Chicago Black Hawks Sexual Abuse Scandal

[jerrym]

Chicago Black Hawks GM and former coach resigned after sexual abuse case involving a Black Hawks player was revealed.

Fallout from the Chicago Blackhawks' sexual abuse scandal has only grown since the team's 107-page investigation report released Tuesday, most recently with Florida Panthers coach Joel Quenneville resigning after a Thursday meeting with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. Quenneville -- who coached Chicago to three Stanley Cup championships over 11 seasons -- and five other Blackhawks senior staffers failed to take immediate action against a former video coach who sexually assaulted a player in 2010, according to the report. Former first-round pick Kyle Beach came forward as the victim on Wednesday.

Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman and senior senior director of hockey administration Al MacIsaac stepped down two days before Quenneville, and Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff -- Chicago's assistant general manager in 2010 -- is expected to meet with Bettman on Monday. The NHL finedthe Blackhawks $2 million for their mishandling of the allegations. Here's a chronological look at the case and what to expect next.


May 8-9, 2010 -- The assault on Beach Former Blackhawks center Kyle Beach and video coach Brad Aldrich engaged in a sexual encounter during the team's Western Conference finals series against the San Jose Sharks. Aldrich told investigators the encounter was consensual, but Beach said it was "entirely non-consensual." According to the report, Aldrich told Beach he would never play in the NHL or walk again if he didn't "act like he enjoyed the sexual encounter." Aldrich then forced himself upon Beach.

https://www.cbssports.com/nhl/news/b...-need-to-know/

[jerrym]

Captain Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane's defence of GM Stan Bowman is indefensible. Toews and Kane If management had acted others would likely have been spared being sexual abuse. A woman in the front office and later a sixteen year old underwent abuse because nothing was done about the sexual abuser except release him at the end of the season. This doesn't get better for the abused when it is ignored.

Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews and star Patrick Kane spoke on Wednesday night after their loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs about former teammate Kyle Beach’s interview coming forward about his sexual assault allegations against the team’s former video coordinator. Toews and Kane, who were on the Blackhawks in 2010 when Beach said he was sexually assaulted by Brad Aldrich, both expressed remorse for the situation but declined knowing any specific details of what happened at the time. The two, though, still defended former general manager Stan Bowman and executive Al MacIsaac — both of whom were ousted in the wake of the investigation on Tuesday.

Within the investigation findings, there were descriptions of Blackhawks teammates calling Beach homophobic slurs during practice while harassing him on the topic. In Wednesday's interview with TSN’s Rick Westhead, Beach also made it known that everyone on the team was aware of the assault.


Toews also joins Kane in saying that he did not know during the 2010 playoffs, but found out months later, after Aldrich was allowed to resign. “I don’t wish to exonerate myself in this situation in any way by saying I didn’t know,” Toews said, via the Chicago Tribune. “But the truth is that I had not heard about it until training camp the next year. ... Doesn’t change what happened. It doesn’t take that away. ... We wish we could’ve done something differently, myself included. My heart goes out to Kyle for what he dealt with. I wish I could’ve done something. It’s obviously not an excuse looking back, but the truth is a lot of us were just focused on playing hockey and doing what we were doing every single day. If you do hear rumors, (it’s) in the back of your mind.

https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/nhl-blackhawks-toews-kane-defend-ousted-gm-stan-bowman-amid-sexual-abuse-scandal-duncan-keith-speaks-182149050.html

[jerrym]

Here are the details of what happened during the sexual abuse case.

May 23, 2010
Al MacIsaac, senior director of hockey administration, is informed by an employee that "there may have been a sexual encounter involving Aldrich and John Doe." MacIsaac tells Gary to speak with John Doe who provided limited details which included that Aldrich was pressuring the young prospect to have sex with him or his career would be harmed.

Sometime between May 12-19, John Doe told a fellow "Black Ace" (Black Ace 1) that "Aldrich tried to touch him." When contacted for the investigation, he did not recall the conversation but did remember John Doe speaking with Gary about it.

Later in the day, the Blackhawks eliminated the Sharks from the playoffs in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals. One hour after, a meeting took place with the following senior managers:

• President John McDonough
• Senior director of hockey administration Al MacIsaac
• General Manager Stan Bowman
• Executive Vice President Jay Blunk
• Assistant General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff
• Head coach Joel Quenneville
• Mental skills coach and team counselor Jim Gary

Per the report, all men recall being told there was an incident. Gary remembers stating Aldrich was threatening John Doe's career but none recalled being told the exact nature of what occurred. Others in the meeting recall Gary stating Aldrich tried to "get under the sheets" with John Doe.

From the report, it seemed there was more concern for the on-ice product than what occurred off the ice:

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nhl/...w1ssgggrch4x1g

[jerrym]

However, the NHL says assistant GM Kevin Cheveldayoff, now with Winnipeg, won't be fired.

The National Hockey League said Friday that Winnipeg Jets General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff was not responsible for improper decisions made by the Chicago Blackhawks and will not be disciplined as a result of the sexual assault investigation involving a former assistant coach.

The news comes after a meeting between Cheveldayoff and Commissioner Gary Bettman.

“While on some level, it would be easiest to paint everyone with any association to this terrible matter with the same broad brush, I believe that fundamental fairness requires a more in-depth analysis of the role of each person,” said Bettman said in a news release.

https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/nhl-says...tion-1.5643955

[Will]

I watched the interview with Beach. Very brave for him to come forward and I cannot imagine what he has gone through over the past decade.

Shaking my head at the Blackhawks franchise.

[AngeloV]

I watched the interview with Beach. Very brave for him to come forward and I cannot imagine what he has gone through over the past decade.

Shaking my head at the Blackhawks franchise.

That interview really had me tearing up. As you said very brave, and it's a damn shame it was lingering for so many years. The team, PA and league need to be ashamed of themselves, and not enough heads have rolled IMO.

[jerrym]

IMO Assistant GM Kevin Cheveldayoff should have been fired too. People in positions of authority are supposed to report abuse cases.

[tylertom]

... not good

[jerrym]

A sad commentary on what far too often happens when organizations pay for "independent" investigations into their own actions: the National Hockey League's Players Association's (NHLPA) "independent" investigation concludes that NHLPA "executive director Don Fehr and others were not responsible for wrongdoing when they failed to act on a report that a Chicago player had been sexually assaulted by a staff member in 2010". Teachers and other professionals can be fired and even prosecuted for failing to report abuse. The NHLPA and its executives are paid to protect NHL players. It also was no accident that the report on the findings was released late on Good Friday. Bad news for organizations is typically released late on Friday in the hopes that it won't get much coverage on the weekend and die by Monday. The fact it was released on Easter weekend, when news rooms are even down to smaller than the usual weekend numbers (and for which the only time news coverage is weaker is Christmas), and isn't back in full gear until Tuesday shows how much they want this story to quietly disappear. Too bad for Kyle Beach, but not only for him, but all other sexually, physically or mentally abused athletes in any sport, because the message is keep your damn mouth shut, we aren't doing anything about it.

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl...ault-1.6421494

[Foxhound]

I've always maintained that sexually abusing players is a truly reprehensible personal habit and should be strongly discouraged.