Wishing all an exciting and prosperous New Year.

Hopefully, something similar will be in store for Chicago’s west side hockey club.

The Blackhawks are just about to hit the halfway point of the 2025-26 regular season. On this 78-minute edition of Puck Chatter, Al and I sift through the good and bad of the first half of this Blackhawks’ season while sizing up where thing stand as we apparently reach the halfway point of this Kyle Davidson-orchestrated rebuild.

Among the topics discussed…

-Connor Bedard’s rise
-Coaching changes and Jeff Blashill’s impact thus far
-Veteran forwards and keys to Blackhawks’ being competitive so far
-Blackhawks were bad before Connor Bedard’s injury
-Artyom Levshunov
-Kyle Davidson says he’ll evaluate his rebuild after 2026-27
-Sam Rinzel’s current struggles
-Kevin Korchinski’s future
-How the Blackhawks’ defense prospects stack up today
-Building a winning roster from here
-The Blackhawks litmus test
-Self-evaluation and player development
-Spencer Knight
-Bedard’s injury

All this and more on this slightly-hungover (at least for me) edition of Puck Chatter.

On X/Twitter:

@AlCimaglia

@ChrisBlock

Wishing all an exciting and prosperous New Year.

Hopefully, something similar will be in store for Chicago’s west side hockey club.

The Blackhawks are just about to hit the halfway point of the 2025-26 regular season. On this 78-minute edition of Puck Chatter, Al and I sift through the good and bad of the first half of this Blackhawks’ season while sizing up where thing stand as we apparently reach the halfway point of this Kyle Davidson-orchestrated rebuild.

Among the topics discussed…

-Connor Bedard’s rise
-Coaching changes and Jeff Blashill’s impact thus far
-Veteran forwards and keys to Blackhawks’ being competitive so far
-Blackhawks were bad before Connor Bedard’s injury
-Artyom Levshunov
-Kyle Davidson says he’ll evaluate his rebuild after 2026-27
-Sam Rinzel’s current struggles
-Kevin Korchinski’s future
-How the Blackhawks’ defense prospects stack up today
-Building a winning roster from here
-The Blackhawks litmus test
-Self-evaluation and player development
-Spencer Knight
-Bedard’s injury

All this and more on this slightly-hungover (at least for me) edition of Puck Chatter.

On X/Twitter:

@AlCimaglia

@ChrisBlock

We dive into the hiring of Jeff Blashill and what appears to be the best coaching staff that has stood behind a Blackhawks bench in some time.

There is also news on front office departures and new faces occupying roles at 1901 W Madison Street you haven’t heard elsewhere. We’ll talk about changes to the Blackhawks’ analytics team and several scouts who were let go last month.

Timestamps

00:00 Show Open, Free Agency, NHL Final and a new CBA

08:38 Analyzing the Blackhawks' Draft Picks

23:48 Discussion on Goaltending and Team Needs

38:43 Coaching Changes and Systems

49:44 Organizational Changes, Staff Updates and Grey’s Anatomy

57:31 Expectations for the Upcoming Season

1:04:15 Storytime with Uncle Al

With the Blackhawks Rebuild-A-Thon seemingly reaching a turning point, Al Cimaglia and I felt it was probably time to check in again with a brand-new audio recording of our thoughts - just like old times.

We’ll do at least a couple more before we determine if the podcast will continue moving forward. So, we’ll catch up more then.

—Click the play button above to listen, or the download link in the player.

Below is an AI-generated summary of our discussion. How fun.

In this episode, Chris Block and Al Cimaglia discuss the current state of the Chicago Blackhawks, focusing on the coaching search, the upcoming draft lottery, and the development of star player Connor Bedard. They analyze the challenges the team faces in attracting top coaching talent and the implications of their draft decisions. The conversation also touches on the dynamics within the Blackhawks' front office and the importance of building a competitive team moving forward.

Sound Bites

03:15 "Is this a reality check for Blackhawks fans?"

14:40 “I will consider that an act of violence.”

28:03 "You can't have too many of those guys."

31:13 "You have to take the best player available."

59:59 “No one would ever say that!”

Takeaways

• The podcast was initiated due to Al's encouragement to record their discussions.

• The Blackhawks are facing challenges in attracting top coaching talent.

• David Carle's withdrawal from the coaching search raises concerns about the team's appeal.

• The upcoming draft lottery is crucial for the Blackhawks' future.

• Connor Bedard's development is a key focus for the team's success.

• The Blackhawks need to improve significantly to be playoff contenders.

• The importance of selecting the best player available in the draft is emphasized.

• The dynamics within the Blackhawks' front office are complex and impact decision-making.

• Building a competitive team requires strategic player acquisitions and development.

• The pressure on Connor Bedard will increase as the team rebuilds.

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction and Podcast Genesis

02:22 Coaching Search and Blackhawks' Challenges

10:53 David Carle's Decision and Coaching Dynamics

23:40 Draft Lottery and Player Selection Dilemmas

36:05 Assessing Connor Bedard's Positioning and Needs

43:44 The Importance of Coaching and Player Development

51:02 Contract Considerations and Future Prospects

56:00 Building a Competitive Team: Strategies and Challenges

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It is all (well, not all) warm and fuzzy on this edition of the Puck Chatter Podcast.

Al Cimaglia and I found time and space to react to Kyle Davidson’s grand re-set bet paying off in a HUGE way this week with the Blackhawks winning the top selection in the 2023 NHL Draft.

Connor Bedard is going to be a Blackhawk and the organization is now worth paying attention to again.

But it also means that Kyle’s work is just beginning.

Over the course of 90 minutes, Al and I touch on Monday’s draft lottery, euphoria in Blackhawkland, and the various trials and tribulations on the road ahead back to being a contender.

Click the button below to listen. The podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Simplecast.

Timestamps

Start – Ping pong balls fall into place and now Blackhawks fans have something to look forward to.

4:00 – There’s nothing wrong with getting lucky, even if it is just luck

7:30 – Now the real work begins

9:10 – Turning the page

16:20 – Purpose of the J&B report

19:30 – Imagine how different things might be today had Stan Bowman done the tear down and rebuild in 2019.

25:45 – Evolution of talk in difference between picking 1 vs 2 or 3 or 4

33:35 – Kyle Davidson on controlling situations and admitting mistakes

37:15 – Luke Richardson

41:15 – Blackhawks surplus of picks and approach to this draft

42:45 – Kevin Korchinski and developmental philosophy

47:00 – Reichel, Vlasic and growth, and lack thereof in Rockford

49:45 – Soup of the day

51:55 – Davidson’s Rockford moves

55:10 – Davidson should get serious about coaching staff in Rockford

56:40 – Anders Sorensen’s Division-Semi Game 1 time out

1:11:00 – What is Korchinski

1:17:15 – Wood to chop still

1:24:10 – Alex DeBrincat

@ChrisBlock – Twitter
PuckChatter@gmail.com 

@AlCimaglia – Twitter

Puck Chatter on Simplecast

Find us on Stitcher

Puck Chatter on Apple Podcasts

BlogTalkRadio.com/TheThirdManIn

The post Puck Chatter Podcast; The Royal Flush, Blackhawks Win Connor Bedard appeared first on Puck Chatter / The Third Man In.

