Because of toxic culture? It's right there in the headline, their behaviour is toxic and it is protected because they're all just a bunch of good ol boys. This happens every time, in all walks of life.

This case has been on my mind a lot lately.

It's possible that (a) they absolutely committed sexual crimes, and (b) they shouldn't be convicted.

It is the law's job to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. That means that the accusers in any case have to provide proof beyond a reasonable doubt - which unfortunately means getting grilled mercilessly.

It's imperfect - it's a flawed system that lets guilty people go free. HOWEVER, better to let the guilty go free than imprison the innocent. And the thing is, as long as there isn't a perfect record of all actions and intentions, it's always going to be imperfect.

My feeling is that they five are dirtbags who at the VERY least, took gross advantage of a woman who didn't know what she was getting in to; and are almost certainly guilty in a non-legal sense of rape. But generally speaking, if the judge says there isn't enough evidence to convict them, then I'm inclined to believe the judge.

Now the real question is whether the NHL opens their arms to these shitheads, or whether they say "no, we'd rather not." Except that it's not a question - the NHL, like any sports league, will come up with an excuse to allow at least the good ones in without consequence.

I've played with enough hockey players to know that our collective way of teaching our sons how to respect women is broken. It is absolutely a culture problem.