Could the NHL have possibly handled this worse?
It's almost as though the NHL has learned nothing from the Chicago Blackhawks sexual assault scandal. We probably should not be surprised at this point
As I sit here, a little more than 24 hours after Kyle Beach’s courageous, gut-wrenching interview with Rick Westhead of TSN, I continue to ask one question. And that is: Could the NHL have possibly handled the fallout from the report detailing the Chicago Blackhawks’ sexual abuse scandal any worse than it has?
Perhaps a very astute damage-control firm will one day put together a very good brief of what not to do in a crisis situation based on the NHL’s handling of this file. It has been dismal. It has been disgraceful. It has been embarrassing. It has been tone-deaf in biblical proportions. Nothing about what the NHL has done to this point gives the impression that it has learned anything from this and that it is truly committed to being better moving forward.
In the days following the release of the Jenner & Block report, commissioner Gary Bettman has both publicly and privately made a point of reminding teams that if they see anything untoward, they’re encouraged to report it to a private and confidential hotline. Bettman sent out a memo Wednesday that was conveniently leaked out to league partners and other friendly media that was titled, Fostering a Safe and Inclusive Culture. And if you needed any further affirmation as to whose interests are being served, consider the third paragraph:
“Each day, all of us represent the NHL Shield. This is true regardless of whether your work function puts you in the locker room, on the ice, in an office or elsewhere. Collectively, we determine the success of the game and our business, and it starts with fundamental commitments to inclusion, safety and respect for all.”
Man, that really brings out all the feels, doesn’t it? The empathy just oozes out of Bettman’s words.
Bettman went on to then detail all club personnel are required to immediately (he underlined it) report to the commissioner or deputy commissioner, any behavior, “that is clearly inappropriate, unlawful or demonstrably abusive,” through team protocols or with the hotline the league established after the last time it was embarrassed. At no point in Bettman’s statement or memo were people directed to report anything unlawful to, you know, somebody in law enforcement. The key takeaway from that is, ‘Let us take care of it.’ What happens in Vegas and 31 other NHL cities stays in Vegas in 31 other NHL cities. Never mind that it’s this kind of culture of silence that got us in this mess in the first place.
Now let’s move on now to the way the league has handled two of the principal people named in the probe, Florida Panthers coach Joel Quenneville and Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff, both of whom were named in the report as people who met in then-Blackhawk president John McDonough’s office in May, 2010 and had some knowledge of the situation. At no point did the league, or the Jets, or the Panthers, ever think it might be a good idea to temporarily remove Cheveldayoff and Quenneville from their duties until they could meet with Bettman and a determination could be made on their futures.
Seeing Quenneville behind the Panthers’ bench for their 4-1 win over the Boston Bruins Wednesday night, just hours before his meeting with Bettman, was beyond horrendous from an optics standpoint for the league. So I emailed deputy commissioner Bill Daly today asking him why the league didn’t have Quenneville sit the game out and this is the response I received: “I don’t think it would have been appropriate for us to intervene in a situation where we haven’t given Joel a chance to speak to us directly. He is entitled to a fair process.”
Well, there’s a 107-page report done by a prestigious law firm that gave the NHL reason to believe Quenneville had knowledge of what was happening and did nothing. It had more than enough basis for Bettman to demand the meeting he had with Quenneville Thursday afternoon and it had every right to remove him from the bench until the mess could be sorted out one way or another.
Which brings us to the Jets and Panthers. In November, 2019, the Calgary Flames were faced with a similar situation when Akim Aliu tweeted that then-Flames coach Bill Peters hurled racial slurs at him when both were with the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League in 2009. Coincidentally, the IceHogs were the Blackhawks’ AHL affiliate and it happened the same season Kyle Beach was sexually assaulted by video coach Brad Aldrich. While the NHL and the Flames investigated Aliu’s allegations, Peters was kept by the Flames from running practice in Buffalo Nov. 26, missed the game against the Sabres the next night and did not return with the team on the charter to Calgary the next day. He resigned on Nov. 29.
The precedent was there and the Panthers should have used it. Clearly, the league failed to recognize this was the right thing to do. Clearly, Panthers’ ownership and GM Bill Zito failed on that front as well. It did nothing to dismiss the notion that the NHL and its teams, even after this debacle, put winning games and on-ice success ahead of any form of accountability.
And then, as if to rub salt directly into Kyle Beach’s raw and open wounds, the league sent out the following tweet after the Quenneville-led Panthers beat the Bruins and extended their record to 7-0-0 to start the season:
It was the steaming piece of dung on top of what was a dreadful day. You hope the NHL and those involved in it will learn from this, but the early returns are not encouraging. Not at all.