With the NHL Trade Deadline approaching on March 3^rd, Al Cimaglia and I got together to discuss the status of Patrick Kane and the Blackhawks in what could be a pivotal two weeks in the future of the Chicago franchise and their rebuild. Will it also be the final days of Kane’s career in a Blackhawks uniform?

We also discuss other possible directions Kyle Davidson could go ahead of the deadline and in the coming months. We also take a look at NHL television ratings and how the IceHogs production team made a mockery of Rockford’s ‘Pride Night’ over the weekend and how the entire organization has, at least publicly, chosen to ignore it.

Scroll down to see the timestamps and some of the topics discussed. It was a fun, thorough discussion as always. Thanks to everyone who takes the time to listen. With some luck and proper planning, we’ll return around the deadline with some more fine analysis.

– Click the play button below to listen.

Timestamps

2:40 – Will Patrick Kane’s recent scoring outburst trigger a renewed interest from Cup contenders in number 88? What will the Blackhawks demand in return?

5:45 – Factors in Kane’s thinking when it comes to where he might go, or what will convince him to move his no-movement clause.

9:30 – Kane’s hip and the decision to play through the pain.

11:05 – Kane’s disappointment in the Rangers going in a different direction and more on Kane’s preferences.

13:50 – Jonathan Toews being taken off the trade market and dealing with ‘long-Covid’ again – Will this impact Kyle Davidson’s thinking trading Kane, or what he seeks in return? Or does Davidson change his focus to get whatever he can in dealing anyone else on the roster?

18:00 – Max Domi

21:30 – No matter where the Hawks land in the lottery, they still need a lot of luck to kickstart their rebuild. A look back at NHL Draft Lottery history. An argument to re-sign Kane and keep him in Chicago.

28:00 – Frank Nazar and what looks like it could be a strong 2022 Blackhawks draft class.

35:30 – How much value is there on a roster that was built to be terrible?

40:15 – Jason Dickinson and Lukas Reichel

42:25 – Theory of progression in development and how it changes once the next level is the NHL. More on why Davidson has chosen to hold Reichel down in the AHL.

45:50 – Isaak Phillips recalled to Chicago to sit in the press box

55:15 – Davidson’s goal to build a team designed for sustained success vs how he’s going about it so far. How the Blackhawks were rebuilt 15-20 years back.

59:30 – More recent NHL Draft Lottery history

1:07:30 – Maybe Kane stays and forces Kyle Davidson to be the one to run him off.

1:15:00 – Cole Guttman, Isaak Phillips and Kevin Korchinski

1:21:20 – There’s a lot of bad news and some good in the recent NHL national television ratings, and the NHL needs to get serious about growing its audience.

1:32:50 – Premier League soccer on USA doing better ratings many weeks than NHL on TNT and ESPN.

1:39:45 – Rockford IceHogs’ ‘Pride Night’ gone wrong and the organization stays silent about it.

1:50:00 – End show. And somehow I didn’t get hostile over Yanic Perreault. Maybe next time.

@ChrisBlock – Twitter
PuckChatter@gmail.com 

@AlCimaglia – Twitter

Puck Chatter on Simplecast

Find us on Stitcher

Puck Chatter on Apple Podcasts

BlogTalkRadio.com/TheThirdManIn

The post Puck Chatter Podcast – The End of Days appeared first on Puck Chatter / The Third Man In.

Al Cimaglia and I sat down today to record a conversation on the Blackhawks tank-job and a look ahead to the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. We tried to cram a bevy of topics into this 90-minute podcast including…

-How Lukas Reichel is being used vs. How Kyle Davidson said Reichel would be played in Rockford after being sent down two weeks ago.

-Is ‘the tank’ a failure if the Blackhawks don’t land Connor Bedard?

-The talent gap between Bedard and the rest of the field is wider than we were led to believe

-What happens if Chicago picks third?

-Could Reichel be used as trade bait at the Draft?

-Blackhawks when Tyler Johnson and Seth Jones are both healthy

-Front office has put Toews and Kane in a position to be resented by the fans if not waving NMCs

-Philipp Kurashev is an arbitration-eligible RFA and Davidson has a lot of money to spend.

-Everyone is watching the same movie. It all comes down to who figures out the ending first.

-Lukas Reichel has spent a season and a half with Anders Sorensen and he’s still not ready. Is Sorensen the right coach for that responsibility in Rockford?

-What 10 years of development coach Yanic Perreault gets you, or doesn’t

-Montreal edition Kirby Dach

-Should we really feel sorry for Bruce Boudreau?

-Soon a whole lot more tankin’ going on

-A little more on IceHogs PxP voice and media director Joey Z being fired by the Blackhawks a month into this season

All this and more – click the play button below to listen.

@ChrisBlock – Twitter
PuckChatter@gmail.com

@AlCimaglia – Twitter

The post Puck Chatter Podcast – Looks Like Philp, Blackhawks Tank-a-thon appeared first on Puck Chatter / The Third Man In.

By Chris Block

Al Cimaglia and I finally got our collective act (okay, it was mostly my fault) together and sat down for another round of recorded Chicago Blackhawks hockey talk.

I do want to thank everyone who listened to our last couple of podcasts. They are infrequent, and I know there are a lot of options when it comes to wasting your time, but I truly was humbled by the amount of people who did find and listen to the last podcast and also those who took the time to write some really thoughtful emails about the subject matter.

On today’s podcast, Al and I rumble through the state of the local Chicago NHL franchise and track the progress of Kyle Davidson and Norm Maciver’s rebuild.

We also delve into Marian Hossa jersey number retirement night, Eddie Olczyk, watching the current Blackhawks team, some IceHogs notes and the sudden disappearance of Rockford’s play-by-play announcer, who was formerly a contender to be the next Pat Foley.

All this and more – click the play button below to listen.

@ChrisBlock – Twitter
PuckChatter@gmail.com 

@AlCimaglia – Twitter

BlogTalkRadio.com/TheThirdManIn

Uncle Al Cimaglia and I are back today with a new edition of Puck Chatter, our revived Chicago Blackhawks focused podcast.

Click to listen

Some of the topics discussed and timestamps:

5:20 – Al addresses his “lumberheads” and concept of a rebuild timeline

13:45 – How can you rebuild if Kane wishes to stay

15:00 – Seth Jones

21:15 – Stop saying it doesn’t matter who the next Blackhawks coach is

30:00 – Kirby Dach’s next season and how he’s been viewed in the CHI locker room

33:30 – Exclusive news on first new departures in Hockey Ops department

37:20 – Players who get hit more often than others

40:00 – Unsolicited advice for Kyle Davidson

43:00 – DeBrincat discussion

46:00 – Pay $5 mil to be rid of Toews?

53:30 – Rockford IceHogs discussion

1:11:00 – Don’t be afraid to surround yourself with the best people

1:18:15 – IceHogs-Chicago Wolves series lopsided

1:24:00 – Need for strong hockey people with history of success

1:29:30 – Kyle Beach and follow-up discussion on my article on the Jenner & Block report

Thanks for listening.

@ChrisBlock – Twitter

PuckChatter @ gmail dot com

The post Puck Chatter Radio: Begin the Begin appeared first on Puck Chatter / The Third Man In.

“The report speaks for itself.” – Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz, October 26, 2021

By Chris Block

Upon recently re-reading Jenner & Block’s report on its purported findings into the investigation of the Blackhawks knowledge, and subsequent handling of John Doe (Kyle Beach)’s complaint that video coach Brad Aldrich had sexually assaulted him off-site in May of 2010, I re-visited some of my notes and audio interviews from covering the Rockford IceHogs during Kyle Beach’s time with the organization.

