In May 2021, a former Chicago Blackhawks player filed a negligence lawsuit against the organization alleging team officials swept his 2010 sexual misconduct complaint against then-video coach Bradley Aldrich under the rug.
The Hawks then were sued again, this time by a former Michigan high school hockey player whom Aldrich admitted having sexual contact with in 2013 after he left the NHL. Other allegations of a sexual nature against Aldrich after he left the Hawks have since emerged.
The Hawks found themselves embroiled in a national furor as past members of the team criticized top executives and helped fuel public scrutiny of the organization’s actions that season, which ended with them winning the Stanley Cup.
In late October 2021, the Hawks announced Stan Bowman had stepped down as general manager and president of hockey operations as a result of an independent investigation commissioned by the team. The former player on the 2010 team also revealed his identity; he is Kyle Beach.
Here is a timeline of events, beginning with Aldrich’s arrival in Chicago.
July 2008
The Blackhawks hire Bradley Dale Aldrich, 25, as a video coach. A December 2005 graduate of Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Aldrich previously had an internship with the San Jose Sharks and worked in hockey operations for the University of Notre Dame. He also had several years of experience coaching competitive youth hockey.
February 2010
Aldrich is tapped as video coordinator for the U.S. men’s hockey team at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. His father, a longtime equipment manager for the Sharks, also is part of the team, which wins the silver medal.
May 2010
Aldrich invites a Blackhawks player to his apartment for dinner and game advice, according to a lawsuit the player filed in May 2021. In the suit, the player alleges Aldrich put on pornography and began to masturbate, then blocked him from leaving the apartment, threatened to injure him if he didn’t engage in sexual activity and forcibly touched him.
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May 2010
Paul Vincent, the Blackhawks skills coach at the time, learns about the alleged incident from two other players and reports it to team officials, according to Vincent. The player’s lawsuit states Vincent informed then-team President John McDonough; then-senior director of hockey administration and assistant to the president Al MacIsaac; general manager Stan Bowman; and mental skills coach James F. Gary, among others.
May 2010
A meeting to discuss the allegations is held in San Jose, California, where the Hawks were playing the Sharks in the Western Conference finals, according to Vincent and the lawsuit. Officials at the meeting, according to Vincent, included McDonough, MacIsaac, Bowman, Gary and another Hawks staff member whom Vincent couldn’t recall. Vincent told the Tribune the officials said in the meeting they would handle the matter “from this point on.”
May 2010
Gary, the mental skills coach, speaks to the Hawks player in counseling sessions, according to the lawsuit. It alleges Gary told the player he was to blame for what happened. Gary’s lawyer said Gary denies this.
June 9, 2010
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Aldrich is still with the team as the Blackhawks clinch the Stanley Cup with a 4-3 overtime win over the Flyers in Game 6 in Philadelphia.
July 2010
Aldrich leaves the Blackhawks.
Sept. 14, 2010
As part of the Stanley Cup’s postseason tour, Aldrich brings the trophy home to Houghton, Michigan.
Sept. 20-24, 2010
The Cup is engraved with the names of players and staff, including Aldrich’s.
Late 2010-early 2011
Aldrich volunteers as an assistant hockey coach at Houghton High School, where his uncle is a teacher and an assistant coach. He received a $300 stipend, according to the school district.
November 2010
Aldrich works for the USA Hockey Women’s National Program as a video coach, according to his resume.
September 2011
Aldrich returns to Notre Dame to work at the Compton Family Ice Arena in programming and instruction. He leaves Notre Dame by mid-2012. “There is no record of complaints against Aldrich while he was at Notre Dame, or thereafter, based on his employment here,” a university spokesman told the Tribune.
July 2012
Aldrich is hired at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, as director of hockey operations. He also offers private hockey instruction at Goggin Ice Center. As a condition of his employment, he passed a background check and signed off on a university policy to uphold sexual harassment and discrimination standards, university records show.
November 2012
Miami is made aware of allegations of an off-campus sexual assault involving Aldrich and an adult who is not a student. A university spokesman told the Tribune that university police offered to assist the alleged victim in filing a report with the Oxford Police Department, but the person declined.
November 2012
Aldrich resigns from Miami.
2012-2013
Aldrich rejoins the Houghton High School Gremlins as an unpaid, volunteer assistant hockey coach. His uncle still was employed by the school district but no longer was coaching the team.
March 2013
During an end-of-season hockey party, Aldrich has sexual contact with a 16-year-old Houghton High School hockey player at a teammate’s house. The incident is not reported until September. Questioned by police, Aldrich admits to having sexual contact with the boy and says “he knew that he was wrong for what he did as he was (the boy’s) high school coach,” according to a police report. In Michigan, a young person may legally consent to sexual activity at 16, but the age of consent is raised to 18 in situations involving someone in a position of authority, such as a coach.
September 2013
As Houghton police investigate the complaint involving the high school hockey player, they document other allegations of a sexual nature against Aldrich involving three other teenagers and two men, all after his time with the Blackhawks. The incidents are described as either inappropriate, unwanted or uncomfortable, according to a police report. One case involved someone under 16; police said a teen reported he had sexual contact with Aldrich in 2013 when he was 14. Authorities said none of these individuals pursued a criminal case.
