In case you missed it, the Chicago Blackhawks organization has a major problem to address. Katie Strang initially broke this story in February 2020, and she followed it up over the past week with a few articles with more details. This was apparently something that everyone in the organization knew about, including the players, coaching staff, front office staff, and many others.

The coach in question is Brad Aldrich, who was convicted of felony sexual conduct in Michigan, later pled it down to a misdemeanor. This isn’t about an accusation as much as it is about a cover up. What happened in the Chicago organization in the 2010 playoffs happened. It’s the cover up that followed that is drawing national attention.

The incident was escalated by Paul Vincent (and possibly John Torchetti?) up the chain of command in the Hawks organization, all the way up to John McDonough (President) and Stan Bowman (GM). The escalation recommended police action, but that was denied by the leadership group.

However this isn’t about a recap of what happened. This is about the cover up within the Chicago Blackhawks organization that denied appropriate police action and led to other incidents by Aldrich in Notre Dame, Miami of Ohio, and a number of other places. It was after the incident with the Blackhawks that Aldrich was convicted, and since has been a registered sex offender in Michigan.

But this should go far beyond just Aldrich. Many in the Blackhawks organization were complicit in allowing this to go unpunished. This was discussed in the BSB group chat, and it was Conall who made a very apt comparison of this situation to the movie Spotlight. I’m going to quote him here:

Michael Keaton is meeting with one of the heads of the church’s PR one more time before they run the story and the guy’s trying to guilt him not to report what he knows. And Keaton goes, “this is how it happens doesn’t it, one guy leaning on another guy” and that’s it. At Penn State, the church, Michigan State and now the Hawks. Guys not wanting to be the one to rat and blow up their organization.

This is the crux of the issue, it is covering their own asses to protect….something….instead of doing the right thing. With the knowledge that this rose up to the highest ranks of the Hawks organization, we can assume that the entire coaching staff and front office knew about it. That potentially includes, but is not limited to:

  • John McDonough
  • Stan Bowman
  • Joel Quenneville
  • Kevin Cheveldayoff (Assistant GM)
  • Marc Bergevin
  • Mike Haviland (Assistant Coach)
  • Stephane Waite (Assistant Coach)
  • Rocky Wirtz (owner)
  • Plus others, most likely

Does this mean all are guilty of a cover up? Absolutely not. But as of now, the only person that attempted to do the right thing was Vincent, who had a prior career in law enforcement. Perhaps Torchetti as well, but that remains unconfirmed. And perhaps cover up is the wrong phrase, perhaps it was just a stupid wishful hope that this would go away. That not doing the right thing would somehow be better than protecting others from harm.

Look how well that turned out.

The NHL, Gary Bettman, and every exec at the league level has said nothing so far. This impacts some of the “most respected hockey guys” out there in Bowman, Cheveldayoff, Bergevin, Quenneville, and others. Perhaps no comment is made because the NHL is waiting for legal proceedings to play out, which is certainly a possibility. Bettman is a lawyer by trade, and he’d have some insight into the ramifications of a public statement. Perhaps those with law degrees could enlighten me on the penalties of saying “We condone sexual assault” in the comments.

At this point, there is no containing the story. The time to do the right thing has long passed. Criminal charges, where appropriate, should be made. People should lose jobs over this. But they won’t. Because no matter how much we hope people will do the right thing, they will cover their asses first.

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