The St. Louis Blues got some odd news over the past few days. There were reports of an alleged sexual assault by Team Canada junior players at a 2018 Hockey Canada Gala event.
The Blues organization likely knew about this before the public. Regardless, they are now left in the same position as fans – they have to trust in their players.
Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou were members of the 2018 Hockey Canada World Juniors squad. They went on to help their team secure a gold medal for the World Junior Championships.
Unfortunately, according to the alleged victim, some members of the squad got too “familiar” with a woman who was attendig the event. According to her, there were eight players involved in the alleged assault.
Both Kyrou and Thomas issued statements through their Twitter accounts. Thomas said he had no involvement, nor awareness of the incident, while Kyrou said he did not even attend the Hockey Canada Gala.
So, the Blues are left to trust their players and hope they are telling the truth. So are we all.
There’s no real reason to think either would not be telling the truth. They simply don’t seem the type.
From everything the public knows, Kyrou and Thomas spend most of their time gaming if they’re not playing hockey. They were at the forefront of the group of guys that some of the older players struggled to identify with just a few years ago because the veterans wanted to go out and they prefered to stay in and play Xbox or Playstation.
Being a gamer does not preclude you from doing something more illicit. There are lots of gamers out there who may also be what society would deem as perverts.
Nevertheless, it would seem out of character from what we’ve known from these two players. They strike you as polite, unassuming and maybe even a bit shy.
The only way I could see them having any involvement is if herd mentality came into play. When you’re around a group, sometimes it’s harder to stand your ground against the numbers that are telling you this is fine or it’ll be ok.
Overall, it’s just disappointing that something like this may have happened regardless who was involved. Maybe adult beverages were involved – the story doesn’t specify – but to make a woman feel uncomfortable and attacked because you need to get more than flirty is just wrong.
Let’s hope that Thomas and Kyrou were definitely not involved. It would be disappointing enough if they were, but even more so if there was a cover up.