The Bruins cannot undo the fact that they signed Mitchell Miller on Friday. They cannot undo the flawed process that led them to that decision. They cannot undo the overwhelming backlash that has deservedly been directed their way.
What they can do is admit their mistake, cut ties with Miller, and apologize to their fans who are justifiably angry, their players who are now answering questions about something they’re not responsible for, and their staff who have unfairly been on the front lines of the backlash.
What were the Bruins thinking?
It will not erase what’s already been done. It will not and should not earn them any pats on the back. But it increasingly looks like the only, and perhaps inevitable, path forward.
Bruins president Cam Neely and general manager Don Sweeney said on Friday -- in a statement in Neely’s case, via a Zoom call with reporters in Sweeney’s -- that they did not take this situation lightly, that they did their due diligence, that they believed Miller had shown remorse, and that they would hold Miller to the highest standards going forward.
Maybe Neely and Sweeney really did do some soul-searching before signing a player who admitted in court in 2016, at the age of 14, to repeatedly bullying a Black classmate with developmental disabilities, including using racist slurs, physically assaulting him and, in one especially disturbing incident, tricking him into licking a push pop that had been wiped in a urinal.
But regardless of whatever Neely and Sweeney may have done or felt at an individual level, it hasn’t taken long for significant holes in their larger decision-making process to come to light.
Let’s start with the one that Sweeney himself acknowledged on Friday: that the Bruins didn’t talk to the victim, Isaiah Meyer-Crothers, or his parents. Instead, it seems they accepted Miller’s word that he had reached out to Meyer-Crothers and apologized, something Sweeney said was “imperative” before they would sign him.
If they had reached out, they would have heard a different story, one that Meyer-Crothers’ mother was willing to share with multiple media outlets on Friday: that Miller had never apologized until last week, and that even that came via a message on social media and not through an actual conversation. Joni Meyer-Crothers also said that Miller told her son his apology had nothing to do with hockey, which seems like a lie given that he only apologized once NHL offers were on the table, or at least being discussed.
Then there’s the players. Sweeney said that he did consult with at least some Bruins players, and acknowledged that they had questions about the move. A day later, it looks like Sweeney undersold those players’ concerns.
Captain Patrice Bergeron said in an interview with Sportsnet that he was “on the fence” about the move and that he had concerns that such a move “goes against a little bit of what we are as a culture and as a team and for me as a person.”
Nick Foligno told reporters in Toronto on Saturday that “it was a tough thing to hear for our group” and that, “I don't think any guy was too happy because of how proud we are to say that this is a group that cares a lot about ourselves and how we carry ourselves and how we treat people.”
Also on Saturday, we found out that there was another key party that the Bruins didn’t consult: the NHL. Speaking with reporters at the NHL Global Series in Finland, commissioner Gary Bettman said that the Bruins did not talk to the league before signing Miller. He then revealed that Miller is not currently eligible to play in the NHL and may never become eligible, saying that he “would need to see a whole bunch of things” before clearing Miller to play. On top of that, Miller reportedly may not even be eligible to play in the AHL, pending further review.
So, this is where the Bruins are. The front office has sacrificed all the goodwill the team had built up with their 10-1-0 start, pissed off their fanbase to the point that their fan relations office had to resort to automated emails due to overwhelming demand, and put their players in the uncomfortable position of having to answer questions about a move they didn’t want or support in the first place… all for a player who may never be eligible to play for them.
It is an unmitigated disaster from top to bottom, and there does not appear to be any possible way to make it “right.” But doubling down on all the mistakes already made would only make things worse.
Terminating Miller’s contract may not be a simple move. Miller would have to agree to it, or give the Bruins reason to terminate by violating it. Those are legal matters, though. There are other ways the Bruins can publicly apologize, acknowledge they made a mistake, and make it clear that Miller will never play for them.
At this point, that would be as close to “right” as the Bruins can get.
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