Sexual Abuse Allegations against former Blackhawks Video Coach (Brad Aldrich)

[Invictus]

Basically, the Hawks say that since the Blackhawks player Aldrich allegedly assaulted in 2010 was not a minor, not disabled and not in a care facility, management didn't have to report it. Here's the full paragraph:

BH.JPG

[tweetdrivr]

It’s just getting gross. This organization is rotten.

[Invictus]

Keep in mind this is a legal document on one specific of the case - and not a press statement.
It cannot be alleged that the Hawks had a statutory duty to report allegations of Aldrich harassing an adult hockey player to a government entity.

The victims lawyer did say he went to the NHLPA and got rebuked. I believe the victim could also take the NHLPA to the Labour board over this.

[Daydream Nation]

I recently listened to an interview with the accuser's lawyer. She stated that the the head of security (I believe that was his title) who the player confided in recommended that the Hawks go to the police AND she stated that the Hawks mental skills coach counselled and urged the player to drop the complaint and not make an issue of it. Regardless as to whether the Blackhawks are legally responsible for reporting the incident, their lack of moral responsibility in this incident is appalling. Let's not forget that the Hawks gave the coach a positive recommendations and 3 years later he assaulted a minor at a HS in Michigan and spent 9 months in prison for the incident.

[2014olympicgold]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaBf53W4QC8

That's a good video of information that is out there right now as it has not gotten nearly enough air time for it. Especially since there was a player that has come out as the first openly homosexual player ever in the NHL, and there's allegations of homophobic slurs being thrown at a sexual assault survivor. It's annoying how this is being played out because too many news outlets have not given enough light to it.

[Pengwin7]

^Thanks for that link. Some good stuff there.
I'm very interested in this case... more because it really seems like some sort of penalty really needs to be handed to all members of Chicago management. (If they all knew)
I mean... "management"... you are managing things... properly, right?

Of interest - I'm aware of Sopel's social media stance on this issue. But I'm very curious about the direct mention that "Patrick Sharp knew... Brian Campbell knew".
Sharp has been doing NHL intermission with NBCSN... and I like him... but he's gotta speak up on this issue... and I don't recall anything from him yet.
Speaking up could alienate him from the "Hey - shut up or we're all in trouble" BoysHockeyClub... and it looks like that extends out pretty far.

Always easy to point fingers.
But when somebody gets even slightly involved in the wrong-side... and back then, it probably wasn't Sharp (or Soupy's) place to say "Hey - this is wrong".
We can all pretend (now) like we would have sacrificed our careers to "do the right thing"... but would we have? In 2010? IDK.
If you are a 25 or 30yr old man... and your whole career of earning is in the future of hockey - would you risk that???

Regardless... this story is going to come out and a lot of Hawks are going to be really, really hated by the general world.
Sort of feeds the fire that guys like Bergevin are like "Well... hey... might as well go into ******** mode*".

[Daydream Nation]

Recently, the plaintiff's lawyer refiled and clarified their suit. It was changed that the Hawks did not give Aldrich a letter of recommendation rather they verified his employment. You think maybe they'd want to give the high school a heads-up considering the reason why he was let go from their organization?

[2014olympicgold]

What I didn't think of until that video was the penalty if the league finds out the Hawks management core knew. Coyotes got hit hard for 'illegal workouts'. What would this get?

And with it not being criminal, and just a civil lawsuit, what will the league even do if it is settled? It's a lot of questions, a lot of major heads of new teams that should be inquired, and a lot of domino effects that can happen.

The league has tried to get away from the anti-homosexuality image it used to have, but news coming out that the team made fun of a player for being a victim by calling him gay is just ridiculous to think now. And to have your captain call the whole thing an inconvenience is another eye opening thing.

It was 2010, and I was in college at the time so I can't say I'm too shocked at the insults part. It wasn't too long ago, but it was a time where people might not be too educated on the subject.

The whole thing is just so "WTF". Especially how the major media outlets aren't talking about it, probably because of the NHL wanting it to be hush hush on details because they know the details are very graphic.

[blayze]

In my opinion Blackhawks management (whoever it was at the time) should be held accountable here. This is on them for burying it under the rug and implicitly sending the message to their players to keep it on the down low.

It's easy to point fingers at players for not "doing the right thing" but remember - these guys are employees like everyone else. The consequences of being that whistle blower are enormous. And also - keep in mind this was over a decade ago... the social climate was WAY different back then so it is not exactly apples to apples to hold them up to today's social standards for something that happened a decade ago when social norms were completely different.

None of this excuses their behavior in not standing up for a teammate - and if they didn't stand up back then , they should certainly stand up for what's right now like Sopel has done - but I do empathize for the circumstances those players were in back in 2010.

[Daydream Nation]

In my opinion Blackhawks management (whoever it was at the time) should be held accountable here. This is on them for burying it under the rug and implicitly sending the message to their players to keep it on the down low.

