Is Dusty Imoo a victim of cancel culture? His statement would indicate that he feels that way
Dusty Imoo is probably a name most of you are unfamiliar with. Dusty was a minor league goalie from 1991 to 2006. At 5'8, 150 pounds, the odds of him being an nhl goalie were pretty slim. For frame of reference, Jack Campbell is around the average nhl goalie size. Jack is 6'3 207 pounds, give or take.
Dusty, upon retirement, got into goalie consultation and became a goalie coach. He definitely worked his way up the ladder in this role, starting with the BCHL's Surrey Eagles in 2006. Dusty worked his way up to a position as goalie coach with the Los Angeles Kings in 2015.
It's in this role, Dusty met future Leafs goaltender Jack Campbell, and largely earned his nickname as the goalie whisperer. Jack's journey is pretty well documented, so I won't go into it here. After 4 years, the Kings would part ways with Dusty. He started a podcast, a blog, and he also really leaned into his goalie whisperer concept.
After a brief stint in the KHL doing much of the same, Imoo had found himself on the radar of the Toronto Maple Leafs. On August 8th, 2021, the Leafs hired Imoo to be the goalie coach for the Toronto Marlies.. but they didn't appear to have done their homework.
This is where we explore what, exactly, "cancel culture" is. Is it some rabid left wing mob that attacks your identity? Is it the thought police erasing your freedom? I find cancel culture to be a buzz word to try and protect bad behaviour. Let's be honest, it's not really a thing. Think of every cancelled person you can think of.. How many still do what they always did? Outside of people that went to prison, many "cancelled" people still do what they did before. Maybe not the exact same role and position, but largely the same thing to earn money.
Don Cherry is a prime example. Cherry was fired from Hockey Night In Canada for his comments that some felt were being taken out of context. Don Cherry now runs a podcast talking about the same things he always has. Nobody is cancelled, it's just a different spin. Cancel culture is being held accountable for your actions, and honestly that's too much for some people.
Back to Imoo. If you take a quick scan at the screen shots below, you can see why the Leafs were forced to cut ties with Dusty. Among the items Imoo appeared to support through his "likes" were largely pro sedition/insurrectionist tweets, with a smattering of homophobic and transphobic tweets thrown in for good measure.
Do those views represent him and his beliefs? Maybe, maybe not. But make no mistake here. Dusty Imoo wasn't cancelled for his twitter likes. Dusty was held accountable as a man in a privileged position of working for the biggest hockey team in the world.
The joy of living in a place like Canada is that you are more than welcome to feel however you want to feel. You won't go to jail for it, you probably won't lose friends and family for it, but you 100% can lose your job for publicly catering to a dangerous audience.
Hockey is for everyone, and hockey is still for Dusty. He faced the consequences for his actions on August 10th, 2021, regardless of how insignificant he thought they were. Today he issued a statement, claiming that those harmful ideals aren't his true views. Interesting point he is trying to make.
Hey Dusty; tomorrow I am going to dress up as a police officer and walk the streets. When someone asks me for help, I will simply say "My clothes don't reflect my position", because that's how it works.. right?
The lesson here is that, while you're entitled to your own opinions, you should also be aware of what you do on the internet, especially when it can cost you a high-profile opportunity. Unfortunately for Imoo, he had to learn the hard way.
