In something we missed yesterday, former Flyer (among other teams) Todd Fedoruk told TSN in Canada that substance abuse in the NHL isn’t a new problem, but sometimes people have your back. For example, Philly police:

“Like getting pulled over by the cops. You’re drunk, but they’re like, ‘You’re drunk, but get home, take care of yourself.’ For me it happened a few times. Driving around and you had a few drinks, and the cop could tell but he was a season ticket holder. So he’d follow you home. I guess it’s a good thing but it enables bad things down the road. I’m not saying it happened every night.

It depends on where you are. In Philly, there’s a history of (police) taking care of us.”

A PPD Lieutenant reached out to TSN to respond to Fedoruk’s statements:

“We typically don’t respond to the remarks of others; however, I will just say that the department would not condone any member giving someone ‘special treatment’ because of their career or personal status. The law is the law and our responsibility is to enforce it and uphold it, and if it is determined that an officer violated that oath, then he/she will be disciplined accordingly.”

A few things. 1. Do I doubt that this happened? Not at all. Hell, I know a story about a guy who was given that exact treatment by a cop who was a Penn State fan just because he was related to a former player. 2. Do I doubt that some Philadelphia Police show favoritism towards athletes and other people they like? No. 3. If Fedoruk’s example uses driving home drunk with a cop escorting them, he’s probably not specifically talking about the PPD, but a suburban (or even South Jersey) police department. Still not great, but slightly less bad.

Kyle: Um, pretty sure the Broad Street Bullies used local police as a personal valet service during the mid-70s. I’m just glad someone was keeping Clarkie safe. Otherwise, what would we have to cling on to for, what is it, 40 years now?