Neely said it was a failure of the Bruins’ hockey department for failing to discover the extent of Miller’s heinous abuse of Meyer-Crothers. They believed, Neely said, that Miller made a unique mistake when he was 14 and worked to improve.
Neely was not clear about the details of this work.
“From what I’ve heard, he’s been working on himself, working on programs to improve himself,” Neely said of the “new information” the team cited when it cut ties with Miller. “I got the impression that it was a 14-year-old boy who made a really, really bad decision and did some horrible things and he’s 20 years old now, so I got the impression that over the last six years he worked a lot on himself. »
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Why would the Bruins sign Miller when they’re the hottest team in the league?
“The timing was never good,” Neely said. “It came down to whether we do it or not, and we made the wrong decision.”
Here are some takeaways from Neely’s press conference.
What we know about Mitchell Miller | Read more Bruins stories
Cam Neely: The ‘concerning’ team have not spoken to the victim’s family
Neely said it was “concerning” the Bruins had not spoken to the family of Miller’s victim.
Why not? “That’s a great question.”
Neely apologized to Meyer-Crouthers in his statement Sunday night and said he would be reaching out to the family.
When asked if he assumed the team had spoken to the Meyer-Crouthers family, Neely said he “shouldn’t assume anything.”
Has Neely spoken to Miller?
Neely didn’t speak directly to Miller about the decision to cut him.
He said before Miller signed he had met Miller, Miller’s mother, and Miller’s agent Eustace King.
“I felt like he was remorseful, I felt like he’d changed, that this special time deserved a second chance.
What has changed between then and Sunday evening?
“We didn’t have enough information,” Neely said. “We could have dug deeper.”
On the timeline
On Friday, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said they have been working with Miller for six months.
Neely said that in early August I was alerted to the possibility of the team signing Miller.
“…We said if we do that, we want to make sure he’s in the right programs and understands the values that we have with diversity and inclusion.”
About the verification process and NHL eligibility
He also said it was an error in the verification process.
Neely was asked what his scouts thought of Miller.
“From a hockey perspective, the scouts think he’s a player who can play,” he said. “From a character point of view, we failed here.”
Scouts said they thought Miller had grown since the incident, and Neely said he believes in second chances.
“I believe in second chances, but some might not deserve them,” he said. “I don’t particularly say it in this situation, but I believe in second chances.”
Neely also said he felt Miller would need to speak directly to Commissioner Gary Bettman in order to be cleared for the NHL.
Neely wouldn’t say if there would be penalties or penalties for anyone in the organization.
“I have more work to do.”
A number of teams had approached Miller with interest in signing him, a source told the Globe. Miller said Friday that the Bruins offered him the best “resources” after sitting down with management and “being frank about what I’ve done and want to do in the future.”
Was Neely worried about another team rushing in to sign Miller?
“From my point of view, there was no urgency and no pressure,” Neely said. “I didn’t care about other teams.”
Why did Neely unsubscribe?
“It was a decision we didn’t take lightly. I felt like, for all I knew, he deserved a second chance.”
On the role of team responsibility
Neely said Charlie and Jeremy Jacobs were made aware that the team needed to cut ties with Miller, but that it was a decision made by the Hockey Operations Team.
“There are a lot of people who are disappointed today and I’m disappointed that we’re in this position,” said Neely. “We shouldn’t be in this position, we could have done a better job. We should have done a better job.”
To the reply from Bruins players
Neely was asked if current Bruins players weighed him down.
“There were many factors in that decision,” he said, “and this was one of them.”
Captain Patrice Bergeron said Saturday he was consulted by the Bruins about a week ago.
“I had my concerns,” Bergeron said. “I shared my opinion. In a way, I think I didn’t necessarily agree with that – to be honest, I think the culture that we’ve built here contradicts that kind of behavior. I think we’re a team built on character and personalities. What he has done is obviously unacceptable. We don’t stand by that.”
Bergeron said he would want evidence of “growth and change” from Miller before entering the room.
“Honestly, if it were the same 14-year-old walking into that dressing room,” Bergeron said, “he wouldn’t be accepted, wanted and welcomed, to be honest.”
Neely said he and Sweeney spoke to the club on Saturday.
What’s the message to Bruins fans?
“I’m very upset that we made a lot of people unhappy with our decision,” Neely said. “I’m proud of the Bruins organization and what we stand for and we failed there.”
Katie McInerney can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @k8tmac. Matt Porter can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @mattports.