Kyle Beach – The Concordian

Addressing what happened to Kyle Beach in 2010 is a crucial part in making sure today’s Blackhawks players feel safe

Trigger warning: this story contains mentions of sexual assault.

“We’re not looking back at 2010, we’re looking forward.”

“We’re not going to talk about Kyle Beach.”

“We’re not going to talk about anything that happened.”

The above was said to reporter Mark Lazerus from The Athletic by Chicago Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz, when asked what the team is doing to make sure what happened to Kyle Beach doesn’t happen again.

In 2010, Beach was a black ace on the Blackhawks, a minor league player brought onto the NHL squad as an extra skater during Chicago’s playoff run. The Blackhawks ended up winning the Stanley Cup that year, but the truth about Beach being sexually assaulted by former video coach Brad Aldrich got buried under the team’s success.

The people who should have supported Beach, and who should’ve helped him get the truth out, looked the other way.

It took over 11 years for the full story to come out, after an independent investigation by law firm Jenner & Block came to an end and a full report was released in October 2021.

The report states that “two former Blackhawks players claimed in their interviews and publicly in 2021 that, during the 2010 playoffs, ‘everyone’ knew about Aldrich engaging in inappropriate conduct with players.”

On top of this, the organization’s mishandling of Beach’s case led to another victim, who remains anonymous, and multiple alleged victims coming forward.

The Blackhawks organization has been heavily criticized for their mishandling of the situation, only adding fuel to the fire with the quotes from Wirtz at the latest Blackhawks town hall event on Feb. 2.

How can one look forward without looking back? How is it possible to move on from something without processing it first?

In a statement released to the public a few hours after the event, Wirtz apologized about his outburst at Lazerus and Phil Thompson, a Chicago Tribune reporter, who was also irrationally shut down by Wirtz in a similar way.

However, his initial reaction to the question, and his silence on what the organization’s present situation looks like are more telling of how wrong and concerning the present situation appears.

Lazerus asked a fair question: “what are the Blackhawks doing, what have the Blackhawks done, what will the Blackhawks do to empower a player in a similar situation to make sure that doesn’t happen again?”

It is even more justifiable to ask this knowing it took over 11 years for the full story to come out and for everyone involved to pay the consequences of their actions, to an extent.

The Jenner & Block report was followed by management members involved in the 2010 incident leaving the team. This includes Stan Bowman and Al MacIsaac, the general manager and senior vice president of hockey operations, respectively.

Aldrich left the Blackhawks in 2010 after the end of the season, but volunteered at a high school in Michigan, where he sexually assaulted a 16-year-old student in 2013. He was sentenced to nine months in prison and was added to the list of sex offenders in the state. Aldrich’s name was also scratched out from the Stanley Cup with a series of “X’s” following the investigation report on the Beach case.

It definitely does not feel like the punishment fits the crime. Both the Blackhawks and the NHL are to blame: the Blackhawks for how they handled the situation and allowed it to stay secret for years, and the NHL for how it responded to the investigation report, with only a $2 million fine. There should’ve stricter punishment, which only shows how much progress the NHL still has to make.

One cannot see how this story unfolded without wondering how much less harm it would’ve caused if it were handled properly.

Instead of hiding the truth and not supporting Beach, what if the management had gone to the police? How would it have unfolded then?

That is all hypothetical; nothing will ever change the past: how the Blackhawks mishandled the case in 2010, and the trauma that will haunt Beach for the rest of his life.

But what could change is the present and the future of the team and its players. What can also be done is making sure nothing of the sort happens again. But that cannot be done by silencing the past and forgetting about it.

Ensuring these players feel safe should be the number one priority of the organization, and that simply cannot be done by staying silent.

People in power have to know they can’t do whatever they want and get away with it, and the players need to know the entire team, management, and staff stand with them, and will support and protect them if need be.

Making the locker room a safe space for players to talk about anything would be a good first step. That can only be done by addressing the Beach case, letting players know that the organization is aware of their wrongdoings, and asking them what they would like to see occur to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

But the absolute last thing that should be done is staying quiet.

Graphic by James Fay

Though admitting their fault for not doing a proper investigation when the event occurred during the 2010 playoffs, the NHL should still be held accountable for their actions

It’s no surprise to anyone that a sports league’s best interest to stay viable and out of the negative spotlight is to have the most squeaky-clean record as possible. From contractual dispute allegations to concussion protocol, the National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) is supposed to represent the players when a serious problem occurs. The sole purpose of creating the NHLPA was to have the player’s best interests in mind.

However, the NHL, NHLPA, and the Chicago Blackhawks’ handling of the Kyle Beach sexual assault allegations is nothing short of disappointing for not only the league, but professional sports altogether.

The sexual assault investigation that unfolded graphically depicting the events that took place in 2010 from May 23 to June 14 created a conundrum of he-said-she-said between some permanent and former Blackhawks staff.

The fact of the matter is that both the NHL and NHLPA want this issue to not attain more spotlight than it has already garnered. Ten years ago, this problem came to the attention of not only the Blackhawks front office but the NHLPA as well. Both the team and players’ association did nothing to resolve the situation at the time, failing to acknowledge the potential consequences this would have on the future of the league. Originally listed as John Doe, Beach bravely exposed his identity to place a face to the sexual abuse survivor.

No investigation was established, no aforementioned enquiries made, and no final verdict ever shared. Brad Aldrich was given the freedom to resign and pack his bags to another city, confidently handing out letters of recommendation written by seniors in the Blackhawks organization hence getting a position in the USA hockey program five months after resigning.

Upon interviewing all active parties in the 107-page report, a meeting within the organization was held to discuss the handling of the sexual allegations. Due to the Blackhawks’ chances of winning the Stanley Cup that year, the issue was tossed under the rug in the hopes that the truth would never re-emerge to the surface.

The precariousness for a 21-year-old player is baffling, especially at this level of sport. How does someone succumbing to a horrible experience committed by a member in a position of power get trumped due to the sole fact of winning a Stanley Cup?

An excerpt from the report reads: “it was decided that the group would not alert Human Resources or do anything about the incident during the playoffs so as not to disturb team chemistry.”

That year, the Blackhawks won the Cup, though Aldrich resigned after the playoffs — knowing well what he did, the Blackhawks allowed Aldrich to parade around the city of Chicago hoisting the cup like nothing ever happened.

The question that should be seriously highlighted is why this allegation got tossed under the rug by the league? The proven negligence from the NHL resulted in Aldrich finding a new job and led him to sexually assaulting a minor hockey player. Luckily, that incident did not go unnoticed, resulting in Aldrich receiving a nine-month prison sentence, and five years’ probation.

According to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, the league takes sexual misconduct very seriously. Though they may be telling the truth, their mishandling of the situation proves otherwise as it seems that they’re trying to silence the narrative and keep things quiet in order to protect the well-being of the league.

For example, in a press conference held online by Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly, Rick Westhead, the investigative journalist who broke the scandal, only got a chance to ask questions after other reporters highlighted that issue, despite the fact that many reporters had a chance to ask follow-ups 40 minutes into the webcam press conference.

Though the NHL is adamant that this issue should never happen and that they would provide all the necessary resources possible for future players, why would they try and silence the person who would know about the situation the most? How good are the resources they’re providing?

When Beach brought the situation to the attention of former Blackhawks mental skills coach Jim Gary, Beach alleged that in the meeting Gary partially placed blame on him for the incident that had transpired. When a confidant to Beach brought it to the attention of NHLPA Executive Director Don Fehr, other than assigning a therapist, the NHLPA did not act on the matter.

An internal investigation is set to take place regarding the NHLPA’s mishandling of the Beach case. This newly sanctioned internal investigation provides no solace for Beach or the underage victim. It’s a way for the league to save face, promoting to the public as a responsible association acknowledging what they haven’t done. If the NHLPA or the league for that matter really cared, Beach‘s experience with a former video coach would have been properly received and been attended to upon acknowledgement.