I haven't yet tackled the trial of former NHL agent David Frost on this site, and that's been for a couple of reasons. Most of all, what I don't want to happen in this space is for anyone, no matter what your opinion of the parties involved, to be deemed guilty before their day in court.

That said, this case needs to be talked about more than it has been in hockey circles.

A lot of the revelations in the Napanee, Ont., courtroom the past few weeks have been downright disgusting. Tales of group sex with multiple males and one female, allegations that Frost — then the coach of a team of 16-year-olds — partook in the festivities, and an apparent acknowledgement that a lot of it is par for the course when it comes to junior hockey.

Closing arguments in the case were made on Monday, with a verdict set to come on Nov. 28, three weeks from Friday.

If you haven't been following along, here are a few items to get you there:

Christie Blatchford, The Globe and Mail [archives]
Steve Simmons, Toronto Sun [Nov. 4, 2008]
Sex, lies and hockey tape [The Globe and Mail]
Hockey's seamy side on display [National Post]
Frost trial raises issue of sexual behaviour [CP]
Macleans live blog by Charlie Gillis [Nov. 3, 2008]

If you don't have time to wade through all of that — and take the requisite shower afterwards — here are some Coles Notes.

• David Frost, the former agent of NHLer Mike Danton, is charged with four counts of sexual exploitation, allegations that stem from incidents that allegedly occurred 12 years ago in the hotel where the then-coach and a few of his players lived. Testifying for the Crown were two young women, 16 at the time of the group sex; testifying for the defence were Frost's former players, who denied anything untoward had happened involving the coach.
• As it pertains to the case, the alleged sexual exploitation was that which what was done to the players, not the young women, making it a difficult case for the prosecution given the victims' denials.
• The details are horrific. The women allege that their then-boyfriends asked them to engage in threesomes (and foursomes) with Frost, and that they relented in order to continue their relationships.
• The womens' names are all over the place in the news; the former players' names have been protected by a publication ban.

For all of the ugly testimony and sensational headlines, however, the case's outcome does not appear to be much of a mystery — at least according to journalists who attended the trial. Following Monday's closing arguments from Frost's defence lawyer, Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun wrote: "All that may be remaining — four weeks from now — are the likely acquittals."

Even so, it's hard not to see the case as symbolic of larger ills going on in the shady regions of the hockey world.

Here's Father Raymond J. De Souza in the National Post:

Whether or not the judge decides the Crown has proven guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, it is not reasonably in doubt that the Frost case has shone a light into the dark corners of our national game. At the trial, most observers simply wished to avert their eyes. For the sake of junior hockey, we shouldn't.

This summer, I read Laura Robinson's book Crossing The Line, the only piece of literature I've seen that tackles the subject of "violence and sexual assault in Canada's national sport." In it, she provides a long list of cases involving hazing, exploitation and abuse in hockey, and it's, frankly, not an easy read.

Robinson was quoted in a story by The Canadian Press yesterday on the issue of group sex:

"I don't want to paint all the players with the same brush, but I do think there's a culture, and a very powerful culture in junior hockey and it probably exists in other sports.

"It is about watching one another. It's all about showing the other guys in the room that they're a guy."

What it is is a sickness.

Hockey in this country unfortunately places kids in vulnerable positions, away from their families at 15 or 16 and often without true guidance or boundaries other than those instilled on the ice. It's a system that, while improving, has a long ways to go — especially at levels below major junior hockey, further from the spotlight.

There are far more incidents than we ever hear of because players simply won't talk. Being exploited, and used, doesn't show "that they're a guy."

It ruins them.

Frost may not be guilty of anything illegal, but he almost certainly should never have been the guardian and coach of teenagers living away from home. My biggest fear is that this is just the tip of the iceberg — and that there will be more Mike Dantons down the line.