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It’s been a heavy week, to say the least.
The release of the Jenner & Block report into the Chicago Blackhawks sexual assault scandal and the fallout within that organization. The ongoing probe into Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and Florida Panthers coach Joel Quenneville for their respective roles. The courageous decision by Kyle Beach to reveal himself as one of the victims of former video coach Brad Aldrich and to speak publicly. The reminder of just how toxic the hockey world can be.
It’s all quite sickening, isn’t it? And the on-ice product seems rather trivial right now, given the situation. Which is why this week’s newsletter won’t include the usual fun and frivolity. I hope you’ll understand.
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Thanks to the dogged work of journalists like Rick Westhead and Katie Strange, a bright light has been shone on this very dark chapter. And, as Beach himself said in his emotional interview with Westhead, the healing can finally begin.
Much has already been said about this whole affair, and much more will be said in the coming days and weeks. Including from yours truly. As always, one hopes meaningful change will happen so that history doesn’t keep repeating itself. Colour me skeptical on that front.
We’ve already heard plenty of tone-deaf responses, including from current players who were part of that 2010 Blackhawks club. At the top of the list is Winnipegger Jonathan Toews, who perhaps should now be known as Captain “You Can’t Be” Serious for his ill-advised defence of Stan Bowman and Al MacIsaac on Wednesday night, just hours after Beach went public with his gut-wrenching story.
Memo to Toews: try reading the room. And didn’t your mother teach you that if you don’t have anything nice to say, it’s better to say nothing at all?
Not surprisingly, Toews also gave a complete denial of any previous knowledge, despite a mountain of evidence that it was well-known within the locker room what Aldrich did to Beach, to the point players were mocking and taunting him on the ice the following year.
(Beach, Brent Sopel, Nick Boynton, former assistant coach John Torchetti and several others have all confirmed this).
I have a hard time believing the leader of the ship was oblivious to what was happening around him.
Brian Cassella – TNS file photoChicago Blackhawks forward Kyle Beach in 2013 (Brian Cassella / TNS files)
Former teammate Duncan Keith, another key member of the leadership group, had a similar “Don’t know nuthin’” head-scratcher earlier in the day.
Need I remind you that Keith was one of 37 members of that Chicago team (players, coaches and various personnel) who declined to be interviewed as part of the probe. Which should speak volumes.
Having covered crime and justice for more than two decades prior to moving into the sports department in 2016, I was a near-daily witness to the damage sex abusers cause their victims. As such, nothing Beach said surprised me regarding the devastating toll this took on both his personal life and his professional career, including turning to alcohol and drugs as coping mechanisms.
Sadly, there are far too many stories just like his in the sports world. And, of course, the world in general. Which often leads to the kind of generational trauma and the cycle of violence that is all too common and seemingly impossible to break.
Part of that is because of the culture of silence and so-called wilful blindness that exists, which was on full display from every single member of the Chicago management group in that May 2010 meeting in which Aldrich’s actions were discussed, and then essentially ignored.
As we heard in the report, their focus was on one thing: winning the Stanley Cup at all costs. Everything else be damned.
Well, we now know there was a tremendous cost, once that took more than a decade to fully register. And while the names of the players will change, it’s hard not to imagine there’s plenty more of these types of buried scandals just waiting to be unearthed. Not to mention new ones happening right under our eyes.
My final word on this subject, at least for today: if you see something, say something. Silence is complicity. And, as always, actions speak louder than words.
Take care of yourself, and each other.
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