Photo courtesy of the New York Times
By Bob Herpen
Phanatic Magazine
Former Philadelphia Flyers starting goaltender Carter Hart is a free man.
Pronounced not guilty of sexual assault stemming from a 2018 incident in London, Ontario, Provincial Superior Court Justice Maria Carrochia on Thursday deemed Hart and fellow Team Canada teammates Michael McLeod, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube and Callan Foote, have cleared a very important hurdle in the resumption of their lives.
If you recall, Hart – the Flyers' latest choice to become the heir apparent to the Parent-Lindbergh-Hextall legacy – was given his unconditional release in January 2024 following news of the allegations. When the club declined to make him a qualifying offer last summer as a restricted free agent, Hart became an unrestricted free agent who could sign with anyone he chose.
I’m sure in light of the verdict, there is doubt in many minds, both in the real world and online. “Not guilty” is far from “innocent.” Hart’s actions and behavior on the night in question with the alleged victim and his teammates is a matter of public record.
Airing out that unsavory conduct should plant a tremendous seed of doubt in the minds of National Hockey League general managers as to their suitability, both character-wise and fitness-wise, to resume his career.
Hart and his co-defendants apparently cleared another hurdle with public support of the NHL Players’ Association, which, according to TSN of Canada on Friday, stated they should be allowed to resume their careers.
However, we all know it just takes one brave soul among 32 to stick his neck out – whether it’s for Hart or any of the other four defendants – and the rest of the league will follow along dutifully despite any initial blowback. Front offices have found redeeming qualities in players for worse.
In the Fall of 1992, another former Flyer, Dan Quinn, was arraigned on suspicion of raping a 19-year-old woman in a hotel room in a Twin Cities suburb. Worse, Quinn’s former teammate, golf buddy and future Hockey Hall of Fame entrant Mario Lemieux (during the season he missed time due to treatments for non-Hodgkins lymphoma, no less) was alleged to have been present in the room when the incident was supposed to have occurred.
Quinn was freed on bond and never formally charged, but the stain of the accusations forced the North Stars to release him unconditionally, days later. Already an established 10-year veteran, he was not picked up by any other club, NHL or otherwise, for the remainder.
When Quinn did get the call, it was the expansion Ottawa Senators who scooped him up for 13 games in desperation the following season. Lemieux, on the other hand, felt the tide of public sentiment turn for the worse only briefly before the press fitted him for laurels after battling and beating cancer.
What separates this situation from a more cut-and-dried incidence of assault or rape is Hart’s misdeed being a sin of omission – failure to act once in the room to stop anything else that happened after McLeod and “E.M’s” first encounter in the hotel – and not a sin of commission, which would place on him greater culpability.
It was obvious once Hart was named as a defendant, he should have disappeared and not been allowed to remain in good standing with the Flyers. And that happened.
And let’s be clear: if Hart were facing prison time for sexual assault or rape, there is no way he should be allowed to continue unabated anywhere in hockey or in life, nor could I justify any thought process to the contrary. But he wasn’t.
I’m not advocating the Flyers welcome him back with open arms – that is, if Hart even wants to reunite with the franchise that selected him 48th overall in 2016. I’m saying for a lack of a “guilty” verdict, Hart should be allowed to start rebuilding his professional profile somewhere, but far, far away from the top professional league in the world.
I hear it’s lovely in Death Valley around 3 p.m. this time of year. If there’s a midnight beer league starting up in Norway or Kazakhstan let him stew there. Oymyakon goes from 80 above to 70 below in the blink of an eye on the Siberian plateau.
Of course, I understand the nature of social media. Its boundaries are extremes of thought, and nothing about the online discourse regarding this trial for its duration shows it can be any other way. Men suck. Believe all women. There are going to be readers outraged that I dared to embrace nuance, or failed to express sufficient anger that I don’t want Hart burned at the stake for guilt by association.
For those of you who passionately wish to damn all involved, I salute your commitment. Nobody needs to tell you this is a free country and you are free to hold that deeply-felt opinion close in your heart. Absence of nuance in thought works best on social media, not so much in the real world. There are very few moral absolutes, less so when legal posturing further blurs lines while paying lip service to seeking truth.
If you have beef, then bring the ruckus to Judge Carrochia, a woman who failed to find the complainant’s testimony “credible or reliable.” Take it out on the absolute joke of a prosecution team whose misconduct was so egregious it resulted in two mistrials, the second one forcing the proceedings to be a judge-only bench proceeding.
If, somehow, Hart gains the good graces of the Flyers front office – or any other NHL front
office – I fully support any fans’ or otherwise concerned citizens’ desire to protest his signing or any subsequent on-ice appearance.
Anywhere. On any platform. And by any means they deem fit without resorting to violence or property damage. Same goes for the other four smacked-asses who shared the “not guilty” verdict if they are allowed to play again.
Unlike the other four, Hart projected the biggest profile and is likely to be given greater and quicker consideration for a shot at resuming his career in the NHL. The rumors swirled online practically the whole month of July that the Oilers had (or didn’t have) interest in the 26-year-old native of suburban Edmonton.
Even if you put it out of your mind in favor of touching grass, putting a drink in your hand and toes in the sand, or shut off all online behavior to enjoy real life before football jolts us all back to reality: be prepared for, and not shocked by, Hart’s inevitable return to our TV screens and a rink near you.
The further away from anywhere good, the better.
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