October 2013
Police arrest Aldrich in the case involving the 16-year-old Houghton High School hockey player. Prosecutors charge him with two counts — a felony and a misdemeanor — alleging criminal sexual conduct, records show.
December 2013
Aldrich pleads guilty to fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a student, a misdemeanor. Prosecutors drop the felony count.
February 2014
Aldrich is sentenced to 270 days in Houghton County jail with credit for 59 days served, according to court records.
March 2014
While serving his jail sentence, an adult male cellmate accuses Aldrich of unwanted sexual touching on two occasions. Aldrich denies the allegation, and the cellmate declines to pursue his complaint further, saying “he still respects and feels Aldrich is a good person,” according to a Houghton County sheriff’s report.
July 2014
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Aldrich is released from jail. He must serve five years’ probation and register as a convicted sex offender, records show.
September 2018
Miami University officials receive a complaint from a former student who alleges an off-campus incident in late 2012 when Aldrich was employed there. According to a police report, the former student alleges Aldrich touched him sexually while the young man slept on Aldrich’s couch after a night of drinking. The former student, 27 when he came forward in 2018, declined to pursue charges but said he wanted it documented “in case he ever does something like this again, particularly to children.”
May 2021
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The Blackhawks are named as defendants in two Cook County lawsuits, one filed by the former Hawks player who alleged Aldrich assaulted him and the other by the former Houghton High School hockey player involved in Aldrich’s conviction for misdemeanor criminal sexual conduct.
June 28, 2021
Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz sends a memo to staff announcing the launch of an independent investigation ”into serious allegations related to potential conduct in 2010,” to be conducted by Chicago-based Jenner & Block with a team of lawyers led by former federal prosecutor Reid Schar. Also, Miami University hires outside firm Barnes & Thornburg to investigate Aldrich’s time at the university. Both investigations will be made public upon conclusion, officials say.
Aug. 16, 2021
The Hawks request an extension to file an amended motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the former player under the pseudonym John Doe. The judge grants the request two days later, and the Hawks have until Sept. 16 to file the new motion.
Sept. 24, 2021
A law firm hired by Miami University to investigate Aldrich’s brief time on the Ohio campus finds the public institution was unaware of prior allegations of improper conduct that arose two years earlier when he was with the team. The university’s independent investigation confirms Aldrich did not have a criminal record when he was hired in July 2012 as Miami’s director of hockey operations.
Oct. 26, 2021
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Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz announces that Stan Bowman, the team’s general manager and president of hockey operations, has “stepped aside” after Chicago-based law firm Jenner & Block delivered the findings of its investigation related to the 2010 misconduct allegations. Wirtz also apologizes to John Doe. “I am confident this would not be tolerated in our organization today,” he says while discussing the law firm’s report. “We must and will do better.”
Oct. 27, 2021
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The former Blackhawks player whose complaint was at the heart of the scandal reveals his identity in a televised interview on Canada’s The Sports Network. Kyle Beach, a center prospect from 2009 to 2013, choked back emotion describing how he felt shortly after the alleged May 2010 encounter with Aldrich: “To be honest, I was scared mostly. I was fearful. I had my career threatened. I felt alone and dark.”
Oct. 28, 2021
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Former Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville resigns as Florida Panthers coach after a meeting with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. Quenneville, who led the Blackhawks to three Stanley Cup titles, was among the Hawks senior leaders mentioned in Jenner & Block’s report on the team’s handling of Kyle Beach’s allegation of sexual assault against former video coach Brad Aldrich.
“I want to express my sorrow for the pain this young man, Kyle Beach, has suffered. My former team, the Blackhawks, failed Kyle, and I own my share of that,” Quenneville said in a statement. “I want to reflect on how all of this happened and take the time to educate myself on ensuring hockey spaces are safe for everyone.”
Oct. 29, 2021
Blackhawks Chairman Rocky Wirtz in a letter to the Hockey Hall of Fame requests the removal of Brad Aldrich’s name from the Stanley Cup.
“While the behavior of our front office staff who were alerted to this incident was inexplicable and wrong, the behavior of the video coach was unforgivable, and led to his removal from the Blackhawks organization,” Wirtz wrote.
Meanwhile, the NHL opts not to punish Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff, who was the Hawks assistant general manager during the 2009-10 season.
Oct. 30, 2021
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NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman talks with Kyle Beach about what the league can do to better protect its players after the former first-round pick said he was sexually assaulted by an assistant coach in 2010 and the Blackhawks largely ignored his allegations. Donald Fehr, the leader of the NHL Players Association, also meets with Beach in a separate video conference call.
Susan Loggans, an attorney representing Beach in a lawsuit against the team, said Bettman expressed his “sincere regret” over what Beach experienced. He also offered the NHL’s help with psychological services and anything else the league has available.
“There was discussion about what could be done in the future to assure this kind of thing did not occur again,” Loggans said.
