Aftermath of Sexual Assault Report on Chicago Blackhawks

By Maeve Hushman, Staff Writer

It has been over two months since the Jenner and Block report revealed that Chicago Blackhawks had covered up the sexual assault of a player, now identified as Kyle Beach, by former video coach Brad Aldrich. I first wrote an article about the issue after the report first came out. Since that article there has been a lot of momentum, some good and some bad when it comes to holding those responsible for the cover-up accountable. So here is an update on where things stand after the Jenner and Block report and brave testimony of Kyle Beach and John Doe 2. 

Personnel: 

Joel Quenneville, the former Blackhawks head coach, was allowed to resign from his position as head coach of the Florida Panthers. He did so after a meeting with NHL Commissioner, Gary Bettman. The meeting concluded that should Quenneville want to work in the NHL again, he would have to meet with Bettman before taking the job. It seems unlikely that he will work in the NHL again for a while. 

Kevin Cheveldayoff, the former assistant General Manager of the Blackhawks, met with Bettman and was allowed to remain at his post as General Manager of the Winnipeg Jets and faced absolutely no punishment for his role in the cover-up.  Bettman justified this action by stating that Cheveldayoff’s involvement was minimal, despite being named in the report. It was determined that because of Cheveldayoff’s position, his level of knowledge and agency was diminished. It seems almost preposterous that the league would not punish a top executive who was indicated to be at the meeting when the cover-up was decided on. That was Commissioner Bettman’s decision, but whether it was a good decision or not is up for debate.  

Jonathan Toews, captain of the Blackhawks back in 2010 and currently despite his failure as a leader and as a captain. He still wears the C and even though his second statement to the media was better than the first, he lied about knowing about what happened to Kyle Beach and allowed homophobic abuse to occur within his locker room. Like Cheveldayoff, Toews escaped accountability for his role in this entire cover up. 

The NHL’s response: 

The NHL had a tumultuous press conference to address the report. It started off right with Bettman apologizing to Beach for the horrific ordeal he went through. Bettman reportedly met with Beach to discuss how the NHL can protect players in the future. They failed to call on reporter Rick Westhead, the reporter who first broke the story, for most of the Zoom press conference. It actually took another reporter, Pierre Lebrun, to point out that Westhead had not been called on for Commissioner Bettman to call on him. Westhead’s question was very pertinent. He asked if the NHL would offer counseling and other services to John Doe 2, a former Michigan high school hockey player who was assaulted by Aldrich too. Aldrich was able to obtain his subsequent jobs at University of Miami in Ohio and Houghton High School because the Blackhawks failed to report Aldrich to the proper authorities, investigate him, or even mention the allegations in any of the reports on him. Bettman’s answer left much to be desired as he failed to give a clear yes or no, saying he needs “more information before committing” even though the Jenner and Block report is plenty information.  Bettman said later that the NHL would not support John Doe 2 who was traumatized as a result of bad actors from within the league. 

John Doe 2’s mother spoke out publicly in an interview with Westhead and said how the NHL’s dismissal of her son’s trauma has negatively impacted him. It is important to remember that the NHL and Blackhawks organization failed John Doe 2 as well as Beach and should take responsibility for what happened to both of them at the hands of a man they not only employed but protected. 

The Chicago Blackhawks Organization and Lawsuit: 

The Chicago Blackhawks organization tried to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Beach after promising in their earlier press conference to settle. They said that the case was past the statute of limitations and challenged Beach’s reports of repressed memories. It is very common for survivors of traumatic events, including sexual assault, to repress the memories in order to cope and attempt to move forward with their lives. Considering that Beach was told by team and league officials that assault was his fault or that he was lying about the assault as well as being bullied by his own teammates, it makes sense that he would repress the traumatic memory of what Aldrich did to him. However, the Blackhawks failed to get the lawsuit dismissed and reached a confidential settlement with Beach. The lawyer for both Beach and John Doe 2 now plans to go forward with the John Doe 2 lawsuit. Since Beach received a settlement, which means the Blackhawks acknowledge wrongdoing, she is hopeful that John Doe 2’s lawsuit will also be settled. 

