Commissioner Bettman and Beach spoke about how the NHL could better protect players in the wake of the sexual abuse allegations. Beach said that he was sexually assaulted by then-Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich when he was called up to the NHL as a possible fill-in for the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs as a 20-year-old player for Chicago's American Hockey League affiliate.
"There was discussion about what could be done in the future to assure this kind of thing did not occur again," Susan Loggins, a lawyer representing Beach in a lawsuit against the Blackhawks, told The Associated Press in an email.
Loggins said Commissioner Bettman articulated his "sincere regret" over what had happened to Beach, offering the League's help, including with psychological services.
Beach was interviewed on TSN's "SportsCentre" on Wednesday to detail the allegations of abuse after the release Tuesday of an independent investigation by Jenner & Block LLP by Blackhawks owner and chairman Rocky Wirtz, CEO Danny Wirtz and Reid Schar, a former federal prosecutor and partner at Jenner & Block.
When the report was released, it was announced that Stan Bowman, the Blackhawks general manager, was stepping down. On Thursday, Florida Panthers coach Joel Quenneville, who was the Blackhawks coach in 2010, resigned.
The NHL fined the Blackhawks $2 million for what Commissioner Bettman said was "inadequate internal procedures and insufficient and untimely response in the handling of matters" relating to the accusation.
Beach alleged he was sexually assaulted by Aldrich on May 8 or 9, 2010, according to the report. Beach, now 31, said he told skating coach Paul Vincent what had happened sometime between May 12-19 during the Western Conference Final against the San Jose Sharks.
On May 23, an hour after Chicago advanced to the Cup Final, there was a meeting where mental skills coach and team counselor Jim Gary informed six individuals then with Blackhawks senior management what Beach had told him about the encounter, according to the report.
With the resignations of Bowman and Quenneville, then-assistant general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff is the only person who allegedly attended the meeting still working in the NHL. It was announced Friday that the NHL would not discipline Cheveldayoff, now the general manager of the Winnipeg Jets.
Senior director of hockey administration Al MacIsaac was let go by the Blackhawks on Tuesday. John McDonough was fired as president and CEO on April 27, 2020, and Gary and senior vice president Jay Blunk left the organization this offseason.
