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Armstrong vs Mars incident


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14 minutes ago, Mr. Anderson said:

I know you're not defending him but after seeing the story about Armstrong on the news and reading some of Jim Black's buddies defending him on this board I felt compelled to post. 

Anyone who has been in the steel city selects organization knows that Jim Black is TOXIC.  Most people put up with it because the local alternatives for girls hockey are either PAHL level hockey which is not competitive or you're ALL IN with Pens, provided your daughter is good enough for that organization.  Steel city is the in-between with lots of ice time and good competitive match-ups.  We put up with it for a few years when my daughter was younger but eventually left because of a couple of different coaches, Jim Black and Jason Evans, and the Board lets them get away with it. 

There are countless stories of how Black treats young women who play for him.  His bio on the North Pittsburgh Wildcats site says he treats each girl like his daughter.  That is total BS.  He berates them constantly.  All negative reinforcement.  Although maybe that is how he treats his daughters.  He cares about HIS hockey legacy and making money for Baierl.  And it's no surprise he's political.  How do you think he got to play hockey at a Michigan prep school when he was younger?  His daddy brokered a deal for him to go with a player they were recruiting. 

I recently ran into a current player's parent and they are disturbed that they have witnessed several girls quit on him the last couple of seasons.  I heard even one mother wrote a letter to Midam and the Steel city Board, who chose to ignore, about his demeaning and unprofessional behavior.  He's a walking safesport violation.

I miss going to the rink and watching youth hockey.  I do not miss neanderthals like Jim Black.  If you put him in the Good Guy Camp, you're either a family member, one of his golfing buddies, coaching buddies, on the Board of selects, or have a financial interest in Baierl.  He's a classless bully with a Napoleonic complex.

Perhaps I picked a poor username, I was surprised by Danner’s comments about him.  I agree with 99% of what Danner writes in this board.  I initially was commenting about the Baierl rink security.  I am neither a friend or foe of Jim B.  Thank you for sharing the info.  

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18 minutes ago, fafa fohi said:

So the goalie can hear the chanting as she was brought to tears during the game........but the Armstrong players can't hear it?  

Stop bro, just stop.  YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM. 

Damned right! If the goalie could hear it, everyone there could hear it.
What amazes me is that NO ADULT,, let me say it again, NO ADULT, did anything to stop this. I’m sorry, but no person, minor or adult male or female, should have to deal with what was yelled at her. “You’re a whore” and “Suck my @#$&” what the hell is wrong with these people. What if someone started yelling this at their wife, daughter, mother, I bet they would react then. 

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14 minutes ago, aCountryVegan said:

Damned right! If the goalie could hear it, everyone there could hear it.
What amazes me is that NO ADULT,, let me say it again, NO ADULT, did anything to stop this. I’m sorry, but no person, minor or adult male or female, should have to deal with what was yelled at her. “You’re a whore” and “Suck my @#$&” what the hell is wrong with these people. What if someone started yelling this at their wife, daughter, mother, I bet they would react then. 

This is a very concerning part of the entire issue. Hard to believe there was not a single parent of a Mars or Armstrong player there that didn't stand up and say something. Really disappointing all around.

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30 minutes ago, aCountryVegan said:

Damned right! If the goalie could hear it, everyone there could hear it.
What amazes me is that NO ADULT,, let me say it again, NO ADULT, did anything to stop this. I’m sorry, but no person, minor or adult male or female, should have to deal with what was yelled at her. “You’re a whore” and “Suck my @#$&” what the hell is wrong with these people. What if someone started yelling this at their wife, daughter, mother, I bet they would react then. 

This right here! ALL ADULTS! 

The Mars President was quoted in a paper saying "“As much as I wanted to push back right during the game, that might have escalated things and made it worse,” “You never know what might happen in today’s society. … I’m so displeased that no one from Armstrong, not a parent or board member, spoke up to say to those students, ‘You’re going over your boundaries.’” 

I mean if he was worried about escalation (ie afraid) - can you imagine how that goalie felt?  My son plays Varsity Hockey.  I can assure you, if this was his goalie, not one player on the team, not one coach on the bench & not one parent in the stands would have been quiet & let this continue beyond the first derogatory chant. 

