Uh oh…The Golden Knights’ Hart signing is already causing major locker room talk.
The Vegas Golden Knights are already being heavily criticized for their decision to sign embroiled goaltender Carter Hart to a professional tryout contract, with plans to add him to the main roster when he becomes eligible to return to NHL action on December 1, 2025.
While fans and media are exposing how the phrase “core values” from the Golden Knights’ statement stands out, they are now also wondering if the chemistry of the dressing room will be affected by Hart reuniting with former teammate of Canada’s 2018 World Juniors team Brett Howden, who been playing for Vegas since 2021.
During the trial, Howden was called as a witness since he was in Michael McLeod’s hotel room when the victim, E.M., was there with as many as 10 men. Howden was not accused of criminal wrongdoing. He however had sent a text for another teammate, Taylor Raddysh roughly a week after an alleged sexual assault at the Delta Armouries Hotel in downtown London, Ont, saying:
“Dude, I’m so happy I left when all the s—t went down,” Howden’s June 26, 2018, text message said. “Haha. Man, when I was leaving, Duber was smacking this girl’s ass so hard. Like, it looked like it hurt so bad.”
However, the text was deemed inadmissible at trial, and Howden said on the stand that he didn’t remember sending Raddysh that message. Howden was called “unsophisticated, inarticulate, and generally useless” by Carter’s own lawyer.
Not sure how the back story of the two teammates will impact the Vegas’ dressing room now. A lot of fans and even Steve Dangle brought it up on social media:
“Carter Hart’s lawyer called his future teammate Brett Howden unsophisticated, inarticulate, and generally useless.
“On the bright side, I doubt he remembers,” joked Dangle.
“Core values? Really? In your backward effort to justify your decision and show some kind of moral high ground you should have Hart room with Brett “Bad Memory” Howden. Then it would all make sense,” wrote another fan.
Now that Hart has officially joined the Golden Knights, you have to wonder how his relationship with Howden has been impacted.
Fans are also wondering how Vegas will deal with the criticism of not only signing Hart to a chance to make the main roster when they already had a guy that witness it all and didn’t anything to stop it on board.
We knew the signing of Hart in Sin City was going to get people talking and, until Hart possibly plays his first game back in the NHL in December, we will probably hear a lot more, and worse.
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