League to remove Blackhawk coach’s name from Stanley Cup after sex abuse allegations

The National Hockey League (NHL) and Hockey Hall of Fame (HOF) will remove the name of former Chicago Blackhawks coach Brad Aldrich from the Stanley Cup after two former players alleged he sexually assaulted them.

The NHL and HOF said the request to have the name removed came from the Blackhawks organization.

“Hockey Hall of Fame Chair, Lanny McDonald, spoke with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly today regarding the request from the Chicago Blackhawks to have Brad Aldrich’s name removed from the Stanley Cup,” the Hall of Fame said in a release Friday.

“The parties agree that this request is appropriate and that they will have further dialogue, including with the Stanley Cup trustees, on how best to effectuate this request.”

Kyle Beach has identified himself as one of the alleged victims, saying he was attacked during the Blackhawks’ run to the Stanley Cup in 2010.

Beach, who was identified as John Doe in legal filings, revealed his identity on Wednesday night. His accusations have not been heard or proven in court.

Seeing Aldrich remain with the team during the Cup celebrations after the incident was reported was particularly hard for Beach to accept.

“The only way I could describe it was that I felt sick, I felt sick to my stomach,” he said. “It was like his life was the same as the day before. Same every day. And then when they won, to see him paraded around lifting the Cup, at the parade, at the team pictures, at celebrations, it made me feel like nothing. It made me feel like I didn’t exist. It made me feel like, that I wasn’t important and … it made me feel like he was in the right and I was wrong.”

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Beach alleges the team largely ignored his claims for three weeks after a May 23, 2010, meeting discussing them took place. That was the same day Chicago finished off a four-game sweep of San Jose to reach the Stanley Cup final.

The ensuing scandal over the alleged cover up resulted in Joel Quenneville stepping down as the head coach of the Florida Panthers this week. Quenneville was the head coach of the Blackhawks when Beach said he was sexually assaulted.

Blackhawks general manager and president of hockey operations, Stan Bowman, has also stepped down from his role with the team and the organization was fined $2 million by the NHL for its “inadequate internal procedures and insufficient and untimely response in the handling of matters related to former video coach Brad Aldrich’s employment with the Club and ultimate departure in 2010.”
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