Aren’t these supposedly independent self-examinations so practical? The NHL Players’ Association released a report on Friday (more specifically on a late Friday afternoon on a holiday weekend) showing that NHLPA Executive Director Donald Fehr did nothing wrong in dealing with reports of allegations of sexual assault by a member of the Blackhawks organization Has.
Former Blackhawks player Kyle Beach, who bravely spoke out as John Doe in the case against Brad Aldrich last year, accused the then video coach of sexual abuse. The Blackhawks organization knew about this in 2010 but chose not to take any action until the Stanley Cup run was over. Aldrich was asked to retire this postseason and Beach sued the club in 2021. The lawsuit was settled out of court in December.
Although Fehr was contacted multiple times about concerns related to Aldrich after Beach spoke to NHLPA officials about the abuse he was subjected to, this independent investigation, which Fehr himself commissioned, found that “we found no individual wrongdoing or institutional wrongdoing.” failures in the policies or procedures of either Fehr, NHLPA personnel, or the SABH program in handling Beach’s reports.”
beach itself spoke out against Fehr’s inaction in November, telling reporters: “For him to turn his back on the players when his only job is to protect the players at all costs, I don’t know how that can be your leader. I don’t know how he can be responsible. If that’s what he’s going to do, if a player comes up to you and tells you something, whether it’s abuse, whether it’s drugs, whether it’s anything, you should stand behind the players, and they definitely didn’t have mine. “
Given that statement, this part of the report’s findings is particularly rich. Submitted for your consideration: “Beach’s warnings about Aldrich were not addressed because of misunderstanding and misunderstanding, but because of individual or systemic failure.”
Misunderstandings and misunderstandings of course. Certainly no single flaw or systemic oppression prevented Beach from getting the help he was looking for. No one wanted to screw it up – it was just an accident, folks! Understood! Just a misunderstanding about sexual assault!
Frustrating, but not exactly unexpected. Beach was abandoned by those sent to protect him again, refusing to take responsibility for not doing it for him when he was a 20-year-old rookie.