Specifically interesting to me in the report, was the revelation that in September of 2013, the Houghton, Michigan police department had contacted the Blackhawks director of Human Resources – then Marie Sutera – and essentially tipped off the Blackhawks front office that Aldrich was being investigated for possible sexual assault of a minor and that Aldrich was likely about to be arrested.

Page 64-65, Jenner & Block report

What essentially all of us outside the Blackhawks organization were unaware of back then was the fact that Blackhawks top executives were harboring a dirty little secret – a cover up of an alleged sexual assault of a player of theirs by a former coach, and the decision to forgo an investigation of their own.

In the end they chose to shield themselves from any bad publicity, protect the reputation and career of that former coach and show next to zero sympathy to the player they continued to employ.

Back in September of 2013, I was still regularly writing and podcasting about the Blackhawks, and more specifically covering the Rockford IceHogs. When reading the above passage from the Jenner & Block independent investigation, I recalled that there was another significant development in Kyle Beach’s career back in the fall of 2013.

Obviously unbeknownst to Beach, the Blackhawks received word via a Houghton, Michigan police detective in September 2013 that his sexual assaulter was being investigated for a different criminal sexual crime.

We now know, thanks to the Jenner & Block report, that John McDonough, then president of the team, waited five days after the Blackhawks won the 2010 Stanley Cup Final, and three weeks from the time he first learned of the alleged sexual assault until he reported it to the team’s Human Resources director – Marie Sutera.

Sutera and the Blackhawks outside legal council handled Aldrich’s ultimate departure from the organization two days later – June 16, 2010. From Sutera’s account outlined by Jenner & Block, they offered Aldrich a chance to resign, or take a leave of absence while the team investigated. Aldrich chose to resign. The team never investigated and Aldrich went on to tell people he was leaving the team because he was “tired of the grind.” He then went on to serve in roles with the USA Hockey program, Notre Dame, Miami of OH and the Houghton high school hockey team.

Fast-forward three years, Blackhawks HR receives word that Aldrich is now under investigation for allegedly assaulting a minor in Michigan. The Houghton police detective also tells Sutera that the department is aware of rumors of “hang ups with males affiliated with the Blackhawks” as possible reason Aldrich left the team in 2010. (This is a truly stunning detail when you think about it.)

The organization that was desperate to prevent bad news from leaking out and distracting or tainting their 2010 Stanley Cup chase was now aware that this same individual was likely about to be arrested just as the Blackhawks begin defense of their 2013 Stanley Cup championship. A week later the team was set to raise their 2013 Cup banner on Opening Night of the 2013-14 Season, October 1, 2013.

In charge of human resources, Sutera reported directly to then Blackhawks’ president John McDonough.

It defies any and all logic that Sutera would not have reported this 2013 phone call and its contents to McDonough promptly thereafter.  Whether this information was passed on to Rocky Wirtz by McDonough, or both Sutera and McDonough, only they would know. Even a passing understanding of crisis management would lead you to believe the Chairman of the organization would have at least been briefed of this development.

September 2013 – Blackhawks loan Kyle Beach to HV71 club in Sweden

The career of the 11^th overall selection in the 2008 NHL Draft was widely considered to be “a bust” by the summer of 2013.  Kyle Beach had been a Blackhawk for parts of five seasons and had yet to play in an NHL game. When his first professional contract expired that summer, it was unclear whether then GM Stan Bowman would tender an offer and re-sign the restricted free agent. On July 17, 2013 the Blackhawks did, inking Beach to a new one-year deal.

Beach responded by putting in what he later admitted to me was his hardest-working off season.

In the month of August, Beach traveled to Sweden for an informal conditioning camp led by Blackhawks director of player development, Barry Smith. The workouts were held during the preseason camp of Swedish league team HV71, who had an informal working relationship with Smith and the Blackhawks.

Then Blackhawks players Joakim Nordstrom, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Viktor Svedberg also participated in the workouts that week. Beach stayed with Nordstrom to save on expenses. He was not asked by the Hawks, nor was it suggested he travel to Sweden for that week of workouts. He did so on his own accord. He also stayed in Chicago and worked out with Hawks skating skills coach Kevin Delaney that summer to improve on that aspect of his game.

In mid-September 2013, Beach reported to Blackhawks training camp and tested 5^th best overall in the team’s pre-camp physical conditioning evaluations – by far the best shape he’d been in since turning pro. He then appeared in one preseason game at Washington and survived the team’s initial two main rounds of player cuts before ultimately being sent down to Rockford on Tuesday September 24^th.

Later that week, Beach would learn that the Hawks were loaning him to HV71 in Sweden. That team’s season was already underway. Injuries had created an opening, he was told, and he would be leaving immediately. By Saturday night, September 28^th, Beach was on a flight to Sweden. The next day, the team issued a press release with news of the loan transfer.

Timeline of the Houghton PD phone call and Blackhawks sending Beach to Sweden

Beach’s stint with the HV71 club in Sweden lasted about a month. During that time, Aldrich was arrested by the Houghton Police Department and officially charged with criminal sexual conduct with a student at a hearing two weeks after.

News of Aldrich’s arrest never made news in Chicago or around any NHL circles. The obvious reason for this was due to a news report out of Houghton (a town in Michigan’s upper peninsula, north of Green Bay) a week later never mentioned any of Aldrich’s former employers.  Unless someone was randomly doing an internet search of Brad Aldrich, it was off the radar.

In late October, Beach’s try-out agreement officially expired. There were some discussions about an option to play for another team on another tryout in Sweden, but Beach ultimately returned to the Blackhawks organization.

When I spoke to Beach for an interview in November 2013, he recounted in detail how the loan to the Swedish club came out.

“It was brought to my attention that it would be a possibility the Tuesday before I went,” Beach recalled.

“It didn’t really go anywhere – a couple talks back and forth. And then, before you knew it, I think I found out I was actually going (to Sweden) on Friday night at around midnight. I booked my flight at 2 in the morning and I was gone Saturday night at 10. So, it all happened (snaps fingers) like that.”

-Listen to the Nov 30, 2013 interview segment in which Kyle Beach lays out timeline of his transfer to HV71

Beach’s transfer to the HV71 club in Sweden was officially just a professional try-out agreement. The club had injuries, and thus an open roster spot at the time. The Swedish club was already a month into its regular season. In the long run, HV71 though wouldn’t have a spot for Beach, as the club had 16 healthy forwards at the time Beach’s try-out agreement expired.

“I sat down with the coaching staff and the management over there – who were great guys. I owe them a lot. It was a lot of fun,” Beach explained. “We just decided it was going to be a numbers game.”

“It was a group decision to come back (to Rockford.) There was another option for me to go to another team over there, but I felt like the best choice for my career at the time was to come back and battle out here. Maybe get an opportunity, maybe get traded, and just see where the cards play.”

John Doe 2 in the Jenner & Block report is the Houghton student Aldrich eventually pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting in March of 2013 when the student was still 16.

John Doe 2 did not report the alleged crime to police until September 23^rd after his parents became concerned by his behavior and discovered he had been taking Benadryl excessively, according to the Houghton PD criminal complaint. When confronted by his parents the weekend of Sep 21-22, John Doe 2 broke down and told his parents that Brad Aldrich had raped him months prior.