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5 hours ago, sutton said:

All this outrage and news articles, and absolutely nothing mentioned that Armstrong was able to take their entire team and play last night and beat Butler.  Not a single player, coach, administrator was punished, it's like nothing happened for them.  You watch the league delay this until the outrage dies down and it'll just fade away.

It wasn't the team that made the comments. The boys on that team are ALL friends of hers and have played with her on multiple occasions. There should be no punishment for the team in both mine and the goalies opinion. Actually a player that got hurt wanted to come back to.defend her, and I feel like that speaks volumes. 

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19 minutes ago, Lisa redepennimg said:

It wasn't the team that made the comments. The boys on that team are ALL friends of hers and have played with her on multiple occasions. There should be no punishment for the team in both mine and the goalies opinion. Actually a player that got hurt wanted to come back to.defend her, and I feel like that speaks volumes. 

I think we all appreciate your stand with the teams and I agree. I think it’s just frustration coming out because once there was no one off the ice that would stand up for her and say something, maybe that was the time for those on the ice to say/do something, anything. It was unbelievable to me to see this happen so blatantly with no intervention by anyone. 

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54 minutes ago, Lisa redepennimg said:

It wasn't the team that made the comments. The boys on that team are ALL friends of hers and have played with her on multiple occasions. There should be no punishment for the team in both mine and the goalies opinion. Actually a player that got hurt wanted to come back to.defend her, and I feel like that speaks volumes. 

You’ve handled this situation with a lot of grace. Thank you for coming on this forum to clarify the situation.     Who do you blame for this being allowed to continue so long during the game?

I doubt I would have your composure if I was in your situation.   Good luck to you and your goalie.  

 

 

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1 hour ago, hockeyisgreat said:

Just listened to the Armstrong Coach on the news trying to say he didn't know what was being said. I would bet the ranch that the kids were talking about it between periods. His explanation doesn't seem sincere.  Just my opinion.

What do you expect him to say?  He knew what was going on and didn’t do anything about it?

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5 hours ago, fafa fohi said:

So the goalie can hear the chanting as she was brought to tears during the game........but the Armstrong players can't hear it?  

Stop bro, just stop.  YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM. 

There’s a lot of things I don’t agree with you on your posts, but you’ve been spot on here. While we may differ in the philosophy of what is best for hockey in WPA in some ways, we both agree that basic decency should be the standard.

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1 hour ago, Shrimp Worters said:

You’ve handled this situation with a lot of grace. Thank you for coming on this forum to clarify the situation.     Who do you blame for this being allowed to continue so long during the game?

I doubt I would have your composure if I was in your situation.   Good luck to you and your goalie.  

 

 

I wasn't at the game. I'm not really sure where the blame should lie,maybe not in one place, but a learning opportunity for all, but the fact that it is being addressed and hopefully NEVER should happen to any player gives me hope. I am very blessed that our daughter gets her tough skin from her dad.

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On 11/1/2021 at 9:27 PM, my3sons said:

i’ve reached out to various higher-ups about this topic. i’ll do what i feel is necessary for this matter and what i feel will help. 

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8 hours ago, Ref33 said:

I'm having trouble seeing the videos.

If you would like to email them to hockeybehavior@gmail.com I will put them on youtube

it’s on the news, olympians have spoke about it. let’s hold off on further spread until there is proper disciplinary action and local identification. 

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4 hours ago, Lisa redepennimg said:

I wasn't at the game. I'm not really sure where the blame should lie,maybe not in one place, but a learning opportunity for all, but the fact that it is being addressed and hopefully NEVER should happen to any player gives me hope. I am very blessed that our daughter gets her tough skin from her dad.

i reached out to her on instagram if you would like to pass the information on. i feel horrible that this happened and i’m trying to make it right as someone who did not participate in the derogatory chants. hope you guys played well at the game tonight. 

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9 hours ago, fafa fohi said:

So the goalie can hear the chanting as she was brought to tears during the game........but the Armstrong players can't hear it?  

Stop bro, just stop.  YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM. 

it’s very different on the ice. in the first and third the players could hear it when lined up for the face off in the offensive zone, but from the bench it was across the rink and players were focused on other things and the same thing goes for when they are playing, as a hockey player we tend to tune out the crowd and it’s something that ends up being learned as you play longer. 

