culture of excellence and the very strong desire of junior players to be drafted into the National Hockey League (NHL) partly explain the culture of silence that reigns in the field.
“If you say something, if you talk, if you become a problem, you will never be recruited”, he asserts, adding that once you have suffered this abuse, “it is very easy to [les] convey “.
relationship problems
Moreover, Daniel Carcillo did not shrink when the time came to answer questions from host Guy A. Lepage about the actions he then committed later in his life.
“I had relationship issues and I really liked hurting people on the ice. My anger and aggression showed up in many different ways,” he said.
The fact that he was able to benefit from therapy sessions at the age of 25 has, however, contributed to his recovery, he says, adding that he wishes the same “for the other victims”. “So that’s a big reason why we’re doing this,” he said of the class action lawsuit filed by him and Garrett Taylor. Note that Stephen Quirk, who played in the QMJHL from 1995 to 1998 with the Moncton Alpines (now the Wildcats) and the Halifax Mooseheads, was later added to the number of main plaintiffs.
Even in the junior ranks, Daniel Carcillo was sometimes abusive “verbally [et] emotionally”, but “never physically or sexually in the same way as it was to me”.
He doubts today that senior CHL officials, including Quebec Major Junior Hockey League commissioner Gilles Courteau, could ignore the sordid nature of the initiations taking place within certain teams on their circuit.
Daniel Carcillo cites the example of the fact that the CHL took 14 months before releasing, last January, a report it had commissioned according to which bullying, harassment and discrimination exist there and that misconduct at the outside of the rink is a “cultural norm”2.
“So it’s hard for me to believe that senior officials didn’t know or understand,” he said Sunday night.