Blackhawks refused to report alleged sex abuse of players to police: source

[Kin]

Looks like Quenneville is done in Florida.  Makes the decision to let him coach last night all the more absurd

I have zero issue with Q coaching last night because the meeting with Bettman was today and as long as he gets the punishment right it's good. Same goes with Chevy as his meeting has been moved up to tomorrow.

I think that's kind of bull#$#% argument.  This wasn't a case of not knowing what happened at this point.  If a player elbows a guy in the head and his team has a game the next night but the league doesn't have the ability to do an in person hearing until 2-3 days later you don't wait to suspend the guy.  He sits that night.

Ignoring the decade of inaction, the report was out.  It was a horrendous take to let him coach that game.

Yeah. Even from a dispassionate standpoint, like, what's the upside in letting Quenneville coach? Like you're going to appear callous and indifferent to what are some pretty serious findings by letting him coach among a lot of people so what's the counterweight? If Quenneville had to take the night off for his health or family concerns it would probably barely rate a mention.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

https://twitter.com/PR_NHL/status/1454113183074066435

 

[herman]

https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1454077126278357000
Friedman published a quick podcast this morning, by himself, on this topic that he appeared to be avoiding.

 

[ZBBM]

https://twitter.com/PR_NHL/status/1454113183074066435

I'm kind of a grab-the-pitchfork guy but taking Bettman's statement at face value, this seems like a reasonable decision.  Everyone's role should be assessed independently.

 

[ZBBM]

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/29/sports/climate-pledge-arena-seattle.html

This is very cool.  Leiweke is showing some leadership. 

 

[Zee]

https://twitter.com/PR_NHL/status/1454113183074066435

I'm kind of a grab-the-pitchfork guy but taking Bettman's statement at face value, this seems like a reasonable decision.  Everyone's role should be assessed independently.

I wouldn't trust anything coming out of Bettman's mouth.

Also, assistant GM isn't part of the senior leadership?

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Also, assistant GM isn't part of the senior leadership?

This is semantic-y but I can kinda/sorta see where this is coming from. At the time Cheveldayoff would have been a 40-year old in his first season in NHL management. Of all the people in the room during that first meeting about Aldrich his voice probably would have been the quietest. Granted I still consider him pretty complicit in all of this. His voice may have been the quietest but he was still in a position to do something and chose not to.

 

[hap_leaf]

"With deep regret and contrition, I announce my resignation as head coach of the Florida Panthers," Quenneville said in a statement. "I want to express my sorrow for the pain this young man, Kyle Beach, suffered. My former team the Blackhawks failed Kyle and I own my share of that. I want to reflect on how all of this happened and take the time to educate myself on ensuring hockey spaces are safe for everyone."

I wonder how many years he had that rehearsed in the back of his mind, knowing one day he would be speaking it...probably made it unfortunately easier for him.

 

[L K]

Also, assistant GM isn't part of the senior leadership?

This is semantic-y but I can kinda/sorta see where this is coming from. At the time Cheveldayoff would have been a 40-year old in his first season in NHL management. Of all the people in the room during that first meeting about Aldrich his voice probably would have been the quietest. Granted I still consider him pretty complicit in all of this. His voice may have been the quietest but he was still in a position to do something and chose not to.

I?ll buy the argument about power discrepancy but that requires accepting the argument that a 40 year old man doesn?t understand that covering up sex assault isn?t the right move.  I?m not sure I can agree with the NHL?s position here.

He has had 10 years to come out on this and back the victims and given that he?s not a witness for Kyle and the other John Doe?s makes me still question how the NHL handles this

 

[Kin]

Also, assistant GM isn't part of the senior leadership?

This is semantic-y but I can kinda/sorta see where this is coming from. At the time Cheveldayoff would have been a 40-year old in his first season in NHL management. Of all the people in the room during that first meeting about Aldrich his voice probably would have been the quietest. Granted I still consider him pretty complicit in all of this. His voice may have been the quietest but he was still in a position to do something and chose not to.

I?ll buy the argument about power discrepancy but that requires accepting the argument that a 40 year old man doesn?t understand that covering up sex assault isn?t the right move.  I?m not sure I can agree with the NHL?s position here.

To somewhat play devil's advocate, and to be clear I'd have been fine if the NHL did to Cheveldayoff what they did to Quenneville, I wonder if the NHL's position is that Cheveldayoff had very little say in how the organization responded and that any act he took would have been essentially of his own volition outside of the team's power structure. The NHL, I think, can make a reasonable argument that they do have jurisdiction when it comes to how people in authority run the teams they coach/gm/president but less so when it comes to moral judgements on whether or not Cheveldayoff did enough on his own to address the issue.

