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This summer we told you about Flyers prospect Nick Cousins and a few of his Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds teammates who were charged with sexual assault for having sex with a woman, known to the players, against her will. Some call that rape. Court proceedings are still pending, while Cousins plays in the OHL.

Cousins frequently meets with Flyers director of development Ian Laperriere, who recently had this to say when talking about the Flyers 2011 draft pick’s situation to the Daily News' Frank Seravalli, who sort of glossed over the whole rape thing in his article: [Philly.com]

The embarrassing situation gave Cousins, the Greyhounds and the Flyers a collective black eye. It's an image that he's still trying to shed.

"At the pro level, teams expect you to be an adult and act like one," Laperriere said. "He's got a good heart . . . Let's be honest, stuff like that has been happening forever. You can't get away with anything now. He can't put himself in those situations.

"He's been in trouble with this stuff, but hopefully that's all going to go away. Part of my job is telling him that he needs to learn from that. You need to be careful what you're doing. All of our prospects need to learn from his situation."

 

Stuff like this has been happening forever, you can’t get away with anything now is a line that should be reserved for staying out too late at a popular bar or tweeting dick pics, not for allegedly raping a girl. 

Lappy has said or done exactly nothing wrong since joining the Flyers. His gutsy play with serious facial injuries in 2010 endeared him to fans for pretty much the rest of time. And while we get that sometimes things "come out the wrong way," brushing off a sexual assault charge as something that has been happening forever makes you wonder just what Lappy and his friends were doing as they came up through the ranks. 

Of course, the fact that the sexual assault charge is an aside in a lengthy, mostly sunshiny piece about Cousins, gives you the sense that some beat reporters are a bit too close, and a bit too willing, to trumpet team gospel. 


Speaking of… chances that CSN touches this story? Zero to none.

H/T to Jason