There is still a lot of headway that is needed for justice to be properly served to the victims of Brad Aldrich and the Chicago Blackhawks, but is the NHL capable of that? Under Commissioner Bettman it doesn’t look like that will happen. Cheveldayoff is still employed, Toews remains captain of the Blackhawks, and the NHL has abandoned John Doe 2. There has also not been much made public about how to prevent another situation like what happened to Beach and John Doe 2. Hockey culture claims to be virtuous. It’s all about working hard, earning your stripes, and caring about the team; but what it has been revealed to be is all about winning even if it means sacrificing your morals and principles to do it. Where was the team for Beach? What is the NHL “family” doing to help John Doe 2? The stories of Kyle Beach and John Doe 2 are more than just an indictment of the NHL, they are an indictment of hockey culture itself.

Investigation Reveals Blackhawks Covered Up Sexual Assault

By: Maeve Hushman, Staff Writer

*Content warning: this article discusses sexual assault and homophobic harassment*

In May 2021, former Chicago Blackhawks player, Kyle Beach, filed a lawsuit against the Blackhawks organization over the alleged mishandling of his sexual assault at the hands of Brad Aldrich, a former Blackhawks video coach. The lawsuit claims that the Blackhawks knew about Aldrich’s predatory behavior but failed to investigate, report, or take punitive action. The Blackhawks hired law firm Jenner and Block to open an independent investigation into those allegations. The report that resulted from the investigation was made public on October 26th. The investigation and subsequent report confirmed the allegations made by Beach. Aldrich sexually assaulted Beach (Beach recently identified himself, but is known as John Doe in the report) and when the team leadership was made aware, they chose to forgo any punitive actions, allowing Aldrich to resign and move on from the Blackhawks without a fuss.

The investigation was independent and included the interviews of 139 individuals including staff and players. The Jenner and Block investigation report is 107 pages long, which I read in its entirety and it is horrifying. It is very graphic and the occurrences it reveals are disgusting. It includes more allegations against Aldrich (specifically from another Black Ace player known as Black Ace 1) and more accounts of employees reporting Aldrich’s behavior to higher ups to no avail. I encourage everyone who cares even the slightest bit about hockey to watch the interview of Beach with Rick Westhead of TSN and at least try to read the report (trigger warning for graphic descriptions of sexual assault). If you can’t read the report then take the time to watch the initial Blackhawks press conference where the findings are revealed. 

The report states that, “Later on May 23, within an hour after the Blackhawks won the playoff game that secured their place in the Stanley Cup Finals, five members of senior management (then-President John McDonough, MacIsaac, General Manager Stan Bowman, then-Executive Vice President Jay Blunk, and then-Assistant General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff), along with then-Head Coach Joel Quenneville, and Gary, met to discuss what had been learned about Aldrich and John Doe.” All of these power brokers on the Blackhawks were informed of the situation, but no action was taken because the team had just made the finals: “Bowman recalled that during the meeting, McDonough and Quenneville made comments about the challenge of getting to the Stanley Cup Finals and a desire to focus on the team and the playoffs.” The priority of the Blackhawks wasn’t the safety of their players, justice, or accountability, but winning. They violated their own corporate sexual assault policy, the report states, which dictates that reports of sexual harassment/ assault should be investigated “promptly and thoroughly”. McDonough and the members of the Blackhawks front office/coaching staff failed to initiate an investigation or even contact Human resources until June 14. 

