(TW: sexual assault, sexual harassment)
I’ll be honest, I’ve really been thinking about Kyle Beach’s trial against the Blackhawks in 2021 – and all subsequent reports have been revealed about the rot that festered beneath the Hawks’ legendary Stanley Cup runs from 2010 to 2015 — would see fans saying “enough is enough.” Maybe I shouldn’t have. This hadn’t happened with the bad behavior of some star players during that era, which everyone in Chicago seemed to have a story about. That didn’t happen when fans harassed reporters and forced a woman accusing a player of sexual assault to flee her hometown. But surely, surely, an independent report detailing how the Hawks covered up the alleged sexual assault of one of their AHL players by an assistant coach – that had to be the straw that broke the camel’s back for fans of the Blackhawks. RIGHT?
If the number of fans flocking to the United Center to watch No. 1 draft pick Connor Bedard and happily posting photos of their kids wearing Hawks jerseys on social media is any indication, it wasn’t the final straw. broke the camel’s back. But now, just two years after the damning “Kyle Beach Report” was released — and the Hawks and Beach reached a confidential settlement — the Hawks find themselves facing another lawsuit filed by a player, also claiming he had was sexually assaulted by former Hawks assistant coach Brad Aldrich.
According to the Chicago Tribune“A former member of the Chicago Blackhawks’ Black Aces team and teammate of Kyle Beach alleged in a lawsuit that former video coach Brad Aldrich “groomed, harassed, threatened and assaulted” him at during the 2009-10 season and the Hawks dropped his complaint to protect their Stanley Cup championship run.
The complaint, filed Thursday under John Doe’s name in Cook County Circuit Court, contained some truly horrific allegations, including that “Aldrich snuck into the bedroom while John Doe and (a) woman were having sex sexual and tried to insert themselves into the bedroom. meeting, making his presence known for the first time by playing with John Doe’s feet in the dark”, that Aldrich sent Doe “a text message with a photo of Coach Aldrich’s penis (which Doe allegedly showed to secretary to then-team president John McDonough, and that, “On several occasions… Aldrich approached John Doe from behind, grabbed him in a hug and pressed his penis against John Doe’s back and buttocks through his clothing.”
The suit further alleges that the Blackhawks organization demonstrated “total indifference and/or conscious disregard for the safety of its employees.”
Lawyers for the unknown player confirmed to the Tribune that their client was previously referred to as “Black Ace 1” in a independent report (the report), commissioned by the Blackhawks and produced by the law firm Jenner & Block.
The allegations in Doe’s lawsuit echo Beach’s claims. The report reveals that “President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Stan Bowman and Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Al MacIsaac met with John McDonough, Jay Blunk, Kevin Cheveldayoff, Joel Quenneville and James Gary in May 2010 to discuss the allegations. No action was taken for three weeks after the Blackhawks won and celebrated the 2010 Stanley Cup.” Beach also claimed that his teammates started use homophobic slurs against him after his report on Aldrich’s assault spread.
Aldrich resigned from the team in 2010, but still received a severance package and a playoff bonus, according to the Beach Report, and his name was put on the Stanley Cup with the rest of the coaches. It’s only 2021 that the Blackhawks requested his removal. Numerous photos circulated on the Internet of Aldrich hoisting the 2010 Stanley Cup, long after the organization learned of Beach’s allegations. And then there’s the fact that Aldrich’s departure was handled so quietly that he became a high school coach in Michigan, where Aldrich was quickly accused of assaulting a high school player in 2013. He spent nine months in prison and remains on the state’s sex offender registry. Perhaps if the Hawks had taken Beach’s claims more seriously, they could have stopped Aldrich from attacking anyone else.
After the Beach Report, the Hawks did and said all the right things, including drafting a letter to fans in October 2021 on all the ways the team would strive to improve. “What we do off the ice is just as important as everything we do on the ice,” the letter states. “Our ownership and management teams are committed to ensuring the Blackhawks adhere to the highest ethical, professional and athletic standards. » This letter and the feelings it contained were almost completely erased by the Hawks’ owner. Rocky Wirtz just four months later, when he chastised a reporter at a public meeting for asking questions about Beach. “We’re not going to talk about Kyle Beach,” Wirtz said angrily. “We’re not going to talk about everything that happened. Now we move on. What more do I have to say?
Wirtz died on July 0, 2023, and his son, Danny, now serves as president and CEO of the organization. But the question remains, in light of the new lawsuit, whether things have actually changed in the Blackhawks locker room, or if the team is just waiting for the fans to forgive them, again, so they can put it all together next to. mirror. How the team responds this time will be telling. And that of his fans too.
If you or someone you love has been the victim of sexual assault, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 toll-free. Confidential. 24/7.