Habs prospect and convicted sex offender Logan Mailloux set to return to game action
After just 26 games away from his team due to an indefinite suspension, sex offer and Montreal Canadiens draftee Logan Mailloux has been told that his suspension would be coming to an end. That's right. Now he can go back to living a completely normal life.
The 18-year-old was convicted of a sex crime in Sweden 2020 while on loan from the OHL. He had taken non consensual pictures of a sex act between him and a woman and shared them with his team group chat along with her snapchat profile and also revealed her identity. When confronted about it, Mailloux refused to offer a proper apology and accused the victim of trying to ruin his career.
I really shouldn't have to say how absolutely disgusting this was - not only taking pictures without permission but to share it along with her personal information is a step beyond. I'd like to go further into this but my vocabulary on this website is limited to PG-13.
Mailloux was convicted and fined the equivalent of around $1650 USD. When they learned of the conviction, the OHL suspended Mailloux indefinitely. The fine was lighter than it could have been, and I'd be remiss if I didn't say that I'd prefer to have seen him spend some time behind bars, but I'll keep this above board. With his status in the OHL uncertain, Mailloux announced that he did not want any NHL teams to draft him. He appeared bound for the KHL, where many players with a spotty past seem to wind up.
Unfortunately, Marc Bergevin exists. The guy who knew nothing about the Kyle Beach sexual assault allegations during his days with the Blackhawks, despite being the Director of Player Personnel at the time. Yeah. That guy. Well he was in charge of the Habs draft, and even though Mailloux had asked to be removed from consideration, Bergevin decided to draft him in the first round anyway. We can talk about how long it took the Habs to fire Bergevin later. The good news is, he doesn't have a job anymore.
Now that the background is out of the way, today, the OHL re-instated Logan Mailloux. His punishment for sharing sexually explicit photos without consent and exposing and doxxing a young woman ended up being 1600 dollars and 26 games. He's back playing in the OHL as of January 1st and he's a first round NHL pick. I'm sorry, but if you don't think hockey has a culture problem after this I don't know what to tell you.
The OHL knew exactly what they were doing too. They knew the public would absolutely hate this news, they knew what they were doing was wrong, so they tried to bury the news under the heat of the IIHF's World Junior tournament cancellation, posting the news just minutes after Bob McKenzie confirmed that the tournament would be cancelled. In the words of Tony Stark, «Thought we wouldn't notice, but we did.»
This isn't the first time the OHL has tried to bury bad news either. Between this and the 40+ years of widespread hazing (read, sexually assaulting rookies) that only came to light when players came forward in 2020, the OHL is getting very good at sweeping things under the proverbial rug.
Here's hoping that when Mailloux takes to the ice again he is treated to a booing to rival John Tavares' return to Long Island. I wouldn't mind seeing a player or two force him to answer the bell either. The players need to step up and show the world that there is no place in hockey for entitled young sex offenders.
I love hockey. I've loved the sport since I was a child. Controversial decision like this give hockey a bad name and make it hard to be a fan. What Logan Mailloux and the OHL have done shouldn't be tolerated. If you want to see the sport of hockey grow and thrive, this type of behaviour from players and leagues needs to stop and stiffer punishments enforced. Mailloux should not be playing hockey this year and should not have been drafted. Full stop.
