Bowman Steps Down as GM of Blackhawks in Wake of Brad Aldrich Scandal

[shestYORKin]

another thing, they 100% timed the release of the report and all the subsequent coverage/attention with the World Series. cowards. 

if North Korea attacked over the summer we would have had it then. 

[BlairBettsBlocksEverything]

A big fuck you to the blackhawks org and everyone involved. Quenneville should not be behind an NHL bench. Cheveldayoff should not be able to run an NHL team. Toews and Kane should be absolutely fucking ashamed of themselves, Toews especially who is voicing support for these pricks.

If they went to these lengths to protect a fucking video coach from accountability for sexual assault, imagine what they might do for a player or head coach. 

[Cash or Czech]

They need a complete wipe and fresh start. New team name, new organization from top to bottom. Significant punishment for that piece of garbage Aldrich and at least some sort of repentance from the players/coaches/owners who swept it under the rug. Oh and apparently Don Fehr decided to not do anything from an NHLPA standpoint either.

[siddious]

Just now, BlairBettsBlocksEverything said:

A big fuck you to the blackhawks org and everyone involved. Quenneville should not be behind an NHL bench. Cheveldayoff should not be able to run an NHL team. Toews and Kane should be absolutely fucking ashamed of themselves, Toews especially who is voicing support for these pricks.

If they went to these lengths to protect a fucking video coach from accountability for sexual assault, imagine what they might do for a player or head coach. 

That's what gets me about the whole thing. I understand they wanted to keep it quiet, and obviously covering this up in any circumstance is bad but it wasn't even for a player or a head coach it was for a fucking video coach. On the scale of franchise altering things it wouldn't have even changed all that much to simply do the right thing. 

[BlairBettsBlocksEverything]

they not only wanted to keep it quiet, but they allowed this predator to get a job working in a high school where he sexually assaulted a child. They could have prevented this. Instead, they decided to sweep it under the rug and pretend it never happened, while allowing their players to bully and harass their own teammate for  being a victim.

Stan Bowman is not only an awful GM, he's an awful human being and deserves to be wiped from this league.

coincidentally this link to an NHL PR where aldrich was named to the 2010 olympic staff doesn't load? 

https://www.nhl.com/blackhawks/news/hawks-aldrich-named-video-coach-for-2010-u-s-olympic-team/c-476780

Aldrich's name needs to be scraped off the stanley cup, and honestly so does Bowman's

[josh]

1 hour ago, Xander said:

They need a complete wipe and fresh start. New team name, new organization from top to bottom. Significant punishment for that piece of garbage Aldrich and at least some sort of repentance from the players/coaches/owners who swept it under the rug. Oh and apparently Don Fehr decided to not do anything from an NHLPA standpoint either.

Let's stay focused and fix the issue at hand.

Other than that, yes, exactly.

Edited October 28, 2021 by josh

[Phil]

 

[Cash or Czech]

2 hours ago, josh said:

Let's stay focused and fix the issue at hand.

Other than that, yes, exactly.

Fair.

[Scott]

it's a really really long if not endless line of cowards and liars. 

 

[Bugg]

18 hours ago, jsrangers said:

You got Boynton and Sopel confirming basically everybody (players, org etc.) knew and Duncan Keith went on for and entire interview saying he knew absolutely nothing.

No need to watch the whole thing but, man there's a whole lot of guys denying what seems to be pretty obvious to me.... fuck all these guys,

https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/video/keith-says-not-all-players-were-aware-of-sexual-assault-allegations~2309784

 

Keith may be telling the truth has he perceives it, subjectively. It may be a game he's playing to push what ever he saw into the back of his mind. "Professionally"  I have represented people who did everything they could to ignore something they witnessed, or pretend they did not see it, or some other game they played within themselves,  for as long as they could get away with not legally knowing.  Like when a grand jury swears you in to testify. Lawsuit depositions will have much the same effect. No wonder the Wirtzes would really like those kind of statements to never take place at all. 

Focus should be on Aldrich and the people who enabled him. It's not entirely out of the question that somebody in the lockerroom who was focused on his job might not have known, or subconsciously ignored it. It's unlikely, but we don't know.

People in positions of authority like Quenneville and Bowman, it is very unlikely they didn't know or at least have an idea. If the NHL does not come down on them like a ton of bricks, it will be an embarrassment. Cynically the NHL is starting new TV deals, and has had a lot of positive PR to start this season. Bettman and Daly would be crazy to not come down hard. As to Quenneville and the Panthers, really the excuse "we were chasing the Cup" already was their excuse. 

Edited October 28, 2021 by Bugg

[Phil]

7 minutes ago, Bugg said:

If the NHL does not come down on them like a ton of bricks, it will be an embarrassment.

Based on the initial $2 million fine, I've very little hope for this.

That's a problem for the owner. The organization literally faced no repercussions. At the very least, draft picks should have been sanctioned. Just like they were for the Coyotes and Devils for other issues that made the league as a whole look bad.

But the more I hear about this, the more I think they got off basically scot-free. A $2 million fine and allowing the front office to just step aside is the most unserious response to a serious problem I've come across in some time. The fine should have been like $20-50 million, a significant portion of which would be awarded to all victims involved. I'd also have sacked them a first-round pick for every victim. That's two, minimum.

