Stan Bowman ‘had encouraging conversation’ with Kyle Beach the night before being named Oilers GM

The latest hiree in the provincial capital of Alberta was introduced to the media, and spoke about a hot-button topic.

On Wednesday, the Edmonton Oilers announced they have hired Stan Bowman as the team’s new general manager.

During his introductory press conference, Bowman addressed the elephant in the room. The league suspended the former Chicago Blackhawks GM, along with former coach Joel Quenneville and assistant GM Al McIsaac, after findings of an independent investigation deemed the team buried sexual assault allegations against video coach Brad Aldrich. One of the players Aldrich assaulted was Kyle Beach, who has since spoken out about what happened.

Bowman told the Edmonton media that he had a phone call with Beach on Tuesday night, prior to the Oilers’ official announcement that he was being hired. Bowman stated that they talked for about 15 minutes.

“I will say, it was a very encouraging conversation,” Bowman confirmed.

“My goal in reaching out was to apologize and to let him know I felt for everything he had went through.”

Bowman also addressed the displeasure some fans had with the team’s decision to bring him, despite his checkered past.

“I understand it, I respect people’s opinion,” Bowman said. “One thing I’ve learned over time is that it’s very hard to talk people into things, so I’m not going to make an argument to feel a certain way. I respect how they feel.”

Edmonton’s CEO of hockey operations, Jeff Jackson, also discussed the looming cloud over the hiring of the three-time Stanley Cup champion executive.

“What happened to Kyle Beach in 2010 was wrong,” Jackson said. “It was horrible, it wasn’t handled properly at the time. I think Stan has acknowledged and taken full responsibility for the inadequate response.”

Bowman also assured that he will do whatever is needed to avoid the events from 14 years ago from happening again.

“I can tell you without a doubt that those things will never happen on my watch again,” Bowman said.

After being suspended, Bowman reportedly did a lot of work to better himself and educate himself on the effects of sexual abuse. He connected with former NHLer, and noted sexual assault victim, Sheldon Kennedy. Bowman volunteered with Kennedy’s group, Respect Group Inc., and made such an impact that Kennedy endorsed Bowman getting another chance in the NHL.

Bowman comes to an Oilers team that just made it to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final under the recently departed Ken Holland.