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16 minutes ago, unknown said:

it’s on the news, olympians have spoke about it. let’s hold off on further spread until there is proper disciplinary action and local identification. 

Proper disciplinary action?     What do think is proper?  No fans for 8 or 10 games?  Suspend a couple of football players for 3 days of school?   That won’t change what has to been going on at this rink for years. 
 

The security guard stood there doing nothing while the goalie was abused.  I assume a rink manger saw what was happening and did nothing.  Armstrong county owns the rink and they have allowed this (not this extreme in this case) to go on for years.   Proper disciplinary action will something that clearly assures that there is real change to prevent this from ever occurring at this rink ever again.   Maybe the  Armstrong district attorney needs to get involved.    This is more than goalie taunting.   Maybe I’m way overboard...

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On 11/2/2021 at 12:11 AM, Chuck Gardiner said:

Armstrong scored 5 goals in the third. Hmmm? I guess the bullying and abuse worked. They should have to forfeit that win. If someone calls the ref an a hole or swears, they are thrown out of the rink, but it is okay to call a young girl a whore and a hooker.  I truly hope it is addressed properly. Also, I think Armstrong has a female goalie in their organization, what does she think. Just sad it got further than the first chant. 

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19 minutes ago, YouthHockey? said:

Armstrong scored 5 goals in the third. Hmmm? I guess the bullying and abuse worked. They should have to forfeit that win. If someone calls the ref an a hole or swears, they are thrown out of the rink, but it is okay to call a young girl a whore and a hooker.  I truly hope it is addressed properly. Also, I think Armstrong has a female goalie in their organization, what does she think. Just sad it got further than the first chant. 

i’ve said the same thing. 4 goals against the goalie AFTER the derogatory chants started. it was “heifer” not hooker and “heifer king” not “suck my dick” but doesn’t matter after the whore chant. 

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Hey Sutton,  Did you post this story anywhere else?  It's amazing to me the attention it has received from the media and the buzz at rinks.  Everyone in Western Pa is certainly aware of it now and talking about it.  I would bet the ranch that this won't happen again in a Western Pa rink and no way it can be swept under the rug now.  You may not get the justice you seek in this case but you sure have helped change the culture in the stands for PIHL Hockey going forward. Won't change crazy parents yelling at the refs but will make everyone more aware of the student sections.

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It was going to go national eventually:

https://sports.yahoo.com/crowd-hurls-vulgar-sexually-explicit-chants-at-female-goalie-as-armstrong-mars-high-school-hockey-game-turns-ugly-224643179.html

Hopefully this exposure gets these issues everywhere out into the open. As adults and coaches and parents we can't ever let this sort of thing go on. I can't wrap my mind around the adults in the rink, especially those who were there specifically to prevent this sort of stuff, not putting a stop to this. Just another in a long list of reasons to dislike playing at Armstrong.

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I have thought about this a lot. Every adult in that building failed this girl. The chants are loud and clear. Enough adults knew what was being said. And, as for the adults on the ice, they heard it. And if they did not, they sure heard the players on the ice discussing it. Yes, the parents in the stands had a responsibility to stop it. The security guard had a responsibility as well. There were many avenues that could have been taken to stop it. But why are we over looking the responsibility of the coaches and refs? They have a responsibility also. How many games have we all been to where a ref stops a game to kick out a parent then keeps the game stopped until the parent exits? I’ve seen it done more times than I care to admit. How many times have we seen them issue a bench minor for parent’s behaviors in the stands?  They had options and the chose to not to act. The Mars coach could have refused to go out for the 3rd period. His goalie was visibly upset. This was well beyond any heckling. While she’s on that ice, she is his responsibility. And, I’m sorry, but her well being is far greater than any point in standings or fine he may have received for choosing not to continue to play. The Armstrong coach could have done the same thing. Instead, every adult sat back and let it occur. Then when the story breaks, fingers start pointing and blame is passed around. Take ownership and responsibility, be an adult and a roll model. It’s really not difficult to do. I would also go out on a limb and say if this was directed at a male goalie with a different version of the chant, the response would have been different.

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