Kyle Beach teammate sues Blackhawks in sexual assault case

In recent years, the Chicago Blackhawks have fallen out of favor in the field hockey world. The club, which has traded many players in recent years, is mostly despised for what happened in 2010.

During the playoffs, video coach Brad Aldrich abused his position of authority with Kyle Beach, leading to an accusation of sexual assault by the former prospect.

The Hawks paid a $2 million fine to Aldrich for his part in the incident. Because, yes, just about everyone was probably aware of the allegations, according to reports.

Even though the second floor has been cleaned up in the wake of the scandal, let’s just say that the organization has taken a nasty hit. Seeing the players defend the management of the time or – worse still – blame the victim had not gone down well.

And rightly so.

The fact that the club was punished less severely than the Senators were for the Evgenii Dadonov case, for example, added fuel to the fire in some people’s eyes in the last few days.

But now, to add fuel to the fire, we’ve learned that a teammate of Kyle Beach’s on the reserve team (Black Aces) from the 2010 playoffs is also accusing Brad Aldrich of sexual assault.

This is what journalist Phillip Thompson, who works for the Chicago Tribune, has reported.

As reported by the Chicago reporter, the prospect in question, who identifies himself as John Doe, was allegedly “groomed, harassed, threatened and assaulted” by Brad Aldrich during the year of the first Stanley Cup.

The lawyers handling the case accuse the Blackhawks in the sexual assault case of “total indifference and/or conscious disregard for the safety of their employees, including John Doe” in the case.

What the complaint states is that the Hawks chose to sweep the situation under the rug because the Stanley Cup was in the club’s sights. This kind of prioritization is horrible.

It’s clear from John Doe’s complaint that this mentality has to change. There should be no difference between a playoff club and a rebuilding club.

Putting winning ahead of players’ mental or even physical health is a thing of the past. – Excerpt from the complaint

Extension

When you consider that the Blackhawks mishandled the Kyle Beach case, and when you consider that Brad Aldrich was the target of another complaint (in 2013 at a high school), you have to wonder how many stories like this will come out in the next few years.

Hopefully, notes will be taken. If we can’t change the past, we can at least take steps for the future. It’s very important to do so.