Blackhawks refused to report alleged sex abuse of players to police: source

[Joe]

https://twitter.com/walsha/status/1455220192707899392?s=20

[Dappleganger]

Not great.  :-\

[herman]

https://twitter.com/mikeystephens81/status/1455278138833973258

[Heroic Shrimp]

https://twitter.com/marnylandersen/status/1455475186803879940

[herman]

https://twitter.com/ken_campbell27/status/1455392166914756614
Ever since going independent, Ken Campbell has been taking very good swings.

[Bullfrog]

I'm not sure why Bettman has to apologize to Beach.

The Chicago Blackhawks need to apologize, profusely.

[bustaheims]

I'm not sure why Bettman has to apologize to Beach.

The Chicago Blackhawks need to apologize, profusely.

I guess that depends on how much Bettman knew before the recent reports and what action he took or didn't take based on that knowledge. I think the league as a whole needs to apologize for their failures in these situations - the head offices, the NHLPA . . . everyone who had some knowledge of the situation but didn't take the appropriate steps or follow up to ensure the appropriate steps had been taken - but Bettman specifically apologizing to Beach? I don't know if we know enough about just how much detail the league's head offices had about the situation and how it was being handled to be able to make a clear call there.

[Guilt Trip]

I'm not sure why Bettman has to apologize to Beach.

The Chicago Blackhawks need to apologize, profusely.

I guess that depends on how much Bettman knew before the recent reports and what action he took or didn't take based on that knowledge. I think the league as a whole needs to apologize for their failures in these situations - the head offices, the NHLPA . . . everyone who had some knowledge of the situation but didn't take the appropriate steps or follow up to ensure the appropriate steps had been taken - but Bettman specifically apologizing to Beach? I don't know if we know enough about just how much detail the league's head offices had about the situation and how it was being handled to be able to make a clear call there.

I could be wrong but from what I heard, the report said both the Wirtz family and the NHL didn't know.

[Bullfrog]

I read the report in its entirety. It doesn't actually mention Wirtz or the NHL. It's focused almost solely on the action/inaction of the Chicago Blackhawks management.

Edit: after reading the report, I'm comfortable with the decision to not discipline Cheveldayov. He would be worthy of a reprimand, I think, for passive inactions, but Bowman, Quenneville, and especially McDonough deserve punishment. Bowman and McDonough even more so than Quenneville. While Quenneville was awful for basically suggesting this would be a distraction to the playoffs, Bowman was the GM and McDonough his boss. They all have a minor defense in that McDonough said he was taking care of it, so they have assumed it was between McDonough and HR and Beach. Problem is McDonough waited weeks to mention it to HR and then HR gives Alrich an out ("you've done a terrible, illegal thing, but we'll let you resign with dignity....")

This, to me is a valid defense in the first few weeks. There was confusion about who was dealing with it and they all assumed someone else (McDonough) was dealing it. The defense ends there though. No one followed up afterward to ensure it was dealt with. That's completely inexcusable, especially from the upper ranks (GM, head coach). Keep in mind, Aldrich was directly answerable to Quenneville.

[Frank E]

I read the report in its entirety. It doesn't actually mention Wirtz or the NHL. It's focused almost solely on the action/inaction of the Chicago Blackhawks management.

Edit: after reading the report, I'm comfortable with the decision to not discipline Cheveldayov. He would be worthy of a reprimand, I think, for passive inactions, but Bowman, Quenneville, and especially McDonough deserve punishment. Bowman and McDonough even more so than Quenneville. While Quenneville was awful for basically suggesting this would be a distraction to the playoffs, Bowman was the GM and McDonough his boss. They all have a minor defense in that McDonough said he was taking care of it, so they have assumed it was between McDonough and HR and Beach. Problem is McDonough waited weeks to mention it to HR and then HR gives Alrich an out ("you've done a terrible, illegal thing, but we'll let you resign with dignity....")

This, to me is a valid defense in the first few weeks. There was confusion about who was dealing with it and they all assumed someone else (McDonough) was dealing it. The defense ends there though. No one followed up afterward to ensure it was dealt with. That's completely inexcusable, especially from the upper ranks (GM, head coach). Keep in mind, Aldrich was directly answerable to Quenneville.

Thank you for that insight Frog.  It's good to hear from someone who has actually read the report.

[Frank E]

I'm not sure what to make of this, but Fehr himself is recommending an "independent investigation, into how the PA handled the Beach call for help.

According to the Blackhawks' report, Fehr got 2 separate phone calls on the matter, and says he doesn't remember the calls.

So...why have an investigation when the buck stops at Fehr anyways?

[bustaheims]

I'm not sure what to make of this, but Fehr himself is recommending an "independent investigation, into how the PA handled the Beach call for help.

According to the Blackhawks' report, Fehr got 2 separate phone calls on the matter, and says he doesn't remember the calls.

So...why have an investigation when the buck stops at Fehr anyways?

To identify any other failings from the PA on the matter - who else knew and could have acted, what they knew, etc. - and how the PA can improve in those areas.

The buck stops with Fehr, but a lot can go wrong before it gets to him. Need to make sure those issues are ironed out.

[Frank E]

I'm not sure what to make of this, but Fehr himself is recommending an "independent investigation, into how the PA handled the Beach call for help.

According to the Blackhawks' report, Fehr got 2 separate phone calls on the matter, and says he doesn't remember the calls.

So...why have an investigation when the buck stops at Fehr anyways?

To identify any other failings from the PA on the matter - who else knew and could have acted, what they knew, etc. - and how the PA can improve in those areas.

The buck stops with Fehr, but a lot can go wrong before it gets to him. Need to make sure those issues are ironed out.

That sounds more like spreading out the blame to me.

If Fehr himself didn't take it seriously, then why is there an expectation that others should have?

If you want to do something productive here, create a process of how the PA intends on investigating these accusations in cooperation with the league. 

Having said that, I think they're probably expecting a lawsuit here and should get the facts of the matter organized. 

[herman]

https://twitter.com/frank_seravalli/status/1455521526263033858

[bustaheims]

That sounds more like spreading out the blame to me.

If Fehr himself didn't take it seriously, then why is there an expectation that others should have?

If you want to do something productive here, create a process of how the PA intends on investigating these accusations in cooperation with the league. 

Having said that, I think they're probably expecting a lawsuit here and should get the facts of the matter organized.

Identifying areas where problems occurred and improvements need to be made is hardly spreading out the blame. It's vital to probably framing the issues within the PA that allowed this to be overlooked.

To create an adequate process, you need to investigate what is currently in place, where the failures occurred, etc.

It's easy to just wave it away as "Fehr didn't take it seriously," but we don't know how it was presented to him, how much information he was provided, how the information was filtered, etc. These things all require an investigation to get to the bottom of.