On Monday September 23,^, 2013 at 9am, John Doe 2 and his father met with a Houghton police detective and filed a criminal complaint. The detective immediately began an investigation, including contacting Aldrich’s prior employers. Eight days after John Doe 2 reported the crime, Aldrich was arrested. [John Doe 2 criminal complaint pg 1, pg 2, pg 3]

Is it possible the Hawks sent Kyle Beach to Sweden because they’d just learned Aldrich was about to be arrested, were spooked, and did not want Beach around when that went down?

Short answer – Of course it’s possible. But only Stan Bowman, John McDonough and possibly Rocky Wirtz would know the answer to that.

Or, possibly Norm Maciver, who was the assistant general manager in September of 2013 and would have been involved in the process of loaning Beach to an overseas team. That was more in line with assistant GM duties – when it came to handling the transfer of a non-NHL roster player. It’s hard to believe Maciver wouldn’t have been involved in discussions about sending Beach to Sweden.

Less likely, but still possible that Kyle Davidson would have been a fly on the wall as talks about sending Beach to Sweden transpired. Davidson was in an administrative role that handled contract and transfer paperwork by that point.

Sending Beach off to Sweden two months after re-signing him and then watching him have his best training camp as a pro didn’t make much sense at the time. In doing so, they were devaluing an asset who seem to have the most momentum as a prospect Beach had in a couple years. If they wanted him to just go away, they could have simply not signed him two months earlier.

The Blackhawks eventually did wind up trading Beach to the Rangers in December, but not until after Beach had a somewhat tumultuous November after returning to the Rockford team that saw him scratched for as many games as he played.

Beach was left home from a two-game road trip and healthy-scratched four-consecutive games for what then IceHogs head coach Ted Dent called “code of conduct” violations.

Days before those supposed conduct issues, during a November 11, 2013 interview on the IceHogs weekly radio talk show “Hog Talk”, Beach replied “Depends on who you ask” when the interviewer, an IceHogs intern, stated that the guys in the locker room “like” Beach. He had his friends on the team, but it was clear by this point that all was not happy with Beach in the Blackhawks fold.

A week before, when I arrived through a security checkpoint at the BMO Harris Bank Center before Beach’s first home game back with the IceHogs on Nov 3^rd, I observed Beach stretching and warming up alone on the opposite side of the rink from the Rockford locker room where his other teammates were warming up or kicking around the soccer ball prior to warmups. It was one of a few clues to suggest he was becoming increasingly isolated from much of the team.

Dent held Beach out of four games Nov 23 – 29. When Beach returned on November 30^th, he posted a hat-trick in a 4-3 home victory over the rival Chicago Wolves. He scored again in the IceHogs next game at Charlotte and less than 24 hours later, Beach was traded to the New York Rangers, who had been scouting Beach on and off for two seasons.

Ten days after the trade, Brad Aldrich pleaded guilty in a Michigan court room to criminal sexual conduct with a student and was sentenced to 9 months in prison. Again, a local new report published online neglected to note Adrich’s previous NCAA or NHL employers and the story failed to gain any traction. Beach, by his account, would remain unaware of Aldrich’s actions and conviction in Michigan for another five and a half years.

Timeline of Beach’s 2013 Sweden loan and Houghton MI Police Investigation of Brad Aldrich

Wed Jul 17, 2013 – Blackhawks re-sign Kyle Beach to a one-year contract.

September 2013 – Beach tests 5^th-best in Blackhawks pre-training camp physical conditioning tests of all players attending camp.

Fri Sep 20, 2013 – Beach appears in a preseason game at Washington. He skates 12:58, has 1 shot on goal, 3 hits, a takeaway and a five-minute major for a fight with Caps forward Tom Wilson. He’s not on the ice for any goals for, or against in a 5-4 shootout Hawks victory.

Mon Sep 23, 2013 – At 9:00am, John Doe 2, accompanied his father, report sexual assault claim to Houghton, MI police. The assault took place in March of 2013, when the victim was 16 years old.

Tue Sep 24, 2013 – Kyle Beach is among the 3^rd round of Blackhawks NHL training camp cuts. Beach and others are reassigned to Rockford. Beach recalls this also being the day the prospect of playing in Sweden is first mentioned to him and his agent.

Week Sept 23-27, 2013 – Per Houghton, MI police criminal complaint records, and the Jenner & Block report, Blackhawks director of Human Resources Marie Sutera is contacted by the Houghton Police Department, informing her that former employee Brad Aldrich was being investigated for criminal sexual assault and was seeking information on Aldrich’s employment with the Blackhawks. The detective also writes in his official report of rumors Aldrich had been accused of unwanted touching of male athletes led to his departure at previous employers.

The Jenner & Block report revealed “a detective stated that the police were investigating Aldrich because Aldrich was suspected in a criminal sexual assault” and that “Sutera recalled the detective telling her that the police heard that there were “hang ups” with males affiliated with the Blackhawks.” (This is a truly stunning detail Jenner & Block revealed when you think about it.)

Sutera only confirms Aldrich’s employment there and states that any further information from the Blackhawks would require a subpoena or search warrant. Sutera also told J&B she did not recall hearing from the Houghton PD again. The Jenner & Block report only states that this call took place in September. Since it could not have transpired prior to John Doe 2 filing the complaint on the morning of September 23^rd, the call could not have taken place before then. Judging by the Houghton police report, the call is most likely to have occurred on Sep 23 or 24^th, but could have taken place at any point this last week of September.

Fri Sep 27, 2013 – Late this Friday night, Beach learns that the Blackhawks are loaning him to the HV71 club in Sweden’s top pro league. Per Beach, he books his own flight at 2am in the morning Saturday.

Sat Sep 28, 2013 – Beach flies out of Chicago to Sweden at 10pm

Sun Sep 29, 2013 – Blackhawks release a statement announcing Beach has been loaned to HV71.

Tue Oct 1, 2013 – Blackhawks raise 2013 Stanley Cup Champion banner at their home opener vs Washington Capitals.

Wed Oct 2, 2013 – Brad Aldrich is arrested by the Houghton, Michigan Police Department. In subsequent news stories of his arrest, Aldrich’s prior employers are not mentioned. Word of Aldrich’s arrest never makes news in Chicago or elsewhere around NHL circles.

Fri Oct 18, 2013 – Aldrich appears in court for his preliminary hearing and is released on $10,000 bond.

Oct 25, 2013 – HV71 releases Beach from his tryout agreement. Blackhawks reassign Beach to AHL-Rockford. Beach reports to the team Oct 28^th.

Nov 30, 2013 – Beach skates in his final home game in Rockford, scoring 3 goals and earning the game’s 1^st star in a 4-3 win over the Chicago Wolves

Dec 5, 2013 – Beach tallies a goal in his final game with the Blackhawks organization, a 3-2 overtime loss at Charlotte.

Dec 6, 2013 – Blackhawks trade Beach to NY Rangers in exchange for winger Brandon Mashinter.

For the remainder of that 2013-14 season, Beach tallied just 2 goals and 7 points in 39 games with the AHL Hartford Wolf Pack. He was not re-signed by the Rangers organization and has not played in North America since.

Dec 16, 2013 – Aldrich pleads guilty to fourth-degree criminal sexual-conduct. He is jailed and his prior bond is revoked. A news report account of Aldrich’s arrest makes no mention of his prior hockey employment.

