Markus Naslund speaks out about Marc Crawford and allegations of abuse

It's been a whirlwind of controversy in the NHL this past week. Bill Peters. Mike Babcock. And now Marc Crawford. It seemingly never ends.

In Crawford's case, the Chicago Blackhawks officially removed him from his position as assistant coach with the team after allegations of abuse were hurled at him by former players Brent Sopel, Patrick O'Sullivan and Sean Avery.

Check it out:

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Now another one of Crawford's players, former Vancouver Canucks captain and franchise icon Markus Naslund, is also stepping forward with some tales from Crow's days behind the bench with the Canucks. Unlike Sopel, O'Sullivan and Avery though, Naslund doesn't condemn Crawford for his actions outright. Instead, he takes a more nuanced opinion on his former coach's tactics. 

Check out some of these quotes from Naslund taken from an interview with Swedish-language media outlet SportsExpressen.

On Sopel's allegations:

I understand Brent [Sopel] feels that way, Crawford was very tough on him in certain situations. I understand that he experienced it as a horror world, and I have had that feeling myself. For example, when I played under Mike Keenan. Which also had that kind of leadership style. A lot depends on what role you have in the team and how the coach feels about the player. So it is in all teams, everyone is treated differently.

How did you experience Marc Crawford as a coach? 

He was very hot-tempered, with everything it entails. We are all different, some may analyze the situation before doing or saying things. While others go on emotions. I would say Crawford is the latter type.

Sean Avery testifies that he was also subjected to physical violence by Crawford. Did that happen to you?

No. Not in that way. But it is not uncommon for a coach to clap one, but more for the purpose of "come on now". But I have never seen any physical violence. 

Markus Näslund believes that there is a problem about the coaches' power in hockey:

Even if you make a lot of money as a hockey player, and that there are few pretexts to succeed, you are still very dependent on the coaches. If they don't like the way you play, you get no ice time. And if you don't get any ice time, your career will go down, and you might be sent to the farmer's team, says Näslund, and believes that club management has a great responsibility. 

It is important that with a general manager who is in control of that, that the coaches are not released. Then it can be dangerous. I'm not a person who believes in management by fear, I don't think it's the way to get the most out of a player. 

The fact that Mike Babcock, Bill Peters and Marc Crawford are now under strong criticism for incidents far back in time, Näslund thinks is good. 

I think it's good that these things come to the surface. And that it can hopefully lead to a nicer behavior among the coaches. 

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For the full article in Swedish, click the link below: