You don’t want to read this.
You may not be reading this. Many of you probably saw the headline and jumped right on. Whether it’s because it gives you goosebumps, or because you’re emotionally drained by it all, or because you’re one of the very vocal minority that doesn’t understand how power dynamics work and callously and cluelessly chooses to be the victim to blame, you don’t know I don’t want to read anymore about former Chicago Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich. He has been removed from the Stanley Cup and has faded from your memory, a distant and unpleasant memory, a blot on history that fades a little more with each passing day.
You don’t want to read about how a second player on the 2010 championship team filed a lawsuit against the Blackhawks alleging sexual assault and harassment by Aldrich, according to the Chicago Tribune. You don’t want to think about what John Doe, previously known as “Black Ace 1” in the Jenner & Block report, went through while you were wildly celebrating one of the biggest moments in the franchise’s history. They don’t want to be reminded of what Kyle Beach, a fellow Black Ace who filed the first lawsuit with similar allegations (now settled), went through.
You thought it was over and you didn’t want to go through this again.
You want to read how Connor Bedard fooled another goalie with his ridiculous release. You would like to read how Lukas Reichel gets out of his crisis. You want to read about how Alex Vlasic returns from a concussion and doesn’t miss a minute. You literally want to read everything else now. And who can blame you?
But you shouldn’t ignore it. You should read this. You should remember that. And you should think about that. Maybe not always, but at least sometimes.
The Blackhawks definitely are.
“It shows every day in how we show up as an organization and try to do the right thing,” Danny Wirtz told The Athletic just over a year ago.
It’s important to remember this. To remember that people suffered while Chicago celebrated. It is worth remembering that the Blackhawks’ management chose to embrace the allegations made against them, prioritizing team chemistry over proper and obvious behavior and protecting a predator over their own players – especially when then-coach Joel Quenneville and then-general manager Stan Bowman draw with a possible reinstatement to the NHL looming ever closer, and Kevin Cheveldayoff continues to serve as GM of the Winnipeg Jets without facing any repercussions for his quiet complicity.
It’s worth remembering that the Blackhawks didn’t stand in Aldrich’s way after he was quietly allowed to resign after the playoffs, which led to Aldrich pleading guilty three years later to criminal sexual misconduct with a 16-year-old hockey player he coached at Michigan. pleaded guilty. We would like to remind you that some of your heroes from the teams of the early 2010s – we still don’t know who – allegedly harassed Beach and John Doe with homophobic taunts. Doe told Jenner & Block investigators that sometime around 2014, a former Blackhawks player called him f–t as he chased him around the rink.
We want to be reminded that professional athletes are people too and deserve a safe and welcoming work environment with safety measures and managers who listen to them, believe them and put them first.
The good news? The Blackhawks’ current management appears to believe in these principles and safeguards. Wirtz, who took over leadership of the team after his father’s death in July, is trying to promote such a workplace along with Jaime Faulkner, the team’s president of business operations. Anyone who was in that room at the end of May 2010 and who so cold-bloodedly and foolishly decided not to report the allegations—either to human resources, to the police, or to the press—is no longer with the organization. The flaw lies in the history of the team, not the team itself.
To Blackhawks fans, the timing of the lawsuit may seem cruel. There is so much optimism in the team these days, largely thanks to the arrival of Bedard. The future is so bright, who wants to dwell on the past?
Heck, the Blackhawks – pariahs in the hockey world just two years ago – are in danger of becoming pretty unlikable. Bedard seems like the right fit, a phenomenally talented and driven kid with a good head on his shoulders, smart and polite, with occasional bursts of personality that peek out from behind the standard hockey player personality.
A tenacious old-school defender who was more likely to deliver a blindside hit than a beautiful pass, Luke Richardson’s forward-thinking and new style has earned the respect and admiration of even the most skeptical fans. partly from his regular conversations with his daughter, a high school biology teacher who knows how Generation Z operates. Richardson encourages emotional honesty with his players, emphasizing mental health and the idea that playing hockey – gasp! – should be fun, not an all-consuming cause of unrelenting stress.
General manager Kyle Davidson has made the right moves since taking over for Bowman, whose staff he worked on. His playful interview with a clueless podcaster who mistook him for a fan during draft week in Nashville made “Kyle From Chicago” an instant meme in the best possible way.
There’s Nick Foligno and Taylor Hall, two gregarious veterans who bring some life into the room and give the kids advice. There’s Vlasic, the hometown boy who’s developing into one of the top four defenders. There are a number of young talents with high speeds and strong engines in the ranks.
While it may be years away from contention, there is every reason to believe that this team is headed in the right direction on and off the ice. Considering how things stood barely two years ago, when the fallout from the damning and disturbing Jenner & Block report was still fresh, this is a stunning turn of events.
It’s okay to feel that cognitive dissonance, to feel real excitement about the future and real shame about the past. It’s something that many fans have been wrestling with for a few years now and may continue to wrestle with for years to come.
It’s okay to wear the number 98 jersey and dance to “Chelsea Dagger.” It’s okay to joke about “Kyle From Chicago” and be happy that the forward-thinking coach took all those young players to the NHL. It’s okay to be a Blackhawks fan, find joy in the game, and fall in love again.
Just don’t forget what happened to Beach and John Doe. Don’t just keep going. Don’t stop reading, listening or talking. The least we can do is treat them with the respect, consideration and humanity that the Blackhawks never enjoyed 13.5 years ago.
(Top photo of United Center: Patrick Gorski / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)