Feb 13, 2014 – Aldrich is sentenced to 9 months in jail and five years’ probation. His sentence is credited 59 days for time served ahead of sentencing. Again, a local published news report makes no mention of Aldrich’s prior NCAA or NHL employment.

July 2014 – Aldrich is released from prison after serving seven months of his nine-month sentence.

Oct 2016 – Aldrich is granted a second “day with the Stanley Cup” by the Hockey Hall of Fame. The accommodation was reportedly brief. Aldrich posted pictures of himself and young interns with the Cup to the OcuGlass company Twitter account, for which he was employed and served as CEO at. In 2021, a HHOF spokesperson stated they were unaware of Aldrich’s “criminal past and transgressions in Chicago until media reports surfaced in June 2021.”

July 2019 – Per the lawsuit filed on behalf of John Doe 1 (Beach) in Cook County in May of 2021, Beach first learns of Aldrich’s 2013 arrest and conviction after a European league teammate suggests Beach google the name Brad Aldrich.

————————————————-

Did Rocky know, or not

“To be clear, neither myself, nor Danny [Wirtz], knew anything about these allegations until we received word that a lawsuit was being filed. If we had, we certainly would not be standing here today.” – Rocky Wirtz – October 26, 2021

Another thing particularly interesting in the Jenner & Block investigation is the firm’s assertion that Rocky Wirtz had no knowledge of Brad Aldrich’s alleged assault of Kyle Beach in 2010 until the Blackhawks received initial word that Beach’s attorney was planning to file a lawsuit against the team.

While not clearly stated in the report, one possible clue as to when the Blackhawks first learned of the impending lawsuit comes on page 47.

Out of nowhere, the report notes a January 2021 meeting involving Marie Sutera, Dr. James Gary (Blackhawks former mental skills coach) and another unnamed individual in which J&B states Gary’s description of the May 23, 2010 meeting (by Sutera’s account) of front office higher ups to decide how to handle Kyle Beach’s claim should be handled on the eve of the Cup Final is described as containing details that went beyond what Gary told J&B investigators in his September interview.

This included the first documented inclusion of Joel Quenneville in the May 2010 meeting and the anecdote claiming Quenneville saying he was angry and “concerned about upsetting team chemistry” – (which lined up with Stan Bowman’s testimony to Jenner & Block. Take that and resolve it how you will.)

This passage is cited from the last interview Jenner & Block did according to their report, the third and final interview conducted with Sutera on October 11, 2021. Sutera was the lone person interviewed more than twice. She was the first and last person they spoke with and Sutera left her position with the Blackhawks during this investigation.

It stands to reason this sudden topic of conversation in January 2021 came after the organization learned lawsuits were in the pipeline.

It’s important to note that no one interviewed was under oath. Participation was voluntary. Which is what makes Brad Aldrich’s participation all the more fascinating, as it is odd.  Joel Quenneville was interviewed twice. It’s important to note that before Quenneville was interviewed, his public statement was that he had no knowledge of the claim against Aldrich until all of this became public. It turned out he was not telling the truth either. But when he was first interviewed, no one had – publicly at least – placed Quenneville in the room for that meeting after the Blackhawks won the 2010 Western Conference Final.

Jenner & Block ‘clearing’ the Wirtz’s

As exhibited above, the J&B report inserted what amounted to a footnote on page 6 to declare that their investigative team “uncovered no evidence” that Rocky Wirtz (or Danny Wirtz, but he didn’t work in the front office in either 2010 or 2013) had knowledge of Beach’s allegation, Aldrich’s conduct or their front office’s handling of the matter until years later when Beach’s lawyer made them aware a lawsuit was forthcoming.

What gets fascinating about that assertion is that Reid Schar also mentioned during the video call on October 26, 2021 to announce J&B’s findings that his team had interviewed both Rocky Wirtz and Danny Wirtz.

At no point in the report are either Wirtz ever mentioned. The name ‘Wirtz’ does not appear even once in the document.

Many current and former Blackhawks employees and players were granted anonymity for participating and listed as “Witness” when information from their interviews is cited. Only individuals who had commented publicly and consequential front office employees who were directly involved with the handling of matters pertaining to Beach’s and the other Black Ace’s claims described in the report were named specifically by Jenner & Block.

If Rocky Wirtz was interviewed, as Schar stated, nothing from that interview was determined to be useful enough to be included in Jenner & Block’s final report, since his interview is not listed in the end notes, nor is the one said to be done with Danny Wirtz.

What is more peculiar, is if J&B had recorded anyone who they interviewed as saying that they never informed Rocky Wirtz – why would that NOT be included in the report since J&B when out of its way to include the footnote about Wirtz having no knowledge before this year?

Surely, if J&B had an account from John McDonough saying that he had kept this from Rocky Wirtz for all these years, Reid Schar and his team would’ve included THAT in their findings. Since its not in there, we’re left to assume McDonough didn’t tell J&B that – or is it possible J&B never asked McDonough that question?

If you read through the report, while McDonough sat for two interviews, he recounted a lot of ‘don’t recalls’ and ‘wasn’t involved in that’ type responses for a boss known to be a relentless micro-manager.

Sutera, who was clearly one of the most-helpful witnesses to the investigation (even though she was unable to locate Aldrich’s employee file) recounted the June 14, 2010 meeting in which she said McDonough called her into his office where he informed her that they had a problem with Aldrich. This was the meeting the director of HR first-learned of the entire situation. In his interview, McDonough claimed he didn’t recall that meeting or speaking to Sutera about Aldrich at all.

McDonough also told J&B that after the meeting on the day they clinched their berth into the 2010 Final, he never heard Aldrich’s name or the matter ever brought up again.

While McDonough’s accounts don’t align with his director of Human Resources – who directly reported to McDonough – if the former Blackhawks team president is telling the truth – that would mean when the Houghton Police Department called the last week of September 2013, it was never brought to his attention. This was on the eve of raising the 2013 Cup banner on Opening Night, that the organization he was at the helm of was potentially about to be facing a public relations (and possible legal) crisis of its own-making.

It’s just not plausible. Any HR director would have immediately forwarded that information to their superior.

It’s unclear whether McDonough was even asked questions about the 2013 phone call because there’s nothing in the report that suggests he was asked about it.

That call’s inclusion in the report is limited to a paragraph. If Sutera was asked if she informed anyone above her about that call, it’s not included in the report. It’s hard to believe that wasn’t asked. If she was, that would’ve been a place Jenner & Block could have provided supporting evidence for its assertion in the footnote on page 6 that Rocky Wirtz knew nothing of any of this that was happening on his watch during the most significant stretch of time in the franchise’s history.

Instead, there is not supporting evidence to support that footnote – Anywhere.

We could just take the Wirtz’ word for it. But then again, remember what they told us when the lawsuit first surfaced last May.

And remember they also told us they weren’t aware Garret Ross was arrested until it made news on an obscure Chicago sports blog six weeks later.

“The Chicago Blackhawks take the allegations asserted by a former player very seriously. Based on our investigation, we believe the allegations against the organization lack merit and we are confident the team will be absolved of any wrongdoing.” – Adam Rogowin, Blackhawks vice president for communications – May 12, 2021

The independent investigation they commissioned themselves determined that defiant May 2021 Blackhawks statement contained a lie. They never performed an investigation of their own.

