Toronto – Saturday at Scotiabank Arena, Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand And Nick Foligno They made it clear Do not support The signing of their employer Mitchell Miller. Joni Meyer-Crothers, mother of Isaiah, Miller’s victim Bullying and racist commentsI heard those statements.

“I was very impressed by what you said. I’m very impressed,” Meyer-Crothers said. The athletics. “That certainly comforted us.”

It was a sigh of relief from what Meyer-Crowthers called a hurricane. Wounds He signed Miller to an NHL entry-level contract on Friday. She didn’t believe the day would come.

“We were completely blindsided,” said Meyer-Crothers herself, her husband Jamie Crothers and her family. “I never thought an NHL team would sign him. I never dreamed it. I was just shocked.”

Meyer-Crothers read the Bruins’ press release. She saw how general manager Don Sweeney explained the signing. Sweeney noted how Miller’s offensive style is. It gave him NHL potential.

“Is it really sad that Mitchell and his family think the job is encouraging them to be good people? That’s the message the Bruins are sending, too — that talent drives what you do,” Meyer-Kraser said. “I can’t say enough. We want Mitchell to get the help he needs. Because he needs help. So we are not against it at all. But playing hockey is a blessing. Maybe he should have been rehabilitated, then he should have refocused and looked at playing hockey again after he was truly rehabilitated and realized the magnitude of what he did to our son.

While Meyer-Crothers appreciated what the Bruins players said, she didn’t hear from anyone directly from the Bruins either before or after the signing. (The athletics (They contacted the Bruins for comment on the matter, with no response.)

If she had heard from them, Mayer-Crothers said Miller would have described how Isaiah and her family are still dealing with her repeated abuse. Following Friday’s Miller signing, she described Isaiah as “not doing very well.”

“It brings him back every time he wakes up,” said her adopted daughter, Meyer-Crothers. “Seventh grade had to say I was the N-word to sit at the table with Mitchell or sit alone in the lunchroom. It’s all this stuff that keeps playing in his mind all the time. That he is worthless. That his life was nothing. He was told that his black mother and father did not love him; That’s why he has white parents. Think of the identity problems that Isaiah faced.

“He was already behind the eight ball because he had fetal alcohol syndrome and drug exposure. So intellectually, he’s already behind. Then you’re adding this to a kid who wants to make friends. Because he already knows he’s not doing like the other kids. He’s suffered. It’s there. What you struggle with.

After hearing Bergeron, Marchand and Folligino speak, Meyer-Crothers said she would welcome the players home. Miller described how her abuse affected Isaiah and her family. She shares the report she received about Isaiah’s mental health.

Meyer-Crothers said she was not interested in talking to Sweeney about how he described the situation.

“No, I don’t want to talk to him. No, “said Meyer-Crothers. He let us know that it didn’t matter what we were talking about.

Both Mayer-Crothers and Crothers said they did not want to talk to Miller. According to Crothers, Miller met Isaiah on social media about a week and a half ago.

“Every time Mitchell turned around and tried to join another hockey team, it was something that happened,” Crothers said. “It was his USHL team last year. He was being drafted by Arizona. Every time this comes up, it all boils down to us and him. This is the third or fourth time we’ve been through this circus. in the same manner. As always, Mitchell chose not to apologize.

“The only time he wanted Isaiah to apologize was a week and a half ago when Boston said, ‘If you don’t apologize, we won’t sign you.’ And he decided, ‘Oh, I’d better meet Isaiah and apologize.’ He apologized at the time, but it wasn’t hockey related. He specifically apologized to Isaiah, saying that this wasn’t hockey related, he really wanted to help kids in similar situations. That’s why he was reaching out. He sits down with Isaiah and tries to tell him he’s sorry, but it’s all because he was signed by Boston. It was about hockey. It wasn’t about the kids. It wasn’t about being sad. It was about the hockey. So it’s empty.”

Crothers and Meyer-Crothers are not happy with Miller. They’re also unhappy with the Bruins for not acknowledging Miller’s repeated harassment in their Friday press conference.

Bruins sign Mitchell Miller to entry-level contract: pic.twitter.com/FAxdqG20wN

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) November 4, 2022

“The biggest thing people need to realize is it’s not a one-time thing,” Meyer-Crothers said. “There were years and years and years of abuse and suffering. Our son is an emotional wreck on Mitchell’s hands. I am very grateful that the organization wants to help Mitchell. But you are forgetting that there is a victim who will be hurt for the rest of his life. What are we doing to him? Is his life not that important because he doesn’t have hockey talent? That’s how we feel.

“They keep using the word mistake. He made a ‘mistake’ when he was 14. My problem with Sweeney and Mitchell, let’s call it what it is. It was years of abuse. It wasn’t one time. A mistake might have been a stupid thing. But he did a lot. It was premeditated.” he said.

Meyer-Crothers concluded the interview with a final statement.

Because Mitchell is such a good hockey player, Isaiah has been victimized over and over again,” she said. “So you don’t have to show that you’ve grown up and that you’re a good hockey player and you regret everything that Isaiah’s done in the past. So it diminishes Isaiah’s past and makes him feel like he’s been through it all for nothing. That his life was nothing. And his life is important. His life is very important. “

(Top photo: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)