Kyle Davidson was upset.

That much was clear.

The general manager of the Chicago Blackhawks stood at the podium last Tuesday to announce the organization had placed right winger Corey Perry on waivers and would terminate his contract if-and-when the veteran cleared Wednesday. 

Perry, according to a statement released by the team, engaged in unacceptable conduct “intended to promote professional and safe work environments,” violating both organizational protocols and his NHL Standard Player Contract.

Neither the team nor Davidson would provide clarity on Perry’s actions, other than to say they were not criminal.

However, the executive did take a moment to debunk a scurrilous rumor about Perry that was birthed on social media platforms Monday and by Tuesday had become a distasteful punchline.

“I do want to be very clear on this point,” Davidson said. “This does not involve any players or their families and anything that suggests otherwise–or anyone that suggests otherwise–is wildly inaccurate and frankly it’s disgusting.”  

That Davidson was compelled to publicly address hearsay is a travesty and, more broadly, a condemnation of social media platforms and a significant percentage of its users writ large.

Rumors and rumor mongers have always existed. Regardless of the time, regardless of the industry, there have been people who have trafficked in half-truths or lies. 

Their reasons are their own. It could be for profit, for fame, for amusement. 

And in this case, the author was able to create a news cycle that lasted for a day. Even though there were people who said what was written was a lie.

The Chicago Tribune’s Blackhawks beat writer Phillip Thompson tweeted that organizational sources told him the rumor is “100% false.”

Thompson’s post echoed NBC Sports Chicago Blackhawks beat reporter Charlie Roumeliotis’ tweet. Roumeliotis wrote the “Corey Perry rumor that’s going around is 100% false.”

Frank Seravalli, on the Daily Faceoff Live, went further than Thompson and Roumeliotis.

“Look I don’t swear often on this show,” Seravalli said. “But I want to let you know that the stuff that’s been floating around about Corey Perry and one of his teammate’s mothers is f–king bulls–t. And I think that it’s ridiculous that it’s something that’s perpetuated on social media. It’s so far from the truth and so unfair. It’s so weird that people think there’s some cover up or conspiracy here that this is the real story and we’re just not talking about it because it’s salacious or something like that.”

Seravalli is right. 

In this particular instance, the rumor monger never considered how their fiction would negatively affect Perry, his family, his teammate, his teammate’s family, and the organization as a whole. Very real damage to reputations were done, and the vandalism may very well be irreparable.    

Especially in a social media age. 

In this particular instance, the rumor was posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. And it spread so far and so quickly that legitimate journalists and Davidson, a National Hockey League team’s hockey operations executive, were forced to say it was a lie. 

Of course, as Seravalli pointed out, there is a not-insignificant percentage of the public who will believe the organization is engaged in a cover up or there is a larger conspiracy at play.

And, to be fair, there is reason to look askew at the Blackhawks, as it was revealed during the 2021-22 that the organization ignored Kyle Beach’s sexual assault complaints against former video coach Brad Aldrich during the team’s run to the 2010 Stanley Cup. An investigation and subsequent report by the law firm of Jenner & Block revealed that high-ranking members of the organization decided to wait until the end of the playoffs to address the allegations during a meeting. 

As a result, then-GM Stan Bowman and then-Florida head coach Joel Quenneville–who served in those roles with Chicago in 2010–resigned their jobs.     

In the aftermath of the report, those in positions of responsibility within the organization have talked openly about being more open, more transparent, and being more conscientious about employee claims.

“I think more than anything, it reinforced the resolve we have to change the culture and make sure we’re doing the right things and upholding our values and making sure that we continue to build a culture of accountability,” said Davidson, who believed Chicago’s newly implemented misconduct reporting system played a role in the organization’s investigation into the incident and the decision to terminate Perry’s contract. 

Still, because Davidson was unwilling and/or unable to go into details about Perry’s transgressions, it is a guarantee that there are people who will create phony scenarios and subsequently share their narrative on unregulated social media platforms.  

Facts be damned.

Which, like Davidson at the podium Tuesday afternoon, is upsetting.