During that time, Aldrich, while at a Stanley cup celebration party, sexually assaulted a 22-year-old NHL intern. Eventually Aldrich was confronted and instead of facing an investigation he resigned, keeping his Stanley Cup ring, Stanley Cup day, and cup bonus, as well as allowing him to get a new job outside the Blackhawks. The Blackhawks never reported the assault to police and never investigated his actions. Aldrich went on to coach both at Miami University in Ohio and Houghton High School in Michigan. While coaching at Houghton High School, he sexually assaulted a student. In 2013, he was finally arrested and pleaded guilty to fourth degree criminal sexual conduct involving a minor. That student has also filed a lawsuit alleging that the Blackhawks provided a letter of recommendation to Aldrich which allowed him to get both jobs at Miami University and Houghton High School all while knowing that Aldrich had a pattern of predatory and illegal behavior. 

After the assault, Kyle Beach became the victim of homophobic slurs and bullying by other players on the Chicago Blackhawks.  Beach told TSN reporter Rick Westhead that, “everyone in the locker room knew about it.” That indicates that members of that 2010 Blackhawks team were fully aware of the assault but did not report it. This also serves as an indictment of former leadership paragon, longtime Hawks captain, Jonathan Toews. How can anyone claim that Toews is a good leader when he actively allowed the homophobic harassment of a victim of sexual assault? The statements both Patrick Kane (another 2010 Hawk) and Toews gave were horrible to say the least. They took no accountability and directly called complicit parties “good people”. For all hockey claims to be about the team, Toews certainly didn’t care about Beach, a very young teammate, nor did the rest of the room. Toews is a bad leader and captain; he does not deserve the C on his sweater and should be stripped of his captaincy immediately. Toews, Ducan Keith and Kane (current players that were part of that 2010 team) have to answer for not only their lies but for how they allowed the abuse to occur in their own locker room. The same goes for members of that 2010 team who continue to work in hockey in some capacity. The executives and players knew, both should be held accountable for their inaction and complicity. 

Stan Bowman and every member of the 2010 Chicago Blackhawks management still with the team have stepped down or been fired.  Bowman also stepped down from his role as GM of the US Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey team. The Blackhawks were fined $2 million by the NHL for "the organization's inadequate internal procedures and insufficient and untimely response in the handling of matters related to former video coach Brad Aldrich's employment with the Club and ultimate departure in 2010," (it should be noted that the Devils received a $3 million fine for salary cap circumvention in 2014). However, Joel Quenneville and Kevin Cheveldayoff are both still employed outside of the Blackhawks. Quenneville coaches the currently undefeated (as of 10/28) Florida Panthers and Cheveldayoff remains the General Manager of the Winnipeg Jets. Both men claimed not to know about the assault until this summer when the media reported about it. But the Jenner and Block report confirmed that Quenneville and Cheveldayoff were both very aware of Aldrich’s assault on Beach in 2010.So both men lied, they knew about the allegations and failed to take action. 

The Jenner and Block report is even more damning of Quenneville. It alleges that concerns put forth by Quenneville about disrupting team chemistry ahead of the cup final contributed to the Blackhawks lack of action on Aldrich. The report states that, “Bowman recalled that, after learning of the incident, Quenneville shook his head and said that it was hard for the team to get to where they were, and they could not deal with this issue now.” In the meeting, then Team President McDonough recalled that Quenneville seemed “agitated”. So, not only did Quenneville lie about knowing about the assault of Beach but he might have actively encouraged the team to forgo punitive action. Aldrich was a member of Quenneville’s coaching staff, meaning he directly reported to Quenneville. Quenneville also wrote a positive performance review of Aldrich allegedly on June 29th 2010 (I use the word allegedly since he never signed the performance review). Quenneville in that review, written after Aldrich resigned and the assault was made known to Quenneville, writes of Aldrich, “Aldrich did a great job for the Coaching staff in preparing us for all of our meetings and coordinating several tasks that we forward his way. Brad has several people relying on him at the same moment and has a way of deflecting and accommodating everyone at once… Congrats on winning the Stanley Cup!”  He failed to mention Aldrich’s sexual assault of Beach or even hint at his other inappropriate behaviors toward players/employees all of which were known to Quenneville and the organization at the time.  

