Tag: Stan Bowman

The Oilers hiring disgraced ex-Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman is just business as usual for the NHL

It was always a matter of ‘when’ Stan Bowman would get hired again, even if he shouldn’t get the chance

When it came time for the Chicago Blackhawks to decide whether or not sexual assault against one of their own players should even be reported to the authorities just as the team clinched a spot in the 2010 Stanley Cup Final, general manager Stan Bowman was one of seven members of Chicago’s front office to turn their heads and look the other way.

When it came time for the Edmonton Oilers to pick themselves back up after a devastating loss in Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, they turned to Bowman.

Make no mistake, someone would’ve hired him sooner if they could. The NHL reinstated Bowman on July 1 after exiling him for nearly three years following the Brad Aldrich scandal in Chicago. Former Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville and executive Al MacIsaac were reinstated, too, and it’s hard to imagine they won’t find gainful employment in hockey’s top circuit soon enough.

This is the NHL, after all. A league of 32 teams featuring 10 active head coaches who have each led at least three other clubs. Established names die hard. Anyone expecting morals and values to win the day (any day, really) should look elsewhere for their hockey fix.

This is the end result of process that rightfully and forever tainted one of the sport’s most iconic names: Bowman now gets to manage a roster featuring the best player in the world in Connor McDavid.

“I am excited and pleased to be welcoming Stan to the Edmonton Oilers,”  Oilers CEO of Hockey Operations Jeff Jackson said in a statement.

“I believe his vast experience and proven success in this role, together with the important work he has done in his time away from the game, fits our goal of being best in class when it comes to all facets of our organization. Through our many conversations, we share a common vision of where we are as a team and what is required to achieve another Stanley Cup title.”

The most surprising aspect of Jackson’s comments, of course, being that he even mentioned Bowman’s “time away” from the sport.

It’s hard to feel anything but nihilistic — though anger and embarrassment put up a good fight — because this is just what hockey does. It allows someone like Mitchell Miller get drafted despite knowing he bullied a Black classmate with developmental disabilities. Then it allows Miller to get signed (and quickly dropped) again after fans pressured the Arizona Coyotes Utah Hockey Club to renounce his rights. It lets Trevor Connelly get drafted in the first round this year despite similarly concerning incidents. It lets Logan Mailloux, who was charged with sharing explicit pictures of a sexual act without the consent of his partner, get drafted even after he asked to be removed from the prospect pool. None of those incidents even begin to cover the Hockey Canada mess, either.

Sense a pattern here? The next time you wonder about why a GM would bring troubled players into the league, remember it’s people like Bowman who are being empowered to do so.

By all accounts — for whatever those are worth — Bowman has put in work during his exile to grow. That’s great. Good for him. It does not mean he deserves to work in hockey ever again. Regardless of what his last name is.

Maybe Edmonton fans will get as worked up over Bowman’s arrival as Arizona Utah supporters did when Miller was drafted forcing the Oilers to cut ties. But don’t hold your breath.

There’s a reason Edmonton’s interest in Bowman didn’t leak before his hiring. The team knew there would be tremendous backlash and decided to make his employment official before anything could talk them out of it.

That’s NHL logic for you. The same decision-making process that led seven allegedly grown men in the Blackhawks’ front office to protect a predator instead of their own player because it might disrupt team chemistry.

As the player who began his pro career living in Bowman’s basement likes to say, that’s hockey, baby.

The NHL shamelessly reinstated disgraced ex-Blackhawks leaders right at the start of free agency

Reinstating Joel Quenneville and Stan Bowman is disgusting enough, and the NHL made it worse.

After being banned for more than two years for their roles in the Chicago Blackhawks’ sexual assault scandal with former player Kyle Beach, the NHL made the puzzling decision to reinstate ex-Chicago general manager Stan Bowman and ex-head coach Joel Quenneville to full league service on Monday afternoon.

Both are eligible to work again starting on July 10 after the NHL published a milquetoast press release citing how they’ve “demonstrated sincere remorse.”

Letting Bowman and Quenneville work in hockey in any capacity again is disgusting enough. Given their respective roles in poorly addressing a sexual assault on their own team — to say the least — they are two people who should probably never step foot near any ice rink again.

