Georges Laraque apologizes for false Taylor Hall 'rehab' rumour
There’s an old rule in journalism that says you should generally use multiple reliable sources when trying to confirm a rumour.
But you don’t need to be a journalist to know that you shouldn’t go on the radio and spread rumours about someone without confirming with multiple people that what you’re reporting is the unequivocal truth.
Georges Laraque didn’t do that, and boy is it looking bad for the former NHL tough guy.
Over the weekend, Laraque dropped a bombshell about Taylor Hall’s exit from Edmonton during his appearance on CHOI 98, 1 Radio X in Quebec City.
Via RadioEgo, translated to English:
“Taylor Hall had issues outside the ice and went to rehab that summer,” Laraque said. “When he went to rehab, it became known throughout the NHL, so when they tried to trade him, it was because of that … it’s a bit like the Kassian case, when you trade a guy and the league knows the whole story, obviously the guy’s value is lower.”
As it turns out, the revelation was completely bogus and Laraque issued an apology about his slanderous comments on Monday.
In a french radio interview, I mentioned that years ago Taylor Hall had to go through rehab, info I got from an NHL hockey agent. After further verifications I can say that this information was 100% wrong, I was wrong and apologize to Taylor for the mistake.
— Georges Laraque (@GeorgesLaraque) March 26, 2018
Yikes. This is not the kind of information you want to mishandle, but that’s always a risk when your only source is an anonymous NHL agent. It’s also not surprising it came out on this particular station — the same place where the debunked Carey Price divorce rumour started in November.
Two years after being acquired by the Devils for Adam Larsson in the Great Heist of 2016, Hall has put together a career season with 33 goals and 82 points while dragging New Jersey to the precipice of the playoffs.
