Toronto Maple Leafs: The Conversation Is Not Over

Following the conclusion of Monday night’s game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning, a video was posted on Twitter that appeared to capture Morgan Rielly directing what sounded like a homophobic slur at an official.

The video has since been deleted.

A number of events transpired soon after.

The NHL announced the launch of an official investigation into the matter set to determine if; a) homophobic language was indeed used at all during the game and, b) it came from Rielly, or someone else. The Maple Leafs then released an official statement of their own from Kyle Dubas, condemning the alleged use of the slur and announcing their intent to fully cooperate with the league’s investigation to the extent that they see fit. At the same time, online outcry hit a fever pitch.

Early Tuesday morning, the NHL announced that its investigation had come to an end. In another statement, Senior EVP of Hockey Operations, Colin Campbell officially concluded that, after extensive review, audio of the alleged incident offered definitive proof that Rielly did not, in fact, use a homophobic slur.

Campbell did not elaborate as to whether or not a slur was actually used by anyone in attendance other than Rielly.

This is not about Morgan Rielly, however. The online vitriol directed towards him on Monday night seems unjust in the hindsight of Rielly’s now-proven innocence, but he is not the victim here and the focus of today’s events should not be centred on him.

Kyle Dubas, during a press conference held today on the matter, reiterated as much himself.

FS

I do not personally identify as LGBTQI. Therefore, I do not speak for those who do and will never claim to, either.

However, it is my belief that the events from Monday night shined a bright light on the issue of acceptance and equality that still prominently lingers within the sport of hockey as a whole. Without light, these issues are not dealt with. Without light, they are instead left to fester freely in the dark, without any recourse or consequence for who they hurt.

Mondy night cannot be left in the dark. The conversation cannot be over.

FS

The mere possibility of Rielly using such hateful and discriminatory language cut deep within the LGBTQI community. The reactions from its various members – hurt, betrayal, anger – were entirely valid in the moment and, regardless of the events that followed, should be perceived with the utmost sincerity.

These reactions matter. To dismiss them now, even in light of the NHL’s findings, would be irresponsible – actively glossing over what was an unfiltered display of emotion from a group of people whose very existence that word seeks to belittle and destroy.

Rielly’s culpability does not change that. Preserved in the archive of the internet, the response it garnered now stands as a meaningful barometer for how LGBTQI individuals perceive they are treated within hockey’s confines.

It is not a pleasant treatment. It deserves notice.

With initiatives like “You Can Play” and #HockeyIsForEveryone rising to prominence in recent years, it is now painfully easily for those who do not identify with the LGBTQI community to dust off their hands and lean back on “progress”.

That is a slippery slope.

Progress, by its very definition, is not an endpoint. It’s a path that eventually leads to an endpoint which, in this case, happens to be the universal acceptance of any and all groups of people in hockey. Hockey has clearly not reached its endpoint yet, no matter how far the public conscience has managed to come over time. Until it does, there is nothing to lean on.

Rielly may not have used that slur. Perhaps another player on the ice did. Perhaps it was never used at all. We don’t know. The investigation declined to say. But make no mistake; countless other hockey players have uttered that same slur on countless other occasions within the halls of countless other rinks.

If that word – and the hatred it stands for – had vanished from this sport’s lexicon by now, there is a good chance the overwhelming “It was the heat of the moment!” and “What, YOU’VE never let something like that slip before?” handwringing that followed from those who apparently prioritize the reputation of their favourite athlete over an entire group’s marginalization would have seemed far more muted.

But it wasn’t. It was deafening, continuing on even after the NHL’s official verdict.

There may be no better portrait of just how prevalent this exclusionism rhetoric remains within each level of hockey.

Tomorrow, Morgan Rielly will wake up, get dressed, and head to the rink. His morning will almost certainly be spent in preparation for the Maple Leafs’ matchup that evening with the Chicago Blackhawks; pouring over video, going through a light workout, and ensuring that his body is in its most optimal state.

Rielly will be free to do all those things without the spectre of discrimination and belittlement looming around each corner.

The Toronto Maple Leafs organization, Rielly, and the National Hockey League can all move on.

The LGBTQI community does not have that luxury.

When its members wake up tomorrow, that spectre will still be present. When this slur’s potential utterance gets buried by an ever-moving news cycle and slips from public discourse entirely, the impact it leaves on those it targets will remain. The homophobia that was proven to have not occurred in this particular instance (at least from Rielly) will undoubtedly occur in another.

The cycle will continue, regardless of whether or not the conversation does, too.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

The events from Monday night call for meaningful action, superseding the confines of a hashtag. Whether that takes the form of donating to one of the many worthwhile LGBTQI charitable initiatives like Rainbow Railroad or The Trevor Project, becoming more involved in monumental events such as your local Pride Parade, or simply snuffing out any hateful rhetoric when you hear it, making the sport of hockey inclusive for all groups of people should be priority number one.

Sports should offer refuge from the harsh realities of the real world. It’s time we get it there.

Thanks for reading.