NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman talked with Kyle Beach on Saturday about what the league can do to better protect its players after the former first-round pick said he was sexually assaulted by an assistant coach in 2010 and his allegations were largely ignored by the Chicago Blackhawks.
Donald Fehr, the leader of the NHL players association, also met with Beach in a separate video conference call.
Susan Loggans, an attorney representing Beach in a lawsuit against the team, said Bettman expressed his “sincere regret” over what Beach experienced. He also offered the NHL’s help with psychological services and anything else the league has available.
“There was discussion about what could be done in the future to assure this kind of thing did not occur again,” Loggans said in an email to the AP.
The AP left messages seeking comment from the NHL.
Loggans said Beach’s meeting with Fehr covered the league’s substance abuse and behavioral health program, which did not follow up when Beach reported what happened.
“They looked at it as though it was a privileged communication and they couldn’t do anything,” Loggans said. “And they want to carve out a mechanism whereby if abusive behavior is taking place they can take action.”
The NHLPA has scheduled a Monday call for its executive board. What happened with Beach is expected to be discussed during the meeting.
Beach, 31, a Blackhawks center prospect from 2009 to 2013, revealed himself as “John Doe” — the pseudonym used in a negligence lawsuit against the team — during an interview Wednesday evening on Canada’s The Sports Network. Beach posted a statement on Twitter on Thursday expressing gratitude for the support he had received in the last few days.
The NHL fined the Blackhawks $2 million for “the organization’s inadequate internal procedures and insufficient and untimely response” to Beach’s allegations that he was sexually assaulted by video coach Brad Aldrich during the team’s Stanley Cup run in 2010. Stan Bowman resigned from his position as Hawks president of hockey operations and general manager, as well as from his role as GM of the U.S. Olympic hockey team.
An independent report by Chicago law firm Jenner & Block gave a scathing review of the team’s handling of Beach’s sexual assault allegation against Aldrich. The report found that upper management with the Blackhawks discussed Beach’s accusations at a meeting on May 23, 2010, right after the team advanced to the Stanley Cup Final. Aldrich told investigators the encounter was consensual.
Accounts of what was said during the meeting vary, but the report found there was no evidence that anything was done about the accusations before then-Hawks President John McDonough contacted the team’s director of human resources on June 14 — a delay that violated the organization’s sexual harassment policy.
During those three weeks, Aldrich continued to work for and travel with the team. Former federal prosecutor Reid Schar, who led the investigation, said Aldrich also “made an unwanted sexual advance” toward a 22-year-old Blackhawks intern.
McDonough was fired in April 2020. Joel Quenneville, who coached the Hawks from 2008-09 to early in the 2018-19 season, promptly resigned as Florida Panthers coach Thursday after meeting with Bettman.
Al MacIsaac, another senior manager from 2010, was ousted as Hawks senior vice president of hockey operations this week.
Kevin Cheveldayoff, the assistant general manager during that 2010 championship season and now the Winnipeg Jets general manager, met with Bettman on Friday. But the NHL decided not to take any action against Cheveldayoff, saying in a statement he was “not responsible for the improper decisions” made by the Blackhawks regarding Aldrich.
The Blackhawks on Friday asked the Hockey Hall of Fame to remove Aldrich’s name from the Stanley Cup, and the Hall in response to a Tribune inquiry said it was considering the request.
According to the Jenner & Block report, Fehr was contacted twice about allegations connected to Aldrich, including by a Beach confidant. Fehr told investigators he couldn’t recall either conversation but did not deny that they had occurred.
Fehr said Wednesday night in a statement that there was “no doubt” that the system had failed Beach and “we are part of that system.”
baiduhai reporting contributed.