Gary Bettman, the NHL commissioner, says he plans to meet with Quenneville and Cheveldayoff to determine their punishments soon. These actions should cost both Quenneville and Cheveldayoff their jobs. Everyone involved in this situation should never be allowed to work in the NHL or hockey ever again. The game should have no place for coaches and management who care about wins over people. Giving justice to a victim of sexual assault was less important to them than the cup. That mindset should have no place in the NHL or in the sport of hockey all together. In a culture that has already proven to care more about winning than people, will Quenneville, who is currently coaching an undefeated team, actually be fired and face consequences for his actions? That remains to be seen. I will say this, if  Quenneville and Cheveldayoff are actually decent people and are truly remorseful for their actions, they will step down regardless. If both men stay working in their current positions, or even continue to work in hockey at all, it will be an indictment of the NHL, hockey culture, and their character. 

Earlier I wrote about the Blackhawks playing against the Avalanche in the Avalanche’s home opener. I failed to mention these allegations in that article. At the time it seemed like a very big bomb to drop in the middle of a somewhat less serious piece focused around the Avalanche’s play. I recognize that I was wrong not to bring it up. The Blackhawks organization and those in positions of power during Beach’s assault should have this haunt them. Toews, Quenneville, Cheveldayoff, Bowman, and more should have to answer for this and until they do, every time the Blackhawks or any of those men are discussed, this report should be too. 

Kyle Beach was incredibly brave coming forward to share his story and to make these events known. His courage as well as the tireless work of journalists Katie Strang and Rick Westhead who have been covering this story from the beginning should be admired. Beach plays in Germany now, and says that now that the world knows he is telling the truth he can begin the healing process. He has been met with tremendous support, as he should be. We must always realize that hockey, while amazing, is only a sport and that a person’s life is worth more than a silver cup. Above all, believe and support survivors. 

Let’s Do That Hockey: Avalanche kick off season with decisive win over Chicago

By: Maeve Hushman, Staff Writer

The NHL is finally back! And with it the Colorado Avalanche. Once again the Stanley Cup favorites, the Avalanche, took on divisional opponent the Chicago Blackhawks for their season opener. There were some notable absences for the Avalanche in this game: the coach Jared Bednar and star center Nathan MacKinnon both tested positive for COVID and were put on the COVID protocol list causing them to miss this game. So to set the mood for the season, for the first time since 2020, the season opener had fans in attendance and we are all prepared for the return of the 82 game schedule.  After writing a critical article on and attending the preeminent preseason game of the Avalanche, I was excited to sit down and take a look at how the team set the tone for the season. The season opener is a great way to impress and establish your identity right out of the gate. 

The Avalanche played a dominant game starting with an absolutely amazing first period. Jack Johnson, Gabriel Landeskog, and Bowen Byram all scored. Jack Johnson had an absolute beauty of a breakaway goal which really showed why the Avs decided to sign him despite skepticism from some (including me). Landeskog had a good deflection, a product of a good front of the net presence. Bowen Byram scored his first ever NHL goal. The Avalanche looked so dominant in the first, it looked almost merciless at some points; they outshot the Hawks 18-8 in that period. The score at the end of the first was already 3-1. The Avalanche would widen the lead in the second. Despite some decent chances by the Hawks in the second and third, they never really looked threatening. The Hawks struggled to solve Darcy Kuemper and the Avalanche’s defense, as well as gain sustained offensive zone time. The final score was 4-2 and the final shot count was 36-34 in favor of the Avalanche. 

The Avalanche won decisively and watching them play this game with their final roster really eased some of the concerns I had coming out of the preseason game. For one, their defense with the almost complete core of Girard, Makar, Erik Johnson “EJ”, and Byram, looked so much better. There was disruption of the other team’s opportunities and passes, as well as effective zone clearing keeping the Hawks mostly in the defensive zone and not allowing them to get sizable offensive pressure. Seeing that D core almost all together (Devon Toews is still out with injury) was really soothing and reassuring. The Avalanche’s top pairings are solid and will not only be defensively responsible but will also generate offense. Jack Johnson even looked good tonight. I was a bit harsh on him in the past, however I think he did a good job; he really proved why the Avalanche signed him to his one year deal. Despite his good showing though, his position on the penalty kill still baffles me when there are definitely no shortage of better options. 