If Jenner & Block had testimony from any of the essential front office employees who could back up that Rocky Wirtz had no knowledge the Aldrich-Beach situation and was not involved in the handling of it at any point, I don’t know why they would omit it from the report. That determination was an essential aspect of the investigation.

It could just be that it doesn’t exist.

Or, when anyone was asked, they got a case of selective memory loss or just replied “no comment”- and that’s how Jenner & Block arrived at their conclusion.

We learned a lot about the organization’s mishandling, lack of compassion or general decency when it came to responding to abuse Kyle Beach and other Blackhawks employees allegedly experienced at the hands of Brad Aldrich. For that, we should be appreciative of Jenner & Block’s work.

But, at the same time, their investigative digging left as many questions as it did answers.

And for that, the report certainly does speak for itself.

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For reference, a list of notable Jenner & Block interviews, in sequential order

Date Interview
6/28/2021 **Danny Wirtz Memo on Jenner & Block independent investigation “follow the facts wherever they lead.”
7/1/2021 Dir. Human Resources [Marie Sutera]
7/2/2021 Outside Council [2010]
7/8/2021 Witness [Employee A – Female Front Office Employee]
7/14/2021 *Email from Black Ace 1 Pg 88 enote 265
7/16/2021 Nick Boynton
7/20/2021 Joel Quenneville
7/26/2021 Jay Blunk
8/5/2021 Kevin Cheveldayoff
8/7/2021 Paul Vincent
8/10/2021 Al MacIsaac
8/10/2021 John McDonough
8/12/2021 Stan Bowman
8/12/2021 Brent Sopel
8/16/2021 Witness [John Doe (Kyle Beach) Confidant]
8/20/2021 Dir. Human Resources [Marie Sutera] Follow up
8/21/2021 Brad Aldrich
8/24/2021 Dale Tallon
8/24/2021 Black Ace 1
9/9/2021 James Gary
9/20/2021 John Doe [Kyle Beach]
9/23/2021 Witness [John Doe (Kyle Beach) Confidant] Follow up
9/24/2021 Stan Bowman Follow up
9/24/2021 Al MacIsaac Follow up
9/27/2021 Joel Quenneville Follow up
9/30/2021 Witness [“Professional Acquaintance of Black Ace 1”
10/1/2021 John McDonough Follow up
10/4/2021 Therapist
10/5/2021 *Email from John Doe [Kyle Beach] Pg 82 enote 123 Follow up
10/7/2021 Donald Fehr
10/11/2021 Dir. Human Resources [Marie Sutera] Follow up 2
10/26/2021 **Report released

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–Full 10.5 minute interview segment with Kyle Beach, Nov 30, 2013 – six days before Blackhawks trade Beach to New York Rangers.

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A few end notes here of my own.  I suppose I should state that I am not related (at least that I’m aware) to anyone at Jenner & Block.

Some have asked about this web site and what happened to all the articles and past posts. Long story short, I thought I was done with this part of my life.  Unfortunately, thinking that, I didn’t log into the site for many months. I’m not sure how long. Big mistake. My understanding is a recovery is still possible but many files are corrupted and the last backup isn’t complete. Bummer. It was a lot of time and work over the years. Luckily, I never delete or throw anything away. So I have a lot of that work. I’m just not sure its worth spending the time or resources to restore all of that.

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@ChrisBlock – Twitter

PuckChatter @ gmail dot com

The post September 2013 phone call tipped Blackhawks off that Brad Aldrich was about to be arrested; days later the team loaned Kyle Beach to Sweden league appeared first on Puck Chatter / The Third Man In.

Want to thank those who listened to the Puck Chatter podcast Al Cimaglia and I did a couple weeks ago. Al and I had been talking about doing one for a long time. It’s been so long since we’ve done one and thus I didn’t expect a lot of feedback, but we did get some. The current plan is to do another one, probably next week, when we’ll talk a little more about Kyle Beach and the Blackhawks at large.

As for this sudden output, I’ve had a lot of unexpected time on my hands recently. I’m fine now but had been laid up on the couch for a while. Hence, I got to watch a bunch of Rockford and other NHL hockey of late that I haven’t regularly been able to keep up with previously this season. Translation – I’m bored, so here we are.

Blackhawks recall Lukas Reichel

General manager Kyle Davidson recalled Lukas Reichel on Wednesday. Reichel is expected to be in the lineup Thursday night when Seattle makes its first United Center visit. He is without a point in 5 games up with Blackhawks so far in 2022.

It’s the third time Reichel has been up with the NHL club this season. If he plays in five more NHL games before the season ends, the Blackhawks will burn the first year of Reichel’s 3-year entry-level contract. Including Thursday, the Blackhawks have 12 games left on the schedule.

Even though Davidson has insisted he doesn’t care if he ‘burns’ year one of Reichel’s salary cap-friendly contract, it would be idiotic to do so at this point. That is, unless the Blackhawks promised Reichel and his agent prior to this year that they would get Reichel into 10 or more games and get Reichel one-year closer to his next contract. Reichel could’ve been an NHL regular a month ago. Burning it now to own the media, or whatever, makes no sense.

One of the reasons previously stated for keeping Reichel in Rockford, or preventing some of the IceHogs blueliners further audition in Chicago is the IceHogs’ status in the AHL playoff race.

The truth is Rockford is pretty much entrenched in the 4^th spot in the AHL Central. Even before the IceHogs recent 4-game road trip (in which the ‘Hogs went 3-1), Rockford could play a little below .500 hockey the rest of the way and still finish in 4^th. They could get hot, and lucky, and overtake Milwaukee for 3^rd place – which would grant the IceHogs a first-round (3 game series) bye and pit the Hogs against Manitoba in the Division semi-final. Otherwise, Rockford will finish exactly where they’ve been, in 4^th with home ice in a 3-game series against either the Texas Stars or Iowa Wild. The winner of that series will play the Central Division leading Chicago Wolves in a best-of-5 division semi. So, the much repeated now stance that the Blackhawks can’t give any of their young guys a look on the NHL club because “Rockford’s in a playoff race” is simply – a crock.

And while Davidson has touted the importance of prospects playing in meaningful hockey this spring, he didn’t go out and acquire veteran help to boost the IceHogs chances this postseason like Stan Bowman did for Jeremy Colliton in 2018.  Outside of Reichel and players currently on the IceHogs roster, only Reese Johnson, Collin Delia and Alex Vlasic were qualified to participate in the AHL postseason.

As for Reichel, watching him recently in Rockford is reminiscent of Teuvo Teravainen’s stint with the IceHogs.

While I don’t think there was any harm in Reichel spending half a season in the AHL, its gone to the point where his presence in that atmosphere has outrun its usefulness. Players with his level of skill will eventually fall into bad habits if they’re not surrounded by players of similar skill who process the game at a higher level.

Reichel is at his best when he plays a speed game. He’s an effortless skater and has great acceleration ability. He’s not a prolific shooter. Most often he defers and opts to setup his linemates. But he does have a nice release on his one-timers when he uses it. He averaging less than 2 shots on goal per game in the AHL. He’s scoring at a 22.6% clip in Rockford. Oddly, he’s just 1 for 6 in shootout attempts. Getting Reichel to shoot more often and not pass up scoring opportunities is an issue I see for him going forward though.

