The Chicago Blackhawks sexual abuse scandal and the NHL’s dismal reaction to it have laid bare a systemic rot at the heart of hockey’s old boys’ club
On 23 May 2010, “within an hour after the Blackhawks won the playoff game that secured their place in the Stanley Cup Finals,” members of Chicago’s senior management, along with then-head coach Joel Quenneville and team counselor Jim Gary, had a meeting about an allegation of sexual assault involving a coach and player.
The story they heard was that then-video coach Brad Aldrich had tried to “get under the sheets” with a Blackhawks player, then known only as John Doe, but who we now know is Kyle Beach. The details, as they’ve been since alleged, are that Aldrich had invited Beach to his apartment, gave him dinner and drinks, and turned on some porn. Aldrich then tried to be physically intimate. Beach, apparently, hit him. At that point, Aldrich allegedly stood up, grabbed a small baseball bat, and told Beach that “if you don’t lay down and enjoy it, I’ll make sure you never play in the NHL or walk again.”
