The Washington Capitals have announced that assistant coach Mitch Love has been placed on “team-imposed leave” pending the results of an investigation conducted by the NHL. The Capitals added that they would refrain from commenting further on the situation until the league’s investigation is complete.
The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reported that the NHL “began to investigate” the matter earlier in the offseason, “around the time” Love was interviewing with other NHL clubs about available head coaching roles. Love was a reported contender for the Pittsburgh Penguins’ head coaching job, but the Capitals’ longtime rival ultimately elected to hire Dan Muse from the New York Rangers.
Bailey Johnson of The Washington Post provided additional context on the situation. Citing a person in the league familiar with the matter, Johnson reports that the league’s investigation began during this past summer, “when the NHL received a letter that contained allegations relating to Love’s personal conduct.” She added that both the league and a team that was at the time considering Love for its head coaching vacancy received the letter.
Johnson also reports that the NHL has not shared details on the situation with the Capitals “beyond the existence of the allegations and the subsequent investigation.” Love was also not present for the team’s development camp in July, and Johnson reports that he was instead “engaged in interviews with NHL personnel as part of the investigation.”
ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski reported that the letter that prompted the investigation details “a situation that predates his tenure with the Capitals,” while The Athletic’s Josh Yohe added that “NHL teams were aware of this possibility in April and May,” and that he believes it is a “good reason why” Love was not hired as a head coach anywhere despite being in the mix for so many of the vacancies.
Wasn’t he also supposedly offered the Seattle job but turned it down?
I remember reading that.
Didn’t he turn it down because they already picked one of his assistant coaches? Yeah, you know the one.
…and why did Pittsburgh go with Dan Muse instead?
He was runnner up on pretty much every head coach opportunity
While the reports of Love turning down the Seattle job were ridiculous at the time, it seems pretty obvious now folks were plenty willing to believe it nonetheless… and some still are.
Doesn’t he also sing lead for the Beach Boys?
Oh, Help me Rhonda!
No idea yet what he’s accused of, but I’ll take a guess guised in the form of generic life advice…
There’s a whole universe of women you can hit on without losing your job and a very small pool where you might. Choose wisely.