The Edmonton Oilers are known for giving players second chances. Craig McTavish while playing with Boston Bruins back in 1984 was convicted of vehicular homicide after he ran into a car ending up in the death of a woman. He was driving under the influence at the time. He served a year in jail. The Bruins let him out of his contract to give him a fresh start, and Edmonton signed him. He played for eight years with the Oilers and helped them win three Stanley Cups. He also coached the Oilers.
 Another player give a second chance was Evander Kane. Before he came to the Oilers, he had a checkered past, including skipping on gambling debts, domestic violence allegations, sexual assault allegations, and violating Covid protocols. The Oilers gave him a chance and he helped them to two Stanley Cup final runs.
Now, Alex Formenton. He was one of the five Canadian junior players accused of sexually assaulting, a girl in a London hotel back in 2018. When the allegations came out, he along with the four others were suspended from the NHL Hockey Canada ended up paying $3.2 million to the girl in a lawsuit. A criminal trial was held, and all five were acquitted, much to the dismay of many.
The NHL lifted the suspension on the five last year. Carter Hart, a goaltender, lead the Vegas Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup final last year.
Things have changed over the years. There is a lot of anger over the signing of Formenton. All one needs to do is go sites such as Facebook and Threads to see the anger on both sides of the fence. Emotions are being rubbed raw. The anger is so great that 57,000 people have signed a petition for the Oilers to drop Formenton from the team. On the other side of the fence, those who support Formenton are accusing the naysayers of being ‘woke’.
In the coming months, we will see if the Oilers, signing Formenton, was a bridge too far.
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