A pair of PHWA members slam Larry Brooks' DeAngelo story, proclaim that it shouldn't be promoted

Last week, Larry Brooks of the New York Post released an exclusive interview with polarizing New York Rangers defenseman Tony DeAngelo that attempted to paint DeAngelo in a different light than the character that we have all come to recognize as a bit of firestarter since his arrival in the NHL - and even prior.

As a member of the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA), Brooks should be a name that is trusted in the hockey community to provide fair and unbiased information to the readers he serves. Instead, according to fellow PHWA members Sean Shapiro and Mark Lazarus, what we got with Brooks' recent DeAngelo piece was a "one-sided attempt at image-rehabilitation".

The PHWA internal issue came about when the PHWA shared Brooks' DeAngelo story on its official Twitter page, prompting Shapiro, the Dallas chapter chair, to insert his opinion that the PHWA shouldn't be promoting the piece, as it does not seem to tell the whole story - instead, appealing to the human side of the NYP readers, almost begging readers to absolve DeAngelo of his previous transgressions and give him another shot to prove himself as, not only a quality hockey player, but a quality human-being as well. This despite his many questionable actions at both the OHL and NHL levels.

Chicago chapter chair, Mark Lazarus was in agreement with Shapiro, quote-tweeting out Shapiro's statement, and applying one of his own to the thread.

"I agree with Sean. That's not to say we shouldn't be promoting any stories about DeAngelo - far from it - but we should be highlighting the quality journalism our members produce, not one-sided attempts at image rehabilitation," wrote Lazarus.

"We hold others accountable, we should hold ourselves accountable, too," he following up with in a subsequent tweet.

Whichever side of the fence you are currently on regarding the whole DeAngelo ordeal, it's important not to ignore the facts. Tony DeAngelo is not a player who made one or two mistakes, learned from those experiences and moved on. This is a guy who, by almost all accounts, has been a disruptive presence to his team and has caused turmoil in just about every locker room he has been a part of. This is a guy who cleared waivers just one year after scoring 53 points in 68 games as a defenseman. 31 teams don't pass on you because you made a mistake. His reputation as a problem in the room and someone who is incapable of staying out of his own way is the reason for his current situation and Brooks chose to use his platform to paint a picture of a good guy who has been miscast as the antagonist. A pretty unfortunate situation all-around.

For more information on Brooks' original DeAngelo piece, click here to be redirected to my coverage of the story from last week.

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