Yesterday:
Former Oilers enforcer and now Montreal radio host Georges Laraque revealed that Hall's darkest secrets prevented him from staying in Edmonton, and that they even became a huge roadblock in the Oilers looking to trade the top forward. "Hall had problems off the ice, and went to rehab during the summer of his trade (2016)," revealed Laraque on CHOI Radio X 98,1 Quebec during "Le show du matin week-end with Alex Leblond", as reported by RadioEgo and translated from French. "When he got to rehab, word got out across the NHL that the Oilers were looking to move him because of it. It reminds us of the Zack Kassian case. When everyone in the league knows the player's dirt, it's normal that the player's value is going to drop." Laraque added an element that sounds extremely serious and controversial about Hall, but leaves everyone on the edge, and with the worst of their own imagination. "He absolutely had to leave Edmonton, no question." (h/t HockeyFeed) Today:
--------- If you were still questioning how low those associated with the city of Edmonton and/or the Oilers organization would stoop in justifying what's quickly turning out to be one of the most laughably lopsided one-for-one trades in sports history then you've got your answer. Rock fucking bottom. Remove the scum from the earth and underneath you just might find "media" types/wanna-be insiders like Georges Laraque treating unsubstantiated allegations as fact in hopes of making the franchise with whom he holds an allegiance look slightly less stupid for shipping off a Hart Trophy candidate for a second pairing defenseman. I thought scapegoating a 24 year old with maturity issues for the entirety of a losing culture that existed prior to his arrival and has somehow transcended the efforts of a generational superstar following his departure was a cheap shot, but not even someone performing fellatio in a submarine could sloppily deliver this low of a blow. The truth is, it's readily apparent that Taylor Hall did absolutely have to leave Edmonton. Not only because he clearly needed a change of scenery as player, but because only in Edmonton could the partying (that I'm sure was debatably in excess, given the circustances) of a multi-millionaire who spent his early 20's playing a whole hell of a lot of meaningless hockey games for an irrelevant and unaccountable organization get turned into an implication of, at minimum, full-blown alcoholism. Only in Edmonton could a biased, anonymously sourced accusation pop up as "breaking news" damn near two years after the entire league would have had to stay completely silent about a first overall pick with substance abuse issues that required medical attention. Hell, even on the off-chance Taylor Hall did seek treatment and - against all odds - it somehow remained a secret, he deserves praise for triumphantly overcoming an addiction as supposed to having it belatedly used against him by a third party doing suspiciously-timed damage control at the expense of a person who is currently at the peak of his professional career. Taylor Hall himself has inferred that he's done a lot of growing as both a player and a person since coming over to New Jersey, so - if he even addresses this nonsense - it will probably be with the acceptance of one of the fastest apologies ever offered. That said, I can promise that those who've cherished his incredible comeuppance first hand won't be so forgiving. On behalf of all New Jersey Devils' fans, fuck Georges Laraque. At his best he was a fight-picking goon, and somehow his post-retirement gig is even more harmful to those that are still employed by a sport that now requires far more talent than he ever had. The only thing more pathetic than a former athlete demeaning a current athlete by overblowing his or her personal issues in the undying search for attention is saying "sorry" approximately six minutes later. I think the goon that's thrown his last televised punch might even be less skilled as a radical radio personality than he was as a hockey player, and...well...that's saying something.
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