The Avalanche remedied any of their passing issues from the preseason as well. Their passes were sharp, crisp, and connected, instead of that preseason showing where passes were dropped or didn’t connect. They were able to maintain puck possession and look absolutely lethal while doing it. 

The goal tending was also great. Darcy Kuemper was there to stop any kind of defensive mistake from becoming a goal. It was what they sorely needed in their preseason game against the Knights, but they got it here when it actually mattered. Kuemper made all the Blackhawk’s high danger chances look non-threatening and he did it all while the crowd at Ball arena cheered him on. His stops, especially on both Dach breakaways were great for maintaining momentum in the Avalanche’s favor as well as keeping the Avalanche ahead on the scoreboard. I was excited to see Kuemper brought in by Sakic this off season and I have a lot of faith in his abilities as a goalie. Even despite spending the early part of the game untested, he was still able to turn it on when pressure would be on him. Of the two goals scored on Kuemper, one was on the powerplay, when Kuemper’s line of vision was impaired due to Dach screening him and the other was a perfect shot from a wide-open player. He did a great job keeping the Avalanche secure in their lead. If Kuemper continues to play this way, losing Grubauer will become inconsequential. 

The physicality also looked great for the Avalanche. The Avalanche in the past have been injury prone and are not known as a “gritty” team. In my opinion, the only flaw in the Avalanche’s near perfect roster was reliable grit for the playoffs. They lost two years in a row to two teams that have a lot of tough (borderline dirty) players who will hit you hard and keep you down game after game. But tonight the Avalanche were throwing hits and “playing the body”. Those hits slowed down some of the Blackhawks best offensive players which prevented those players from getting opportunities. It was a positive sign of building playoff habits in the regular season. 

The Avs also had better looks at the net front. In the preseason game against Vegas, the Avs’s net front presence was very clearly lacking. It didn’t seem that way in this game. Landeskog in the lineup certainly helped as he is known to be the Avs net front player. Having him back gave the Avalanche someone in front of the net to deflect the puck in and they seemed to be going more to the net than they were in the past game. I speculated then, that avoiding the net could’ve been a way to mitigate risk since it was only the preseason, but now that the games count the Avs are doing what you need to do to score: go to the net. 

Now, to find things to work on for the Avalanche would be nitpicky at this point but I am going to try my best to point out the few weaker areas of the game. 

 One was how they handled the net front in their own zone. There were far too many times that players there to screen the goalie went uninterrupted. The penalty kill or whoever is on the ice should be doing their best to remove the other team net front so that their players can’t block the goalie’s vision. On the first Chicago goal, Dach wasn’t being challenged in the way that he should’ve been, and his presence allowed Kubalik to score. You have to push those players out of the way so your goalie can see and also so that there aren't any rebound or deflection options. 

There were also a lot of breakaways. Obviously turnovers are going to happen frequently in every game, but there seemed to be an inordinate amount in this game. Dach had two. It isn’t a huge concern right now but if it continues to be a pattern it will be. The tendency to make risky plays that lead to bad turnovers will have to be examined. 

The biggest story coming out of the night though, was Gabriel Landeskog’s hit on Kirby Dach late in the third. Dach had possession of the puck and ended up down on one knee, headed toward the boards. Landeskog hit him while he was still on his knees and will be suspended for two games for his hit on Kirby Dach. 

The Avalanche came out on the night of October 13th ready to play and ready to absolutely dominate. They cemented that they are the cup favorites this year and the absolute class of the central division. Kuemper proved any skeptics wrong; the whole team, even without MacKinnon, looked like world destroyers. They set the tone that central is their division to lose and that they don’t want to stop at the division, this is their year to win the cup. This is just the first game of the season but it was a good showing for the Avalanche and it is going to be so exciting to see how they grow throughout the season.