And, again, to be clear I think we all agree that he didn't do enough and he made the wrong choice but I think it would be fair for the NHL to say that in Cheveldayoff's case if he should be fired, it should be the Jets who fire him.

 

[Joe S.]

https://twitter.com/walsha/status/1455220192707899392?s=20

 

[dappleganger]

Not great.  :-\

 

[herman]

https://twitter.com/mikeystephens81/status/1455278138833973258

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

https://twitter.com/marnylandersen/status/1455475186803879940

 

[herman]

https://twitter.com/ken_campbell27/status/1455392166914756614
Ever since going independent, Ken Campbell has been taking very good swings.

 

[Bullfrog]

I'm not sure why Bettman has to apologize to Beach.

The Chicago Blackhawks need to apologize, profusely.

 

[bustaheims]

I'm not sure why Bettman has to apologize to Beach.

The Chicago Blackhawks need to apologize, profusely.

I guess that depends on how much Bettman knew before the recent reports and what action he took or didn't take based on that knowledge. I think the league as a whole needs to apologize for their failures in these situations - the head offices, the NHLPA . . . everyone who had some knowledge of the situation but didn't take the appropriate steps or follow up to ensure the appropriate steps had been taken - but Bettman specifically apologizing to Beach? I don't know if we know enough about just how much detail the league's head offices had about the situation and how it was being handled to be able to make a clear call there.

 

[Guilt Trip]

I'm not sure why Bettman has to apologize to Beach.

The Chicago Blackhawks need to apologize, profusely.

I guess that depends on how much Bettman knew before the recent reports and what action he took or didn't take based on that knowledge. I think the league as a whole needs to apologize for their failures in these situations - the head offices, the NHLPA . . . everyone who had some knowledge of the situation but didn't take the appropriate steps or follow up to ensure the appropriate steps had been taken - but Bettman specifically apologizing to Beach? I don't know if we know enough about just how much detail the league's head offices had about the situation and how it was being handled to be able to make a clear call there.

I could be wrong but from what I heard, the report said both the Wirtz family and the NHL didn't know.

 

[Bullfrog]

I read the report in its entirety. It doesn't actually mention Wirtz or the NHL. It's focused almost solely on the action/inaction of the Chicago Blackhawks management.

Edit: after reading the report, I'm comfortable with the decision to not discipline Cheveldayov. He would be worthy of a reprimand, I think, for passive inactions, but Bowman, Quenneville, and especially McDonough deserve punishment. Bowman and McDonough even more so than Quenneville. While Quenneville was awful for basically suggesting this would be a distraction to the playoffs, Bowman was the GM and McDonough his boss. They all have a minor defense in that McDonough said he was taking care of it, so they have assumed it was between McDonough and HR and Beach. Problem is McDonough waited weeks to mention it to HR and then HR gives Alrich an out ("you've done a terrible, illegal thing, but we'll let you resign with dignity....")

This, to me is a valid defense in the first few weeks. There was confusion about who was dealing with it and they all assumed someone else (McDonough) was dealing it. The defense ends there though. No one followed up afterward to ensure it was dealt with. That's completely inexcusable, especially from the upper ranks (GM, head coach). Keep in mind, Aldrich was directly answerable to Quenneville.

 

[Frank E]

I read the report in its entirety. It doesn't actually mention Wirtz or the NHL. It's focused almost solely on the action/inaction of the Chicago Blackhawks management.

Edit: after reading the report, I'm comfortable with the decision to not discipline Cheveldayov. He would be worthy of a reprimand, I think, for passive inactions, but Bowman, Quenneville, and especially McDonough deserve punishment. Bowman and McDonough even more so than Quenneville. While Quenneville was awful for basically suggesting this would be a distraction to the playoffs, Bowman was the GM and McDonough his boss. They all have a minor defense in that McDonough said he was taking care of it, so they have assumed it was between McDonough and HR and Beach. Problem is McDonough waited weeks to mention it to HR and then HR gives Alrich an out ("you've done a terrible, illegal thing, but we'll let you resign with dignity....")

This, to me is a valid defense in the first few weeks. There was confusion about who was dealing with it and they all assumed someone else (McDonough) was dealing it. The defense ends there though. No one followed up afterward to ensure it was dealt with. That's completely inexcusable, especially from the upper ranks (GM, head coach). Keep in mind, Aldrich was directly answerable to Quenneville.

Thank you for that insight Frog.  It's good to hear from someone who has actually read the report.