The Vancouver Canucks have been known to do different things with their off-ice training. They’ve hired a sleep doctor and even built a “mind room” for the players. One of those different techniques was hiring a sports psychologist so it figures that that’s found a way to backfire on them.
As The Canadian Press reports, former AC Milan sports psychologist Bruno Demichelis is suing Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini for wrongful dismissal and breach of contract.
Demichelis says the contract the two sides agreed on paid him a $400,000 signing bonus with $700,000 in salary for a time between July 2012 and June 2014. The Canucks claimed they informed him during the lockout that they were letting him go on January 31, 2013. Hey, times were tough and you have to cut costs somewhere, right?
This story isn’t without its funny coincidence though. Demichelis says in his suit against the team that his firing caused him mental distress. A sports psychologist being harmed mentally by a team has a total “meta” feel about it.
If this does go all the way to court I wonder if Keith Ballard winds up being a key witness thanks to how mentally tough he’s been in handling his trips in and out of coach Alain Vigneault’s doghouse.