Last week, Andy Strickland of True Hockey broke news that David Frost was using an alias to run a hockey academy located about an hour outside of Los Angeles in Laguna Niguel, California.
A Look At The Dark Side Of Hockey, From David Frost To Mike Danton To Wisconsin-Stout
Hockey fans are quick to chastise the criminal acts of athletes in other sports, but as SB Nation’s Derek Zona writes, the greatest game on ice has its dark side as well.
Frost, the embroiled ex-coach and ex-agent at the center of the Mike Danton murder-for-hire trial, disappeared from the hockey world after Danton’s arrest. Now, he’s back.
Here’s Strickland on the situation:
Multiple sources confirm that Frost is working at the Laguna Hockey Academy and is going by the name of Jim McCauley, the maiden name of his wife Bridget. I’m told by several people that Frost can be spotted at the academy daily and introduces himself as Jim. A Mike Danton St. Louis Blues jersey even hangs high inside the facility.
Finding Frost in Laguna Niguel reminded many of CBC tracking down ex-Junior Hockey coach and convicted sex offender Graham James in Guadalajara, Mexico. A major difference is James is no longer working with children.
Yahoo! Sports writers Martin Rogers and Nicholas J. Cotsonika spoke with Frost after calling Laguna Hockey Academy to confirm Strickland’s story. Frost confirmed his involvement with the academy, but only in an advisory capacity, and only with the training equipment and regimen, and claimed he had no contact with children via coaching or in an advisory capacity. His account was disputed by both employees of the academy and parents with children at Laguna, a galling thought to hockey fans who followed the Frost/Danton story throughout 2004 and 2005.
When Rogers and Cotsonika asked why he had changed his name...
”Because of the publicity and different things, there have sometimes been times when I don’t want to use my real name.“When the details of the Frost/Danton story became public, Frost was assured of never working in Canada again. By moving to Southern California and escaping the story, Frost was able to get back into hockey. His influence on parents and children is telling as some parents had a bizarre concern for Frost’s ability to earn a living. Some did express concern for their children upon learning of McCauley’s true identity, but enough people believe in David Frost’s ability to get their children into the NHL that they’re willing to overlook a horribly dark and troubled past.
Jim McCauley being outed as David Frost should spell the end of Frost’s association with the academy, and at the very least parents are now aware of the Frost has made his way back into hockey.
In an even more morose story, U.S. College Hockey Online reports two Wisconsin-Stout hockey players were arrested after the death of a fellow student, Bradley L. Simon. One player, Jedidiah R. McGlasson, faces a felony murder charge, and his teammate, Jared C. Britton, is charged with being a party to the crime. The three were involved in a confrontation in a bar, and then, from the USCHO article:
A short time later, Simon left the bar and was riding a bicycle when he was confronted by McGlasson and Britton, who allegedly assaulted Simon. That caused the bicycle Simon was riding to crash into a concrete wall, sending Simon over the handlebars. Simon struck his head on the wall.
Alochol and young hockey players have been a constant source of news over the past year, from Juniors to the NHL, and this incident will only help to fuel discussion over hockey’s reputation of heavy-drinking kids. As hockey pushes further into the United States, the sheer number of kids involved in the game will mean that alcohol-related incidents are going to occur.
But the recent trend in hockey is troubling. No other North American sport moves kids hundreds of miles from home well before their 18th birthday in to a less-than-optimal social structure.
Hockey fans are quick to point out the thug culture that dominates basketball, the criminal elements of football and the performance-enhancing culture of baseball, yet similar circumstances exist in all levels of hockey. They just aren’t as widely publicized.
Alcohol and young kids, especially in the NCAA, have produced a stream of news stories and on-ice violence dominated news from the CHL last season. Graham James and David Frost have shown one of the uglier sides of the sport, the unchecked control exerted over young kids isolated from their parents.
Hockey remains the greatest sport on earth and (frozen) water, but it’s not without it’s dark elements.
See More:
