Dismissed from the New Hampshire hockey team recently, senior goaltender Casey DeSmith recently spoke to the Concord Monitor about his dismissal from the team and the events that led to the unfortunate situation.
In August, DeSmith was arrested after a domestic dispute. He was suspended from the team and then dismissed in November.
“I always dreamed of playing for the Wildcats,” DeSmith told the Monitor. “And I will always be grateful for the opportunity that I had to play for the team, and for the support I received from the fans. But I am very upset with the way my UNH career was ended, and with the way I was represented in the press. The damage to my education and to my hockey career that has resulted from the accusation made against me and the manner in which it was reported is immeasurable.”
DeSmith said be believed that both police and the media tabbed him as guilty right from the start.
“Once the accusation was made against me, the school had no choice but to fully investigate it,” DeSmith said in the article.
DeSmith admitted that he had overindulged in alcohol on the night in question and even issued apologies within hours of the incident to police, the school and his coaches and teammates. The victim in the case was reportedly an ex-girlfriend of DeSmith.
“It would have been my preference just to put this whole episode behind me and move on,” DeSmith said to the paper. “But the ongoing misrepresentations of the facts in the media have convinced me that I need to stand up for myself and attempt to set the record straight.”
DeSmith said he isn’t sure if he’ll stay at UNH or transfer. He also may try his hand at pro hockey.
“I have learned many valuable lessons from this ordeal that will help me the rest of my life, including the very real dangers of alcohol,” DeSmith said in the report. “But I also believe that the media has a responsibility to seek and print the truth, and to better protect the rights of someone who stands accused in situations like this.
“I am determined not to be bitter about this and am very much looking forward to the next chapter in my life. I know that I am a good person, a person of good character, both ethically and morally. And I am hopeful that the next school or hockey team that I am fortunate enough to be a part of will see that the Casey DeSmith they’ve been reading about in the press bears no resemblance whatsoever to the real me.”
