Logan Mailloux believes he has changed enormously and he is grateful to participate in his first official activities with the Montreal Canadiens.
Almost a year after being selected at the end of the first round by the Canadiens, Mailloux is present at the team’s development camp.
The management of the Habs granted him this privilege after judging that the programs he followed and the sincerity with which he did so had made him a better person.
“To see his journey and his development through all of this, the sincerity with which he has done all these programs, it is remarkable, said the director of player development at the Canadian, Rob Ramage. Even yesterday, when Sheldon Kennedy came to speak on our “Respect and Consent” program, it was as if Logan had already done this program. He was a leader in the responses and the group was very engaged. The young people took it all seriously. »
Mailloux found himself in a difficult situation for having taken and shared without his consent a photo of a partner during a sexual act in the fall of 2020, while he was playing in Sweden. The Swedish justice imposed two fines on him for his crimes.
A few days before the July 2021 draft, Mailloux had asked NHL teams not to select him, saying he did not deserve the privilege. However, the management of the Habs at the time did not respect his request, drafting him without his consent.
Finding himself in the spotlight, Mailloux had then promised to act to become a better person, and the Canadian had pledged to help him in this process.
“I participated in several steps, meetings with therapists and professionals, explained Mailloux on Tuesday. I took courses, educational training, a lot of things. »
When asked to explain sexual consent, the 19-year-old Ontarian didn’t hesitate in his response.
“It involves a lot of communication, you have to communicate with your partner to determine what is correct or not, he said. It is an evolving thing. I have learned a lot in the last two years by going through all these stages. Consent can go away at any time during an act. The agreement must be mutual at all times. »
He said he had no contact with his victim in the past two years, “at his request and that of the court”.
“But, as I said before, I hope she understands that I live with this incident; I think about it every day. I’m going to have to deal with this for the rest of my life, and so is she. I hope she will understand how sincere I am in my steps, ”he added.
Mailloux also pointed out that an equivalent of the Canadiens’ “Respect and Consent” program would be useful at all levels of hockey in order to educate players and avoid such situations.
He even hopes to be able to become a leader in society.
“It will have to come at the right time in my journey, but I would like to be able to educate the next generation of young players. If I could do that, that would be awesome,” he said.
Mailloux is however aware that he will have to continue to prove himself until then. He insists he went through this whole journey to become a better person, not just to get an NHL contract.
“Logan is a good person. A good youngster. Again, if he had said that his actions were not serious… But he knows that it was serious what he did, underlined the coach responsible for player development, Francis Bouillon. He is conscious. He worked hard with several stakeholders to get out of it and become a better person. When you meet him, you quickly realize that he is serious and honest. »
Only time will tell if the team’s supporters are ready to forgive and welcome him.
Both Bouillon and Ramage have praised his qualities on the ice, even though he was limited to 12 games last winter with the London Knights.
Recovering from shoulder surgery, Mailloux did not train with the other players at the Canadiens’ development camp this week at the Bell Sports Complex. Everything now indicates that he will be present at the Canadiens’ rookie camp this fall, and possibly at the team’s preparatory camp.