Islanders nominal prospect Bobby Hughes arrested; charges via Albany
by Dominik on Nov 6, 2009 4:17 PM EST
in This, That & What-Not
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PrintMarginal Islanders prospect Bobby Hughes has had a number of challenges, including another injury in the Albany team bus accident last winter -- that led to his trade for non-prospect Rob Hennigar last summer.
Add one more, quite serious one:
A Canadian citizen, [Hughes] was arrested Wednesday by members of the U.S. Marshal Violent Crime Fugitive Task Force at the Arena at Harbor Yard following a hockey game.
"We waited until the game was over and then walked him out without incident," said police Detective Robert Martin, a member of the task force.
Hughes was arrested on a warrant issued from Bethlehem, N.Y., on charges of first-degree criminal sexual act and third-degree criminal sexual act.
I downplay this here [Edit: See a bit on what these charges mean in comments] I absolutely don't want to downplay the seriousness of this matter. But as a fan, I don't have much comment beyond relaying the news because -- despite the newsy buzz that accompanies such cases and demands TMZ clicks! clicks! clicks! -- it's a murky matter under sealed indictment, and Hughes has never appeared to be part of the Islanders' future. (He's appeared in 4 of 14 Sound Tiger games.) Needless to say, if it were a player who meant something to me as a fan, I'd be flipping out, while still being stuck in that ambiguous area of not knowing the facts nor knowing what to think.
James Mirtle points out Hughes is from the Toronto area and was a junior star, so the cynic in me suspects it will be bigger news in the Center of the Hockey Universe.
Something seriously wrong has happened, and you hope the justice system figures out what and takes care of it accordingly.
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Dom, i don’t want to be lewd, (and edit it if you need to) but i looked up ny state 1st and 3rd degree criminal sexual acts – they range from bad to worse – dealing with forceful, non-consensual, oral and back-door, as well dealing with minors
so while we don’t know any real details about this yet, and cannot and should not pass judgment on this kid, it’s certainly a very serious accusation being put to him
why isn't #16 hanging in the rafters?
No problem. Thanks for looking that up.
I should probably edit the post slightly: I don’t mean to downplay the seriousness of the charges themselves — heavens now — just that I’m not going in-depth on it since it’s a player who’s a non-factor (in my Islanders/NHL-focused eyes) and, other than the news itself, there’s not much to say. If it were an Islander NHLer, I’d be flipping out right now though.
Lighthouse Hockey: Side effects may include Weight gain and frequent game loss.
wasn’t saying you were… the fact is that i read the charges and honestly thought, hmm… that’s vague, was it like a groping or something? so i looked it up and was taken back by what it ‘could’ be – that was all i was saying…
why isn't #16 hanging in the rafters?
Gotcha. It does get the mind wondering … what happened? When (when he was with Albany?)? How old? Did word of something like this expedite his trade? etc.
Man, I’m glad it’s not involving a player with the big club, because that invites some kind of uncontrollable circus.
Lighthouse Hockey: Side effects may include Weight gain and frequent game loss.
Wow
Glad they arrested him. Hopefully justice will be served.
by Cal_IslandersFan on Nov 6, 2009 5:57 PM EST reply actions
There are a number of stories about this such s ConnPost TimesUnion and Newsday
Here is the main content of the Newsday blog entry for everyone who cannot read it:
…Saffan [Bridgeport Sound Tigers President] said the incident occurred last year while Hughes was playing for the AHL’s Albany River Rats and that the Islanders were unaware of the situation until Wednesday.
“This was an incident that occurred during his tenure in Albany and we had no information regarding this,” Saffan said. “We first learned of this when the U.S. Marshals showed up at our door.”
According to Saffan U.S. Marshals came to the rink before the Sound Tigers game against Adirondack Wednesday and escorted him out during the game. He appeared in court yesterday and was released shortly after being booked Thursday night. Hughes was being held on $100,000 bail and Saffan said he believed that family members posted bond for him. Hughes is apparently en route to a family member’s home in Albany until he can deal with this legal matter further.
Saffan, a lawyer by trade, said there was no backup documentation beyond the arrest warrant and that the case is sealed, thereby preventing them from gleaning any further information about the situation.
This is what Saffan had to say on Hughes’ behalf: “Bobby is an Islander. We stick by him. In this country you’re innocent until proven guilty and we stick by him as an Islander.”
The Islanders traded prospect Rob Hennigar in exchange for Hughes in August and had no knowledge that he had any legal matters pending.
I spoke with Albany River Rats president Garen Szablewski, who said their organization was also not privvy to this information. "No, not at all, " Szablewski said of his knowledge of the incident. “I did have a link forwarded to me today and I read a brief account, but no, none at all.”
Lets go Islanders...
Thanks TMC
Interesting stuff. I’m sure the River Rats didn’t know anything, but I do wonder if there were “whispers” about an incident/on-going situation like there sometimes are, which might have contributed to a trade. (To be fair, he profiled like a player who needed a change of scenery regardless.)
Lighthouse Hockey: Side effects may include Weight gain and frequent game loss.
I do wonder if there were "whispers" about an incident/on-going situation like there sometimes are, which might have contributed to a trade
Well then we both wondered the exact same thing.
Lets go Islanders...
by TheMetalChick on Nov 7, 2009 8:34 PM EST up reply actions
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1979-80
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May 24, 1980: Tonelli to Nystrom. At long last, the steady build of the New York Islanders from expansion doormat to surprise semifinalist to annual contender reaches the promised land: Buoyed by a late season trade for Butch Goring that gave the team the depth up the middle GM Bill Torrey had been seeking, the Islanders knock off the Philadelphia Flyers in six games.
The victory justified the faith in coach Al Arbour who guided them from their second season to their first Stanley Cup seven seasons later. The Islanders would not be the first expansion team to win the Stanley Cup, but they would be the only one capable of a dynasty.
1980-81
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May 21, 1981: This time it was much easier. After falling to "only" 91 points in the 1979-80 season, the Islanders returned to their division title tradition, piling up 110 points -- a whole 13 points over second-place Philadelphia.
Between the quarterfinals (where they beat the upstart Oilers in six games) and the finals, the Islanders reeled off eight consecutive wins -- with a four-game sweep of archrival Rangers in between. As they defeated the Minnesota North Stars in five games for their second Cup, their goal difference in the final was a combined +10.
1981-82
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May 16, 1982: Another year, another landslide title. The Islanders won the Patrick Division by a whopping 26 points over the second-place Rangers, and were seven points clear of their nearest competition for the President's Trophy, the still-not-quite-ripe Edmonton Oilers.
A first-round scare against the Pittsburgh Penguins turned in the Isles' favor thanks to John Tonelli's heroics, and a true dynasty was on its way: Past the Rangers in six games, then an eight-game sweep of the Quebec Nordiques and Vancouver Canucks to run away with the Stanley Cup.
1982-83
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May 17, 1983: Not so fast, whipper-snappers. The Edmonton Oilers' steadily rising challenge for league supremacy took them all the way to the finals for the first time, where the New York Islanders summarily dispatched them in a four-game sweep. For the Islanders, the Dynasty was secured. For the Oilers, it was a powerful lesson in where talent ends and the demands of playoff hockey begin.
Four years, four Cups, 16 consecutive playoff series wins (a record that would grow to 19 until the rematch with the Oilers the following year). Mike Bossy scored 60 goals yet again, and Wayne Gretzky became acquainted with Billy Smith's crease.
