NHL: Why Calling out Teammates in the Press Is Never Acceptable

It's one of those unwritten codes of players. You don't call out your own teammates to the media.

It creates dissension in the locker room and can potentially make a team come apart at the seams.

In other sports, this happens a decent amount. Receivers complain about how the quarterback isn't getting them the ball.

Same with certain players in basketball.

In the NHL, players very rarely call out his teammates to the press, and here's why.

Creates Trust Issues

Hockey is a game that involves knowing that your teammates are going to have your back without question, otherwise trust issues are created.

Without trust, a team can have a serious issue creating chemistry and getting to the next level.

If a guy in the locker room is publicly calling out his teammates to the media that violates the trust needed to be a team.

That's not watching your teammate's back, it's stabbing them in the back.

Problems Are Handled Within the Team

No, not the same way that Peyton Manning and Jim Irsay are solving things within the organization. Hockey players are much better at keeping things in the locker room.

If things need to be said, teams close the doors to say what needs to be said before they let the reporters in.

Hockey players are some of the only professional athletes that actually do a good job at keeping team drama out of the media.

It Can Be a Ticket Right out of Town

"I can't accept that we will display a losing attitude as we're doing this year. We prepare for our games like losers. We play like losers. So it's no wonder why we lose."

That's Mike Cammalleri just days before he was sent out of Montreal for letting his frustrations out as the team struggled.

It's possible that he was saying these things to try and light a fire under his teammates, but this can also be perceived as giving up on your team.

How are your teammates supposed to respect you and your leadership if you just called them a bunch of losers?

Teams Win Together and Struggle Together

Hockey is the ultimate team sport and requires that everybody is doing their job for a team to have long-lasting success.

The opposite is true if a team is having long-lasting struggles.

Rarely is it ever just one person that is causing the team to have struggles, so for one player to call out another is foolish.

Teams win together and teams lose together. Players calling out other players is a sign of desperation and a team that will just continue to struggle.

It's Selfish

As I just mentioned, teams go through highs and lows together.

For a player to single out anybody else in the locker room during one of the down times is incredibly selfish for a player to do.

You think that you're the only one frustrated with what is happening right now? Please, the NHL is a competitive league filled with a bunch of competitive guys that all want to win.

If a player is calling somebody else out he's making a statement that he is more frustrated than anybody else in the locker room and, what is actually worse, singling himself out as one of the players doing his job better than the rest.

Don't be that guy.