It's easy to point fingers at players for not "doing the right thing" but remember - these guys are employees like everyone else. The consequences of being that whistle blower are enormous. And also - keep in mind this was over a decade ago... the social climate was WAY different back then so it is not exactly apples to apples to hold them up to today's social standards for something that happened a decade ago when social norms were completely different.

None of this excuses their behavior in not standing up for a teammate - and if they didn't stand up back then , they should certainly stand up for what's right now like Sopel has done - but I do empathize for the circumstances those players were in back in 2010.

I don't put the onus of responsibility on the players at all. That was a very young team and let's face it- hockey players are sheltered, generally immature adults as 20-something year olds. We know the culture of hockey is to keep your mouth shut and do your job. The Blackhawks team of that era was completely under the control of President John McDonough. He ruled the PR message on that team with an iron fist. Quenneville handled the team and Bowman carried out general manager duties but the image of the team and the way it dealt with the news cycle all went through John McDonough. There were many stories over the years of how obsessive his attention to detail was with marketing and the brand of the Blackhawks. This whole course of action in 2010 is textbook McDonough.

[Blues_fan1000]

https://www.tsn.ca/rick-westhead-for...ions-1.1680876

More bad stuff here for the Hawks. The statement here is pretty gross too:

"The Blackhawks have asked an Illinois court to dismiss both lawsuits. The team says that it did not have a legal responsibility to report the abuse allegations of the former player because he was not a minor, not disabled, and not over the age of 60 and living in a care facility. The Blackhawks have also said they aren't responsible for the abuse of the teenage player because Aldrich was not provided with a job reference specifically for the coaching position with the Michigan high school team."

[blayze]

I don't put the onus of responsibility on the players at all. That was a very young team and let's face it- hockey players are sheltered, generally immature adults as 20-something year olds. We know the culture of hockey is to keep your mouth shut and do your job. The Blackhawks team of that era was completely under the control of President John McDonough. He ruled the PR message on that team with an iron fist. Quenneville handled the team and Bowman carried out general manager duties but the image of the team and the way it dealt with the news cycle all went through John McDonough. There were many stories over the years of how obsessive his attention to detail was with marketing and the brand of the Blackhawks. This whole course of action in 2010 is textbook McDonough.

More info coming out... apparently it was McIsaac (VP Ops) who shut down the staff that tried to raise it during a meeting where McDonough and Bowman were both present. Basically told them to back off and that they'd "handle" it. Doesn't make Bowman/McD any less guilty since they obviously supported the approach.

Those ****ers should all face legal consequences.

[Pengwin7]

This situation goes right in hand with watching Dr.Death (TV Series).
All the organizations/management hiring lawyers and saying "Our only required responsibility was to XXXXXX."

Unfortunately, it's starting to seem like CHI's big-brand-lawyers might have the upper hand on this one.
At very best, public image tarnishing may be the most damaging thing to the Blackhawks Brand.

[Invictus]

This situation goes right in hand with watching Dr.Death (TV Series).
All the organizations/management hiring lawyers and saying "Our only required responsibility was to XXXXXX."

Unfortunately, it's starting to seem like CHI's big-brand-lawyers might have the upper hand on this one.
At very best, public image tarnishing may be the most damaging thing to the Blackhawks Brand.

This is just a very small excerpt in the case. Probably only hearing about it since it is a hard counter for CHI.

Has there been any involvement from the Labour Board? The victims lawyer did say the victim went to the NHLPA at the time and also got rebuked. Found nothing.

[Pengwin7]

This is just a very small excerpt in the case.

Oh, I'm very aware of the case.
I've probably made effort to find more about it than 99.9% of general hockey fans.
(So much so, that I have a short list of players that are likely JohnDoe#1. Though I feel it's not my place to speculate... but I'm a big fan of efforting to solve things - same reason schools make kids do a "Hypothesis" for science experiments - so that they can track if/why things went the way they did. In this case, I'm interested because there is a predator/prey relationship and it's important to know what makes a HumanPredator tick... and what he/she sees. Many parents, myself as one, concern themselves greatly over understanding all HumanPredators.)

Unfortunately, big organizations and their lawyers usually cover themselves very well.

Realistically:
The CHI organization has this much money for lawyers: $$$$$$$.
JohnDoe #1 and JohnDoe #2 likely have this much: 0
And the law firm representing JD1 & JD2 have this much: (Marketing, GoodGuySideBranding)


When it's all said & done... the Hawks have the resources to protect themselves.
And there's likely very little on paper, except some "he said, she said" from players & management up the chain.. and aside from the rare Boynton - there's not going to be much that breaks off the from the good-ol-hockey-boys-club.

The greater importance, IMO, to this story - is to understand a person like Aldrich... and how the hockey community around the Predator/Prey behaved.
Then for everybody to step back and say: Are we better than this now? Can we be better than this going forward?

But... outcome-wise... in the courts... I don't expect much.


[I'd be curious to see where LawMan thinks this one will go. I need my LM bat-signal. How do I flash that onto the interwebz?]