[SaveByRichter35]

6 hours ago, Xander said:

They need a complete wipe and fresh start. New team name, new organization from top to bottom. Significant punishment for that piece of garbage Aldrich and at least some sort of repentance from the players/coaches/owners who swept it under the rug. Oh and apparently Don Fehr decided to not do anything from an NHLPA standpoint either.

Stop lol

[Phil]

Everything @Xander said minus the new team name is accurate. The organization needs to be purged. But it needs to be appropriately punished, too. I don't think the league has even come close to meeting that.

[Scott]

I mean the Devils got a 3 million dollar fine for bs around the Kovalchuk contract. So to me this 2 million dollar fine is an even bigger slap in the face to Beach. This is another case of the owners who Bettman represents covering for another.  The stink from this comes from every side.

[Phil]

Just now, jsrangers said:

I mean the Devils got a 3 million dollar fine for bs around the Kovalchuk contract. So to me this 2 million dollar fine is an even bigger slap in the face to Beach. This is another case of the owners who Bettman represents covering for another.  The stink from this comes from every side.

Right. Unserious fine. Unserious league.

[SaveByRichter35]

13 minutes ago, Phil said:

Everything @Xander said minus the new team name is accurate. The organization needs to be purged. But it needs to be appropriately punished, too. I don't think the league has even come close to meeting that.

If that is in response to me I agree.  Hence bolding just the team name.

[SaveByRichter35]

They should be forced to vacate that Stanley Cup Championship from 2010.

[shestYORKin]

hate to see fans punished for this sort of shit. imagine if it happened here.

play the tape backwards. whatever it takes to make Beach and the fans proud of the response to this mess needs to happen. 

remove literally everyone who had a position of power.

overhaul player assistance. 

partner and invest with a reputable abuse program and become a visible leader in the city along these lines moving forward. 

it’s way late but pretty sure Beach would be on board with that. 

[Karan]

50 minutes ago, Bugg said:

Keith may be telling the truth has he perceives it, subjectively. It may be a game he's playing to push what ever he saw into the back of his mind. "Professionally"  I have represented people who did everything they could to ignore something they witnessed, or pretend they did not see it, or some other game they played within themselves,  for as long as they could get away with not legally knowing.  Like when a grand jury swears you in to testify. Lawsuit depositions will have much the same effect. No wonder the Wirtzes would really like those kind of statements to never take place at all. 

Focus should be on Aldrich and the people who enabled him. It's not entirely out of the question that somebody in the lockerroom who was focused on his job might not have known, or subconsciously ignored it. It's unlikely, but we don't know.

People in positions of authority like Quenneville and Bowman, it is very unlikely they didn't know or at least have an idea. If the NHL does not come down on them like a ton of bricks, it will be an embarrassment. Cynically the NHL is starting new TV deals, and has had a lot of positive PR to start this season. Bettman and Daly would be crazy to not come down hard. As to Quenneville and the Panthers, really the excuse "we were chasing the Cup" already was their excuse. 

Even though he's no longer a Blackhawk, Keith is effectively toeing the corporate line. No different than some of the other active veterans on that team.

And this is basically due to the message from the very top (i.e. McDonough) at the time. When he basically told his management, coaching staff etc. that the Cup run and avoiding negative publicity was more important than the victim. As Beach himself said, all their actions basically showed that he didn't matter and he was a nobody. 

[shestYORKin]

the name change is another issue altogether imo. 

and I’m torn about stripping the Cup. what happens on the ice feels separate.

[SaveByRichter35]

The name does not need to change.  If you want to change the logo, fine.  Change it to a Black colored Hawk.

[Phil]

12 minutes ago, SaveByRichter35 said:

They should be forced to vacate that Stanley Cup Championship from 2010.

This is too far, but I'm entirely OK with the idea of striking names off of the literal Cup. Aldrich, without a doubt.

[SaveByRichter35]

5 minutes ago, Phil said:

This is too far, but I'm entirely OK with the idea of striking names off of the literal Cup. Aldrich, without a doubt.

Fine that works too then lol

[Scott]

amazing how the report shows the kid was harrassed on the ice during practices and in the locker room yet none of the players including those wearing letters knew nothing about it (outside of Sopel and Boynkin). Give me a break.  There's no way it can all be pawned off on just the coaching staff/management/owners/NHLPA.  This was a complete failure from the top down and players burying their head in the sand is pathetic.  Keith saying he didn't really know the video coach who played back the game tape after every game is just one of the worst examples. His interview yesterday went on for 15 mins of that level of bs.

 

[Cash or Czech]

38 minutes ago, Phil said:

Everything @Xander said minus the new team name is accurate. The organization needs to be purged. But it needs to be appropriately punished, too. I don't think the league has even come close to meeting that.

The only way to make it not hurt the fans is with heavy, heavy fines. Taking away draft picks, losing salary cap space, that all just ends up hurting the fans more than anyone else. Ban the major administrators responsible (GMs, Coaches, Fehr) at least for a period of time, heavily fine the owner, and make the organization invest in grassroots outreach programs for young hockey players as well as professionals who may be put into a similar situation. Change the direction and make the future better, since we can't change the past.