Like Teravainen, Reichel seems like he’s conscious of not getting himself hurt in the AHL. Its not that he’s afraid of contact, he’ll put himself in harm’s way for the sake of an offensive opportunity, but otherwise he doesn’t engage physically. And once the whistle blows, he clocks out. On Friday, he gave a puck away in his own zone when he felt a checker closing in on him. It was a bad look but I haven’t seen that out of him routinely. But I haven’t watched him all season either. Reichel’s also adept at conserving his energy. He’s cerebral in that sense. If he makes a read on a puck and judges that he won’t be able to make that play, he doesn’t waste his energy. That can lead to him appearing like he’s not giving 100 percent at times but its just that he sees the game and processes it on a higher level than some.

Reichel has great stick skills. He can settle a puck and move it all while in motion, seemingly without much effort. His stickhandling is high end in tight spaces as well. One of the negatives I see with him right now is his tendency to rush the puck into the offensive zone and wait too long to pass. He’s usually thinking pass first and sometimes he waits too long and by the time he centers the puck, or tries to setup a scoring chance, the puck is in too tight and the receiver can’t do much with it. I’d like to see him shoot it himself, peel off or hold onto the puck in some of those situations and try to set up some extended zone time – in which he can also float into positions where he can be set up for shooting chances of his own. Perhaps with some higher skilled NHL players he’ll make that adjustment.

He’s inconsistent in the faceoff circle. In his last three games he was 20%, 66% and 50% at the dot. In games that I’ve seen, more than not he goes for the clean forehand technique. When interim head coach Anders Sorenson mixes up his lines, or stacks for more offense, Reichel gets moved to right wing.

Somewhat amazingly, Reichel only has three penalties this season, and those all came on one weekend in October. He’s a high-tempo offensive-minded player who draws penalties in pushing a high pace but rarely commits them. He’ll have to compete harder on the defensive end in the NHL however.

Alex Vlasic and other prospect news

-Recent signing, six-foot seven-inch, 20-year-old blueliner Alex Vlasic will be on the Blackhawks NHL roster and collect $225,000 before he’s assigned the Rockford IceHogs and begins his actual development in agreeing to turn pro and forgo his senior year at Boston University.

-The Hockey News annual “Future Watch” was published recently. I don’t put much stock into its rankings and do so at your own risk.

Last year, THN ranked the Blackhawks top ten prospects and had Evan Barratt at 2^nd, John Quenneville at 6^th and Chad Krys at 8^th.  Prospect rankings are hard, but not THAT hard. Barratt was a nice college player at Penn State but his skating is below average and his other skills weren’t going to be good enough at this level. In this year’s rankings, THN drops him to 6^th.  He shouldn’t be in there at all.

The biggest error with this year’s THN rankings is Nicolas Beaudin at 2 (the 3^rd time in 4 years THN has rated Beaudin in this spot), behind the obvious top-rated Lukas Reichel. Beaudin began the year getting top D-pair minutes in Rockford. Over the course of the year his minutes had declined, he’s been on and off the second power play unit and since THN published their new rankings, Beaudin has been a healthy scratch in a couple of games. THN wrote, “[Beaudin] must improve his consistency to separate himself from the likes of D-men Ian Mitchell, Alec Regula, Wyatt Kalynuk and Isaak Phillips.”

Strange, because THN left Ian Mitchell out of their top 10 Blackhawks prospects this time. Mitchell is currently Rockford’s top minute-man and the closest of all IceHogs blueliners to earning a potential long-term audition for a spot in the NHL.

Mitchell has missed the past three IceHogs games with an undisclosed ailment. He finished his last game on Friday, an overtime win at Tucson. Late in that game, he appeared to have been laboring (something lower body possibly) after a scramble around the IceHogs net, but he participated in overtime and was in front of the Tucson goal, creating traffic on the game-winning goal.

The full THN top ten Blackhawks prospects from the 2022 “Future Watch” edition:

1-Lukas Reichel, 2-Nicolas Beaudin, 3-Nolan Allan, 4-Colton Dach, 5-G-Drew Commesso, 6-Evan Barratt, 7-Alec Regula, 8-G-Arvid Soderblom, 9-Wyatt Kaiser, 10-Isaak Phillips.

Phillips is still pretty raw and could use another full season in Rockford, but he’s potentially a guy who could be in the mix long-term. Over time, he should calm down and develop better decision making with his passes and choices of when to jump up in the play. Phillips has a nice shot. His compete-level is there already. There are some issues. Phillips poor situational awareness cost Rockford any chance of a comeback in Monday’s loss at Henderson (Vegas). He carried the puck through the middle of the neutral zone, but instead of chip the puck into the opposing zone and let his wingers, who were skating with him, use their speed and do the work, Phillips tried to do it alone. He wound up deep in the Henderson zone and battling against two Henderson players for the puck. He lost possession and the Silver Knights wound up scoring on a 3-on-1 break the other way. That put the visitors down 4-1 with 11 minutes to play. You credit Phillips’ energy and desire to compete, but he has to make a better decision there when there’s still a lot of time on the clock and one of those wingers was Lukas Reichel. But the next night, Phillips made a great pass off a rush into the Henderson zone which set up Josiah Slavin for the only goal of the night. So, it’s kind of a roller coaster, as it is with many young players when they get to a level where they’re not dramatically better than most of who they’re sharing the ice with. Consistency is a big issue with Phillips. Friday night at Tucson he was hounded by Roadrunner forecheckers and turned the puck over at will. He struggled with anything that involved handling the puck. The next night he made some nice passes and a great read on the IceHogs first goal when he recognized a Tucson forward was without a stick and pinched down into the zone and setup Garrett Mitchell.

I’d have Kaiser slightly higher on this list, but the Hawks should take their time with him as well. In what I’ve seen of Nolan Allan, I’d lean toward making him the best bet of the bunch in terms of becoming a permanent fixture on the Blackhawks blue line down the road, but I haven’t seen enough of him this season to really judge that fairly. Allan is known for his defense and positional play, but I think there’s more offense there once he gets into a professional setting.

One possible oversight in the THN rankings is Notre Dame forward Landon Slaggert.

When analyzing that Brandon Hagel trade, you’d have to think Kyle Davidson and company are figuring Slaggert ultimately would be the guy they’re projecting taking Hagel’s spot on the NHL depth chart when it came time for Hagel’s next contract. When you look at it that way, and consider Hagel’s shooting percentage was at 22% at the time of the deal, along with acquiring the two first-round picks from Tampa, that trade was pretty much a no-brainer for Davidson.

Slaggert projects out as virtually the same player as Hagel if all goes well. He just completed his second year at Notre Dame, and with the NCAA granting an extended year of eligibility for student-athletes due to the impact of Covid-19, Slaggert could stay at Notre Dame into 2025 if he wanted to. I’d expect the Blackhawks to start pushing for Slaggert to go pro after his 2022-23 season and spend a full ’23-24 campaign in Rockford, making his potential full-time Chicago arrival during the ’24-25 season. Had Hagel played out his $1.5M per year contract in Chicago, he’d be looking at a new contract for ’24-25.

That 2020 Blackhawks draft class is looking pretty good so far. Time will tell, obviously. There are no guarantees any of these players, including Reichel, will ultimately meet projections. But Reichel appears to be about ready to be a top six piece for years to come, and if Slaggert turns into a solid middle-six role player, ala Hagel, and either Wyatt Kaiser or Phillips can mature into an NHL regular, Mark Kelley did a great job in 2020. Drew Commesso is doing really well at Boston University too. The Blackhawks haven’t had a draft that yielded multiple NHL regulars in 9 or 10 years. Though, I suppose you could argue 2016 (DeBrincat, Lucas Carlsson) did. But, right now, 2020 is looking promising. Or, I just jinxed it.

