Eleven years ago the Chicago Blackhawks organization, in the midst of a run to win the Stanley Cup, delayed reacting to, and then poorly handled, an accusation by a player that he had been sexually assaulted by video coach Brad Aldrich
On Tuesday, Blackhawks ownership acknowledged the organization’s failing, apologized to the unnamed player and pledged to make sure the team never again puts winning ahead of individual safety and well being.
The NHL then announced the Blackhawks have been fined $2 million for not properly handling the accusations of sexual assault.
General manager Stan Bowman acknowledged his role in the mishandling of the matter and stepped down. Kyle Davidson will be the interim GM while the Blackhawks look for someone to head up hockey operations.
Bowman also stepped down as GM of the 2022 U.S. Olympic team. No replacement has yet been named.
“We deeply regret the harm caused to John Doe,” Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz said. “and the other individuals who were affected by our failures to promptly address these allegations as we became aware of them.”
Part of the Wirtz apology included a pledge to take care of John Doe.
“John Doe deserved better from the Blackhawks,” Danny Wirtz said. “While we believe we have a strong legal defense, I’ve instructed our lawyers to see if we can reach a fair resolution consistent with the totality of the circumstances. The Blackhawks are a very different organization today."
In 2013, Aldrich was convicted of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a high school hockey play at Houghton High School. Aldrich was an assistant coach.
The Wirtz family didn’t become aware of the incident until a lawsuit was filed on behalf of John Doe. The high school player has also sued the Blackhawks.
The Wirtz family hired the law firm or Jenner & Block to conduct an independent investigation. The Wirtz family’s lack of knowledge of about the event was confirmed by the investigation.
“We were permitted to conduct an investigation independent of interference or influence,” said attorney Reid Schar who gave a condensed version of the report on a video conference Tuesday afternoon. “We and we alone designed and executed the investigation with no limits from the Blackhawks.”
Jenner & Block interviewed 139 people in its four-month investigation, some of them more than once.
The unidentified player was assigned the name John Doe for the purpose of the investigation. The player was a 20-year-old minor leaguer at the time of the event. He had been called up to be one of the Black Aces, which are the players who join the team in the playoffs in case of injury.
According to the investigation, John Doe told a confidant that he had a non-consensual sexual encounter with Aldrich. That sexual encounter happened either May 8 or May 9 and Doe told a confidant about it within a week.
Jenner & Block interviewed Aldrich and Doe and both say there was a sexual encounter, but they have “widely divergent” recollections of what occurred and whether it was consensual. Aldrich says it was consensual.
Between May 12 and May 19, Doe gave a very limited account of the sexual encounter to the Blackhawks’ skating coach. On May 23, Blackhawks vice president Al MacIsaac was told by another Blackhawks employee that there may have been a sexual encounter between Aldrich and John Doe. Plus, MacIsaac was told, Aldrich had sent a sexually explicit text message to another Black Ace player. MacIsaac sent team mental skills coach Jim Gary to talk to Doe.
Gary told investigators he received limited information from Doe. But what he heard was “very troubling.” Gary told investigators that he believed Doe’s account, which included saying Aldrich pressured Doe to have sex. If he didn’t comply, Aldrich said he could hurt Doe’s career.
Later that night, on May 23, within an hour of the Blackhawks securing a place in the Stanley Cup Final, a meeting was held to discuss the situation. Present were Team president John McDonough, Bowman, MacIsaac, then-assistant GM Kevin Cheveldayoff, Coach Joel Quenneville, executive vice president Jay Blunk and Gary.
“Accounts of that meeting vary significantly,” Schar said. “Participants had limited recollection of the details’’
At a minimum, senior leaders were informed of an alleged sexual harassment of a player by a coach, including efforts by the coach to engage in an unwelcome sexual encounter. In addition to the Bowman and MacIssac's resignation, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman in a press release indicated that the league will conduct interviews with Quenneville (the coach of the Florida Panthers) and Cheveldayoff (the GM of the Winnipeg Jets).
"I plan to arrange personal meetings in the near future with both individuals to discuss their roles in the relevant events as detailed in the Report. I will reserve judgment on next steps, if any, with respect to them.”
According to Schar, several witnesses recalled and later told others that a discussion ensued during the meeting regarding whether the time was right to discuss the allegations in light of the upcoming Stanley Cup Final.
Again, according to Schar, one witness recalled during the meeting McDonough and Quenneville making comments about the challenge of getting to the Stanley Cup Final and the desire to concentrate on the team and the players.
According to witnesses, the decision on how to proceed was left to McDonough, who was fired by the Blackhawks last year. No reason was given at the time of his firing.
The investigation revealed that no action was taken for three weeks, which was a violation of the Blackhawks’ policy to act promptly in these situations.
McDonough didn’t act on the allegation until June 14, when he turned it over to the Blackhawks’ Human Resources department. By then the playoffs were over and the Blackhawks had won their first Stanley Cup since 1961.
Amazingly, the Blackhawks allowed Aldrich to celebrate the Stanley Cup championship with the players. He got his day with the Stanley Cup. He even received a championship ring.
According to the investigation, the delay had consequences. On June 10, Aldrich allegedly made an unwanted sexual advance to a team intern.
Aldrich was eventually given the choice of facing an investigation or resigning. He chose to resign.
Danny Wirtz went out of his way to say that Bowman cooperated fully with the investigation. At the time of the incident, he was in his first season as general manager.
“We believe if this had happened in 2021," Danny Wirtz said. "With Stan at the helm, the Stan that I know, and we know, would have acted differently and been a louder voice in the room.”
He added: "I am confident this would not be tolerated in our organization today. We deeply regret the harm caused to John Doe and the other individuals who were affected in our failures to promptly to address these allegations as we became aware of them
MacIsaac is also out as a result of this investigation.
In 2013, Aldrich was convicted of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a high school hockey play at Houghton High School. Aldrich was an assistant coach.
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