Nov. 2, 2021
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Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff says he was “not aware” until this year of the severity of the sexual assault allegations made more than a decade ago against a former Blackhawks video coach.
“Kyle was failed by a system that should have helped him but did not. I am sorry that my own assumptions about that system were clearly not good enough.”
Cheveldayoff said the allegations were presented as harassment rather than assault, and he believed processes were in place within the organization to handle the matter. The Jets GM met with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman the week before to discuss his role in the Hawks’ mishandling of the allegations, and Bettman absolved him of any wrongdoing.
Nov. 3, 2021
The Hockey Hall of Fame grants Blackhawks Chairman Rocky Wirtz’s request to have former video coach Brad Aldrich’s name removed from the Stanley Cup.
Nov. 4, 2021
The executive board of the NHL Players Association votes to approve an independent investigation into the union’s handling of sexual assault allegations Beach made in 2010.
Nov. 11, 2021
The Blackhawks send letters to Kyle Beach’s attorney pressing for a mediator in their settlement talks — but the sides “have very different views” about money.
Nov. 12, 2021
John Doe 2′s attorney files a motion to open discovery in the former high school hockey player’s lawsuit against the Blackhawks — a response to the team’s letter saying it needed more information about his damages before considering a settlement.
“Plaintiff is under severe distress as a result of this case,” attorney Susan Loggans wrote in one of two letters sent to the team. “The one-sided ‘discovery’ that defendant availed itself of by hiring its own ‘independent investigator’ places plaintiff at a disadvantage.”
Loggans also submitted a “notice of motion” advising the team they’ll electronically submit the motion for discovery on Nov. 18.
Nov. 23, 2021
After reaching an impasse during initial settlement talks, the Blackhawks and Kyle Beach’s attorney agree to use a mediator for two lawsuits against the team.
The Hawks and attorney Susan Loggans issued a joint statement, saying they are “working together to achieve a fair resolution of both cases outside of the litigation process.”
The sides said the mediation will be done by a third party starting Dec. 15. The mediation will be nonbinding and will take place in Cook County, according to Loggans.
Dec. 15, 2021
The Blackhawks and Kyle Beach agree to a settlement in his negligence lawsuit against the team, the parties say. No monetary amount was disclosed.
Hawks Chairman Rocky Wirtz and CEO Danny Wirtz and Beach’s attorney, Susan Loggans, released this joint statement: “The parties are pleased to announce that today’s mediation resulted in a confidential settlement between the Blackhawks and Kyle Beach. The Blackhawks hope that this resolution will bring some measure of peace and closure for Mr. Beach.”
What remains uncertain is where this leaves negotiations with John Doe 2, the former Houghton High School hockey player who sued the Hawks in a separate case.
Dec. 27, 2021
A lawsuit filed against the Blackhawks by a former Michigan high school student who said he was sexually assaulted by former Hawks video coach Brad Aldrich is dismissed, an attorney says.
Susan Loggans, who represents the former student, told The Associated Press an order in the case was entered the previous week in Cook County Circuit Court.
After leaving the Hawks, Aldrich was convicted in 2013 in Michigan of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a student and is now on that state’s registry of sex offenders.
The former student whom Aldrich was convicted of assaulting filed a lawsuit against the Blackhawks on May 26, saying the team provided positive references to future employers of Aldrich despite allegations from at least one player and took no action to report the matter.
That suit said the student was a hockey player at Houghton High School in 2013 when Aldrich sexually assaulted him at an end-of-season gathering.
April 15, 2022
An independent investigation into the NHL Players Association’s response to former Blackhawks prospect Kyle Beach’s sexual assault allegation can’t find “any wrongdoing” in how executive director Don Fehr and others handled the complaint.
Chicago Tribune Sports
Cozen O’Connor, the Philadelphia-based law firm commissioned to investigate the NHLPA’s handling of Beach’s case in late 2010 and early 2011, released its findings.
The firm in its report said that after examining NHLPA policies at the time and interviewing people who had contact with the union’s Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Program (SABH) program, it “cannot identify any individual wrongdoing or institutional failures of policy or procedure by either Fehr, NHLPA personnel or the SABH program concerning the handling of Beach’s reports.”
November 2023
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A former member of the Blackhawks’ “Black Aces” squad and teammate of Kyle Beach alleges in a lawsuit that former video coach Brad Aldrich “groomed, harassed, threatened and assaulted” him during the 2009-10 season and that the Hawks suppressed his complaint to protect their Stanley Cup championship run.
Chicago-based law firm Romanucci & Blandin filed the negligence lawsuit on behalf of their client, named anonymously as “John Doe,” in Cook County Circuit Court.
The suit, which accuses the Hawks of showing “utter indifference and/or conscious disregard for the safety of its employees, including John Doe,” names the team as the sole defendant and seeks a jury trial.
“This is a continuation of the institutional and cultural abuses that we are seeing coming from our sports teams, whether they are local teams or from ones that are around the country,” Antonio Romanucci, a founding partner of the law firm, told the Tribune.