The National Hockey League and the Chicago Blackhawks are in deep water after former coach Brad Aldrich allegedly sexually assaulted two former players. The incident was a "open secret" among team employees both inside and outside the hockey department, but it was kept quiet and not made public.
«The NHL's silence on this case and refusal to commit to independent investigation amounts to cowardice,» Sheldon Kennedy says. «It's cowardly to not address this publicly and hide in your officeThere must be accountability for people who know and do nothing."
To make matters worse, Michigan police records show that an officer indeed questioned the Blackhawks in 2013 for information about why Brad Aldrich left his position. The problem was that the team refused to cooperate without a subpoena or search warrant.
Former Blackhawks head coach Paul Vincent is standing with the victims, and has come out to say that he will testify for the former players who are suing the NHL team.
«I feel a weight has been lifted off of me... I know what the team did to cover this up and coming forward was the right thing to do," Vincent stated.
Police investigated and interviewed a male who Aldrich allegedly made an advance towards, but the victim stated that Aldrich never inappropriately touched him. This may be the case, but it seems that a lot of the details in the whole case have been covered up.
Aldrich was a part of the 2009-10 Stanley Cup winning team, but questions are arising as to whether or not the former coach could have his name removed. If this were to happen, the NHL would be the ones deciding whether or not to strike his name from the Cup, but with the NHL not responding to questions about Aldrich, this makes matters much more difficult to deal with.
