GM Stan Bowman, Al MacIsaac out after Chicago Blackhawks buried sexual assault allegations
General manager Stan Bowman and top hockey operations executive Al MacIsaac are no longer Chicago Blackhawks employees after an independent investigation’s findings, released on Tuesday, revealed team executives buried sexual assault allegations levied against video coach Brad Aldrich that were brought to their attention in 2010.
Bowman issued a statement through the Blackhawks saying he “stepped aside,” which implied it was his decision. The team said only executives involved in the 2010 incident, including MacIsaac, were “no longer employed.”
Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz said Kyle Davidson, vice president of hockey strategy and analytics, will take over Bowman’s role an interim basis while a search is conducted for “new hockey leadership.”
The Blackhawks were also fined $2 million by the NHL, upon the findings of the result, which pales in penalty to the $3 million New Jersey was fined for Ilya Kovalchuk’s illegal contract or the draft picks the Arizona Coyotes were docked for illegally physically testing draft-eligible prospects.
In June, the Blackhawks hired Chicago-based firm Jenner & Block to conduct an independent investigation following a lawsuit that had been filed by a former player, named John Doe in court and the report.
Jenner & Block’s 107-page report, which included interviews and statements from Aldrich, 139 witnesses, 21 current and former players and 14 members of Chicago’s 2009-10 Stanley Cup winning team, was released publicly on Tuesday. [Content warning: Graphic descriptions of sexual assault.]
“The report is both disturbing and difficult to read. It speaks for itself,” Wirtz said in a prepared statement during a media briefing. “We talk a lot about hockey culture. I believe one of the beautiful parts of our game is the focus on team success over individual achievements and accolades.
“But that cannot come at the expense of individual safety and well-being. It is clear that in 2010, the executives of this organization put team performance above all else. John Doe deserves better from the Blackhawks.”
According to the report, MacIsaac – then Sr. Director of Hockey Administration – was told by a team employee of a sexual encounter that occurred between John Doe, a 20-year-old Blackhawks player who was an extra on the roster during Chicago’s playoff run, and then-video coach Aldrich.
MacIsaac passed that information along, according to the report, to Jim Gary – the Blackhawks’ mental skills coach and counselor – who gathered details on a story that Gary “believed to be true: that Aldrich was pressuring John Doe to have sex with him and that Aldrich told John Doe that if he did not comply, Aldrich could harm John Doe’s career.”
On May 23, 2010, one hour after the Blackhawks secured their spot in the Stanley Cup Final by virtue of winning the Western Conference, Chicago’s senior executives met in then-president and CEO John McDonough’s office to discuss the incident and Gary’s findings.
According to the report, present in the room were: McDonough, Bowman, MacIsaac, then-executive vice president Jay Blunk, then-assistant general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff, and then-head coach Joel Quenneville.
[Cheveldayoff is now GM of the Winnipeg Jets; Quenneville is now head coach of the Florida Panthers; McDonough and Blunk departed the organization in 2020.]
“All of the participants recalled being informed that there was an incident between Aldrich and John Doe involving an unwelcome sexual advance,” the report said.
Bowman recalled, according to the report, that McDonough and Quenneville made comments during the meeting “about the challenge of the getting to the Stanley Cup Final and a desire to focus on the team and the playoffs.”
MacIsaac later told another team employee that McDonough “didn’t want any negative publicity during the Stanley Cup Final.”
Bowman also recalled McDonough referenced his former employer, the Chicago Cubs, saying “the Blackhawks might never make it this far in the playoffs again and that they needed to think about when they were going to handle the issue.”
So McDonough, as the team’s highest-ranking official, kept the information to himself until after the playoffs concluded, according to the report.
“Our investigation uncovered no evidence that McDonough or anyone else contacted [Blackhawks] Human Resources or initiated an investigation between May 23 and June 14.”
Aldrich, then 27, was allowed to continue in his role as video coach during the Stanley Cup Final. The Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup on June 9 in Philadelphia. Aldrich celebrated with the team on the ice.
One day later, on June 10 back in Chicago, Aldrich then made another unwanted “sexual advance” and physically touched a 22-year-old Blackhawks intern after a night of partying.
On June 14, more than three weeks after he first became aware of the allegations, McDonough finally informed Blackhawks Human Relations that Aldrich made a sexual advance on John Doe, the player, back in May.
“According to the Director of Human Relations, McDonough also informed her about the May 23 meeting in his office, which McDonough said it was decided that the group would not alert Human Resources or do anything about the incident during the playoffs so as to not disturb team chemistry.”
Two days after being informed of the incident, Blackhawks HR met with Aldrich and gave him the option to undergo an investigation of the sexual encounter with John Doe or to resign.
Aldrich was paid regularly through Aug. 31, 2010, received $22,622 in severance pay, and was paid a $15,000 playoff bonus. He also negotiated to partake in the tradition of his own day with the Stanley Cup, which was granted. The Blackhawks then engraved Aldrich’s name on the Stanley Cup that October, after he had resigned from the team, he participated in the team’s banner raising ceremony at United Center and was awarded a championship ring.
Following his resignation from the Blackhawks, Aldrich continued to sexually assault others.
A former high school hockey player filed a lawsuit last summer alleging that the Blackhawks provided Aldrich “positive references to future employers as a hockey coach despite having knowledge of his sexual assaults” and “failed to report Bradley Aldrich to any hockey or coach organizations of oversight.”
In 2013, Aldrich was convicted of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in an unrelated incident involving a high school student in Michigan.
Tuesday’s thorough report sent shrapnel flying throughout the National Hockey League.
Bowman resigned later Tuesday afternoon as general manager of Team USA’s entry in the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.
What’s next for Quenneville and Cheveldayoff? NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement he would arrange personal meetings with both men to discuss their roles in the incident and would “reserve judgment on next steps, if any, with regard to them.”
The Jets issued a statement from Cheveldayoff saying: “I have shared everything I know about this matter as part my participation in Jenner & Block’s investigation. That is reflected in today’s investigation report. Further, I look forward to my discussion with Commissioner Bettman at the soonest possible date to continue to cooperate fully with the National Hockey League. I will reserve any further comment until after that conversation has been conducted.”
Quenneville may be facing more scrutiny, as the report did not indicate Cheveldayoff – the most junior level staffer in the room – had much to say.
According to the report, in that May 23, 2010 meeting, Bowman said Quenneville shook his head and remarked “it was hard for the team to get to where they were and they could not deal with the issue now.”
After Aldrich’s resigned over the sexual encounter, Quenneville also wrote Aldrich a glowing performance review included in the report that said: “Aldrich did a great job for the coaching staff in preparing us for all of our meetings and coordinating several tasks that we forward his way. Brad has several people relying on him at the same moment and he has a way of deflecting and accommodating everyone at once … Congratulations on winning the Stanley Cup!”
The Panthers said in a statement that “accordingly, we have no comment,” citing Bettman’s announcement that the commissioner with soon meet with Quenneville.
Meanwhile, as the rest of the NHL comes to grips with the pitfalls of tight-lipped hockey culture, the Blackhawks are attempting to pick up the pieces of a shattered reputation – a stunning fall from grace for the so-called model organization that was the envy of the league in a decade that saw them win three Stanley Cups beginning with that run in 2010 that will be forever stained.