#PayDecker
January 29, 2019 8:52 AM   Subscribe

"In what can only be described as the smallest of hat tips to diversity and inclusion, U.S. women’s national team hockey player Brianna Decker was brought out to demonstrate the premier passing drill at the NHL All-Star skills event on Friday. [...] As it turns out, Decker not only appeared to complete the drill quickly, she ended up finishing the course with the fastest time out of everyone who participated in it, which included eight NHL players. Her time of 1:06—which was deduced through social media—beat out Oilers center Leon Draisaitl, who completed the course in 1:09. Draisaitl, however, ended up getting the premier passing title and a $25,000 cash prize." Brianna Decker Will Get Her Prize Money After All, Just Not From The NHL posted by everybody had matching towels (16 comments total) 16 users marked this as a favorite
 
1:12 my aching ass!

Hey NHL, don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining.
posted by East14thTaco at 9:01 AM on January 29, 2019 [4 favorites]


She was interviewed on CBC radio last night, and was extremely gracious - and politic. She kept talking about how what was really important was not winning the prize but to raise the profile of women's hockey. That said, I also couldn't help but think about how $25,000 would mean so much more to her than to an NHL player - and how very well deserved it was (even if she hadn't beaten him).
posted by jb at 9:10 AM on January 29, 2019 [3 favorites]


Holy shit, the NHL make the NFL look good by comparison.
posted by Keith Talent at 9:24 AM on January 29, 2019


The NHL botched this so completely. Hopefully they won't make this mistake next year. Just include the best female players in these events as equal competitors. It's not hard. Pay them for being there because they add to the event and don't have career earnings in the tens of millions. Pay them extra if they win. The NHL players all seemed positive about having the women there. The women have personalities and back stories every bit as compelling as the men. If the whole event is about growing the game and showcasing the most skilled players, then include everyone.

Also, the Women's league needs to be on the same TV deal as the NHL so that people can be paid a reasonable wage.
posted by thenormshow at 9:46 AM on January 29, 2019 [18 favorites]


Aside:
I love that CCM gave Brianna Decker the prize money, but for the love of Pete, the $ goes *before* the numbers, not after.
posted by NoMich at 10:22 AM on January 29, 2019


Apparently in Quebec, the dollar sign goes after. CCM is headquartered in Montreal, QC.

Every time I think America's weird about standards, Quebec's gotta go all "hold my beer" on us.
posted by explosion at 10:28 AM on January 29, 2019 [13 favorites]




Heard on the radio this week by a "journalist" who was there, apparently the guys where hella-impressed by her run and some commented that they'd actually have to take this seriously and skate hard to look good after that run.
posted by WaterAndPixels at 10:38 AM on January 29, 2019


The NHL did donations in the 4 women's names to assorted charities. Not sure why this was chosen rather than paying them.
posted by beaning at 11:03 AM on January 29, 2019


I feel like Draisaitl missed the opportunity to do the right thing here.
If you get beat fair and square, the least you could do is pass the prize on, especially when it is essentially pocket change for you.
posted by madajb at 11:24 AM on January 29, 2019 [8 favorites]


The only thing I can think of is habitually assuming that there's an amateur/professional division for the women but not the men, which is usually the reason I see people donate to charity as a prize for athletes rather than paying them directly.

Not that this applies to Decker, who is a professional player in her own right with the CWHL. (On the other hand, the CWHL's decision to pay their players is relatively recent--2017-2018-level recent--so maybe the NHL just forgot. I mean, that's clearly how much they care about the women's leagues.)

That or they just don't believe women want money. WHO KNOWS.
posted by sciatrix at 11:30 AM on January 29, 2019 [4 favorites]


The NHL botched this so completely. Hopefully they won't make this mistake next year. Just include the best female players in these events as equal competitors.

How much you wanna bet they "solve" the problem by just not including women at all, next time?
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 4:18 PM on January 29, 2019 [5 favorites]


The Al-Star Game is a commercial for the National Hockey League. The League (and its sycophants, like Don Cherry) promotes itself. Period. When fans disapprove (as they did a few years back in the John Scott incident) they are ignored. These incidents are always done because "the fans want it", even when the fans are ignored or insulted. I believe (may be wrong) that the NHL has had more franchise owners go to prison than any other major sports league -- sometimes still controlling their teams behind bars. I, for one, am not surprised by the parade of Trump clowns through the media, those are the same kinds of people as the ones running the NHL.
posted by CCBC at 5:40 PM on January 29, 2019


How much you wanna bet they "solve" the problem by just not including women at all, next time?

That's exactly what the Olympics did in skeet shooting.
posted by hoyland at 5:56 PM on January 29, 2019 [5 favorites]


The NHL's ASG just gets more & more torturous for hockey fans every year. The minor league's ASG skills competition was Sunday and was a bit more interesting with the way they did their contests (including a supposedly faster skater than anyone from the NHL's contest on Friday)

For non-hockey fans who want to watch the truly #cringeworthy contest Brianna bested everyone at:

Here's Sebastian Aho doing it in just under 80 seconds
Here's Erik Karlsson taking about 2 minutes to get it done
Here's your supposed winner, Leon Draisatl doing it a little quicker then Aho
posted by Lukenlogs at 8:13 PM on January 29, 2019


Oh lord this is painful: Olympic hockey gold medalist & new NBC hockey analyst Kendall Coyne Schofield gets hockey mansplained to her by Pierre McGuire on broadcast TV. "We’re paying you to be an analyst, not to be a fan tonight!" Please drag Pierre and this smug cringeworthy world to hell.
posted by nicebookrack at 7:57 PM on January 30, 2019 [3 favorites]


« Older chicken tender fender bender   |   “fucking good luck with that, dude, i’ve got a... Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments