Chicago Blackhawks president of hockey operations and general manager Stan Bowman addressed the media on Thursday, saying he’ll give the ongoing investigation into assault allegations his full cooperation.
“The Blackhawks organization takes these allegations very seriously. It’s important for me to say off the top that I do not condone or tolerate harassment or assault of any type,” Bowman told reporters.
Late last month, the Blackhawks hired an outside firm to conduct an independent review of allegations that a former player was sexually assaulted by a then-video coach Brad Aldrich. This was the first time Bowman has spoken publicly about it.
“As you know, the Blackhawks have engaged an outside legal firm to conduct an independent review of these allegations, and we need to give the experts the necessary time and latitude to do their job well,” he said.
Bowman said he could not comment further on the case.
In a lawsuit filed on May 7 in Cook Country Circuit Court, a former Blackhawks player stated that then-video coach Brad Aldrich assaulted him and another unidentified Blackhawks player. He also stated that, upon informing an employee of Aldrich’s actions, the team did nothing.
According to TSN, the two players informed Paul Vincent, the team’s skills coach at the time, in May 2010 of Aldrich’s behaviour and Vincent then asked mental skills coach James Gary to follow up with both the players and team management. During a meeting with senior executives, including Bowman, Vincent asked the team to report the allegations to Chicago police but that request was denied.
After leaving the Blackhawks, Aldrich was convicted in 2013 in Michigan of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a student. He is now on that state’s registry of sex offenders. The student involved filed a separate lawsuit against the Blackhawks on May 26, stating the team provided positive references about Aldrich despite the allegations against him and did not take action to report his prior behaviour.