The kicker is that the NHL dropped the official announcement of Bowman and Quenneville’s reinstatement on a late Monday afternoon of an exciting start to the 2024 free agency period. Why, it’s almost as if the league wanted as little attention as possible on letting two alleged monsters work in pro hockey once more:

Every time you think the NHL has turned a corner, it goes and willingly steps on a rake like this. It is not a stretch to imagine that the league knew people would rightfully frown upon Bowman and Quenneville’s reinstatement. Because in no way, shape, or form is a two-year ban sufficient for what these two men were reportedly responsible for. Most would likely agree that their NHL bans should have been permanent.

So, rather than have a zero-tolerance policy regarding even any partial enabling of sexual assault, the NHL seemingly tried to drop the news of Bowman and Quenneville’s reinstatement right as they thought everyone who follows their animated husk of a league would be drooling over player acquisition news.

It’s transparent and it’s awful. NHL leaders who green-lighted both the reinstatements and the timing of the Bowman and Quenneville news should be ashamed.

NHL fans ripped the league’s decision and timing of Stan Bowman and Joel Quenneville’s reinstatement

Flashback: Jonathan Toews brings Stanley Cup to Notre Dame football game

Oh captain…

Thursday night marks the end of an era in Chicago sports.  Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews won’t be resigned by the team this off-season, meaning his time for now with the organization he helped to three Stanley Cups comes to an end.

Toews has had a variety of issues health wise of late but will go down as one of the very best and most important players in Blackhawks history.

Back in the late summer of 2015 the Blackhawks were in the middle of training camp that did for a time annually at Notre Dame.  It happened to line up that the Irish were hosting Georgia Tech an afternoon which meant the defending Stanley Cup champs were around for a game and Toews brought Lord Stanley on a field trip.

“Worth the hype” is how Toews described attending his first Notre Dame football game while donning a Notre Dame cap.  You can check out the video here as he’s interviewed by NBC Sports sideline reporter Kathryn Tappan.

Toews happened to be carrying the most famous trophy in North American sports with him at that moment but the real Notre Dame connection to those championship Blackhawks teams was with former general manager Stan Bowman who attended college at Notre Dame.

Personally, Toews time in Chicago coming to an end makes me feel a bit old.  I was a senior in college when he was a star rookie and although he’s just 33-years old, it feels like a lifetime ago when he and Patrick Kane debuted.  In short order they helped turn the tide of one of the most laughable organizations in professional sports.  The Blackhawks won their first Stanley Cup in nearly 50 years in 2010 and did so again in 2013 and 2015.

His Blackhawks career didn’t end in the way of a ferry tale like it began, but his impact is undeniable.  All the best to the captain in whatever the future brings.

Oh, and for whatever it’s worth, Notre Dame beat Georgia Tech that day 30-22 in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score indicated.

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Hockey fans rallied around Kyle Beach after he came forward as ‘John Doe’ in Blackhawks sexual assault case

Kyle Beach is a true hero.

Editor’s note: This story contains mentions of sexual assault. Please proceed with caution.

Kyle Beach, the No. 11 overall pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, has come forward as John Doe 1 in the Chicago Blackhawks sexual assault case.

In a harrowing interview with Rick Westhead of TSN on Wednesday, Beach officially stepped forward as the first survivor of Brad Aldrich, former video coach of the Blackhawks during the team’s 2010 Stanley Cup run. Beach said Aldrich sexually assaulted him in May 2010 and then was threatened into keeping quiet about it for fear of retribution.

On Tuesday, law firm Jenner & Block released a 107-page report after completing an independent investigation into the two lawsuits lobbied at Chicago earlier this spring. After the findings were made public, general manager Stan Bowman — who was the team’s GM in 2010 — stepped away from the organization.

You can watch Beach’s 25-minute interview with Westhead below. Trigger warnings on the video for discussions of sexual assault.

There is still likely fallout to come from the investigation’s findings, with Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and Florida Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville both set to meet with commissioner Gary Bettman to discuss their roles on the 2010 Blackhawks team.

On Wednesday, shortly after Beach’s interview went public, the Blackhawks released a statement of their own.

There has been no word, however, on what the “changes and improvements” are within the Chicago organization.

After Beach came forward on TSN with an incredibly brave interview, the hockey world rallied around the player for his courage and conviction in speaking his truth publicly.

Blackhawks sexual assault scandal yet another grim reminder of hockey’s culture problem

Chicago Blackhawks sexual assault scandal: A timeline with everything you need to know

A complete timeline of every major piece of news in the Blackhawks scandal.

Editor’s note: This story contains mentions of sexual assault. Please proceed with caution.

