The Chicago Blackhawks' sexual assault scandal came to a head this week with the full release of the report by the law firm Jenner & Block, which showed that senior leaders for the Blackhawks didn't act after a player reported sexual assault and harassment by former video coach Brad Aldrich in 2010. This report resulted in the resignation of general manager Stan Bowman, among other things, and now John Doe has officially revealed himself.
Former top Blackhawks prospect Kyle Beach came forward as that player in an emotional interview on TSN Wednesday. Beach said he thinks teammates knew about what happened based on comments in the locker room, on the ice and around the arena. Here's the interview:
Well, the two top Blackhawks stars in Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane broke their silence on the matter after their loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night. Both players claimed they didn't know about what happened at the time:
Toews: "I don't wish to exonerate myself in any situation by saying I didn't know. But the truth is I hadn't heard about it until training camp the next year. That doesn't change what happened. It doesn't make it go away."
That's what Toews told me in June, too.
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) October 28, 2021
Toews: "We wish we could have done something differently, myself included. My heart goes out to Kyle for what he dealt with. Wish I could have done something. It's not an excuse looking back, but the truth is a lot of us were focused on just playing hockey."
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) October 28, 2021
Kane: "Very courageous for (Beach) to come out and let his name be known to the world after everything he went to. … Wish back then we could have done some different things, knew about some different things, maybe we could have helped him."
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) October 28, 2021
This is a bit tough to square given Beach's comments, and both Toews and Kane have come under fire for their comments. It didn't help that they both praised Bowman, with Toews even saying the former GM wasn't “directly complicit” in the situation.
It was probably too much to expect these Blackhawks stars to come out and excoriate Bowman and the others involved in covering up what happened, but that doesn't make it any less disappointing to hear from the leaders on the ice. Toews in particular has always been viewed as one of the best leaders in the NHL, so this is a bit of a stain on his reputation.
Of course, the entire Blackhawks dynasty from that era has been stained by this scandal. It was courageous for Beach to come forward and reveal himself, and it's a shame that the organization failed him for so long.
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