Back in May 2021, Brad Aldrich, former video coach of the Chicago Blackhawks during the team’s Stanley Cup run in 2010, was accused of sexual assault by two unnamed players on the team. In the months since the original report, which sparked a major investigation, there have been a lot moving pieces around this story as it continues to unfold.

In late October, however, the case got kicked wide open with the release of a 107-page report from law firm Jenner & Block after an independent investigation sanctioned by Chicago. There’s a lot of information to sift through, especially in the wake of the recent findings, but here is everything you need to know about the Blackhawks sexual assault scandal and the fallout from it all.

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Blackhawks sexual assault scandal yet another grim reminder of hockey’s culture problem

Hockey’s toxic culture is on display once again.

Editor’s note: This story contains mentions of sexual assault. Please proceed with caution.

Nothing about the revelations made public from the Chicago Blackhawks organization on Tuesday should be a shock for anyone who follows the NHL. Disgusting? Yes. Horrifying? Absolutely. Shameful and pathetic? One hundred percent. Shocking? No, not if you’ve been paying any attention to hockey for any length of time.

On Tuesday, the Blackhawks shared the findings of law firm Jenner & Block’s independent investigation into sexual assault allegations made against former video coach Brad Aldrich during the team’s Stanley Cup run in 2010. Two lawsuits were filed against Aldrich which alleged that he sexually assaulted a former player in May 2010, received a positive reference letter from the organization upon his departure, then went on to sexually assault a high school player in 2013.

Due to the report, Chicago general manager Stan Bowman has stepped aside from his role, and has vacated his position as the GM of the 2022 U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team. Other organizational members remaining from 2010 — including Al MacIsaac, senior vice president of hockey operations — have left the team as well. The NHL is also fining the Blackhawks organization $2 million “for the organization’s inadequate internal procedures and insufficient and untimely response” on the matter.

This has been, without a doubt, the biggest scandal the NHL has seen in its modern history. And we’ve seen many in recent years, from Mike Babcock’s alleged verbal abuse against former players to Bill Peters allegedly using racial slurs against Akim Aliu. Hockey culture has always been rotten to the core, and this incident is yet another reminder that this suffering and hate is what our favorite sport has been built upon.

And it sucks! It really, truly does. Not just from a hockey fan perspective, but, first and foremost, for the countless victims of hockey culture who have had their lives irrevocably changed by the toxic cesspool that encompasses every part of this sport. The institution of hockey has failed these people and continues to do so with every passing day.

This is a sport — a game!! —  after all. We watch people put knives on their feet and skate around on a slippery surface for our enjoyment. I, like many of you reading this, love hockey! But, it does not love us back — and never has.

Far smarter people than I have written and talked about what we as hockey fans and those of us in the media can do to supplant this culture of toxicity. Holding the people responsible accountable, speaking out against injustices, and lobbying for more oversight of those in charge is just the beginning for how we can start to bring about change.

And this Blackhawks scandal isn’t over by a long shot either. Specifically due to the investigation naming former Chicago head coach — and current Florida Panthers head coach — Joel Quenneville and former assistant general manager — and current Winnipeg Jets general manager — Kevin Cheveldayoff as two people in the know of the incident.

Earlier in the summer, both Quenneville and Cheveldayoff stated in public record that they had no knowledge of the allegations against Aldrich. The report released on Tuesday, however, names them both as being present in a meeting discussing the allegations within the hour of the Blackhawks advancing to the 2010 Stanley Cup Final.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has stated that he will meet with both Quenneville and Cheveldayoff in due time to discuss their roles in the events, but both should be fired from their respective teams. The Blackhawks entire front office knew of the allegations against Aldrich, but said nothing as to not disrupt team chemistry ahead of the team’s first Stanley Cup win in 49 years.

This entire scandal is shameful and embarrassing from every angle. Staying silent to protect team chemistry while a young player was suffering is inexcusable and a horrific neglect of a duty of care.

There is no punishment severe enough for the Blackhawks organization to make up for the trauma these victims have faced. Though the Blackhawks have cleaned house and the NHL has fined the team — $1 million fewer than the league fined the New Jersey Devils for circumvention when signing Ilya Kovalchuk, by the way — nothing will be able to repair what has been lost.

It’s hard to say any justice was done here in a 12-year-old case where the punishments and consequences only came after the Stanley Cup celebrations have ended and the confetti has all but dissipated on the Blackhawks’ dynasty. And that, unfortunately, is hockey culture at its finest.

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