Kelley and company made some curious selections in 2021, for sure, but the nature of the 2020-21 season made it so that Draft is almost a complete crapshoot anyhow. I’m not arguing Kelley should’ve kept his job. He’s made some good picks over the years and many that just haven’t panned out. But his drafts haven’t been helped by the fact the Blackhawks have been mostly inept at developing their own post-draft. The irony here is in Davidson possibly benefiting from the most recent work of a guy he just fired under the pretext of poor performance.

2021 THN Blackhawks Prospect Rankings (March 2021)

1-Lukas Reichel, 2-Evan Barratt, 3-Alex Regula, 4-Drew Commesso, 5-Wyatt Kalynuk, 6-John Quenneville, 7-Slava Demin, 8-Chad Krys, 9-Michael Teply, 10-MacKenzie Entwistle

2020 THN Blackhawks Prospect Rankings (March 2020)

1-Ian Mitchell, 2-Nicolas Beaudin, 3-Lucas Carlsson, 4-John Quenneville, 5-Chad Krys, 6-Slava Demin, 7-Tim Soderlund, 8-Brandon Hagel, 9-Philipp Kurashev, 10-Mackenzie Entwistle

2019 THN Blackhawks Prospect Rankings (March 2019)

1-Adam Boqvist, 2-Nicolas Beaudin, 3-Dylan Sikura, 4-Ian Mitchell, 5-Lucas Carlsson, 6-Tim Soderlund, 7-Chad Krys, 8-Artur Kayumov, 9-Evan Barratt, 10-Brandon Hagel

Stanislav “Slava” Demin, of course, is the prospect Stan Bowman acquired from Vegas, along with Malcom Subban and a 2020 second round pick (Drew Commesso) in exchange for Robin Lehner ahead of the 2020 NHL trade deadline. Demin was a teammate of Ian Mitchell for two years. After the trade, and subsequent junior season with Denver, Slava Demin transferred to Massachusetts for the 2021-22 season where he managed just 3 points in 22 games. At this point, the outlook is not good Demin.

Demin is evidently exercising his 5^th year of college hockey, and has entered the NCAA transfer portal for a second time.

Also looking to change schools is 7^th round 2021 Blackhawks draft pick, defenseman Connor Kelley.  After two seasons at Minnesota-Duluth, Kelley has entered the NCAA transfer portal. This is an interesting one. A UMD teammate of fellow Blackhawks prospect Wyatt Kaiser, Kelley, 20, is an interesting prospect as he’s an offensive talent who has been cast in more conservative, defensive roles since his initial draft year with the US development program. His scouting reports are mostly very complimentary when it comes to the defensive side of the game. In 64 games at UMD, Kelley had 5 goals, 11 assists and was a plus-22. Kelley is apparently leaving UMD over playing time. He saw top four minutes, paired at times with Kaiser, at the beginning of this past season but down the stretch he was relegated to the Bulldogs’ third pair. Connor’s older un-drafted brother Justin (St. Thomas) is also in the transfer portal.

More IceHogs injury notes

-The players in Rockford who have missed time with concussions, or concussion-like symptoms include; Lukas Reichel (6 games), Dylan McLaughlin (11 games), Chad Yetman (5gms), Jakub Galvas (4 gms), and goalie Arvid Soderblom (6 gms). None of these are current issues.

-As mentioned above, Ian Mitchell has been held out of Rockford’s past three games with a currently undisclosed ailment. Rockford has been pretty good this year at releasing injury information so now that they’ve returned from the 4-game road trip, perhaps we’ll get some word on this if Mitchell is unable to go on Friday night when Tucson visits the BMO.

–Brett Connolly sat out Tuesday’s game in Henderson, Nevada in what was described as “a night off”, citing the grind of 4 games in 5 days. With Reichel recalled to Chicago, the IceHogs were without their two top per-game point scorers. It was the first time this season Rockford skated a game without both Reichel and Connolly. They wound up winning the game 1-0 on a Josiah Slavin tally.

Mike Hardman missed the 3^rd period of Saturday’s game at Tucson but was back in the lineup for both games in Nevada.

Michael Teply, who reminds me of somewhat of a young Troy Brouwer, played the 4 games in 5 nights after missing the previous three IceHogs outings with a right shoulder injury.

Blackhawks signings and other prospect movement notes

It’s that time of year.

-Blackhawks added Jaxson Stauber, son of former NHL goaltender Robb Stauber, on a two-year entry-level contract on March 23^rd. Stauber signs as an undrafted-college free agent. Stauber was originally committed to Minnesota State (Mankato) but transferred to the Providence College Friars during his freshman year and played two seasons there. He turns 23 on April 27^th and will forgo with senior college season. Stauber will likely wind up between the pipes with the Indy Fuel in the fall.

Stauber is another rather large goaltender the Hawks have added to their prospect pool. Drew Commesso (6’2”), Arvid Soderblom (6’3”), Dominic Basse (6’6”) and Stauber (6’3”) are all rather large men.

Basse has entered the NCAA transfer portal, stating his intent to leave Colorado College after two seasons. Basse won’t have to sit out a year under the updated NCAA transfer rules, since this will be his first transfer.  No word yet on where Basse is headed. Some players enter the portal knowing where they’re headed, some enter the portal and consider their options as other universities recruit them. Basse went 10-26-3 in 41 appearances over two years with Colorado College and a 3.21 goals against and .891 save percentage. He turns 21 on April 22. Basse was a 6^th round pick of the Blackhawks in 2019. Wherever he winds up, 2022-23 is an incredibly important year for Basse.

There are a lot of NCAA players entering the transfer portal right now and another reason for that is the arrival of Lindenwood University (outside St. Louis) as a Division I program next season, moving up from the ACHA. Lindenwood will continue to play their home games at the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, which is off I-70 next to the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre and down the street from Lambert Airport. The Centene also has a rink that serves as the St. Louis Blues practice facility. Lindenwood’s rink seats roughly 2,500. That facility, which is co-owned by the Blues, just hosted the ACHA Div 1 National Championship, which host Lindenwood Lions won, defeating Central Oklahoma in the final. Former St. Louis Blues d-man Rick Zombo will continue to serve as head coach at Lindenwood. He won ACHA championships as head coach of the Lions in 2016 and 2022. He’s been head coach of the team since 2010. Lindenwood will enter the NCAA as an independent and are working on a 20-game schedule for its inaugural season. Zombo played his college hockey at North Dakota.

Zach Dubinsky, son of former Blackhawks winger Steve Dubinsky, is transferring from R.P.I. to Michigan State. Zach just turned 22 and went undrafted. Steve’s other son, Aiden, a defenseman, is draft-eligible this summer and will attend Minnesota-Duluth in the fall. Aiden skated the past two seasons in the USHL, most recently for the Tri-City Storm (Kearney, Nebraska). He has a shot at being drafted in a later round.

The annual NCAA transfer deadline is May 1.

-The Hawks haven’t made this official as of this writing, but SportBladet in Sweden is reporting the Blackhawks have signed 23-year old defenseman Filip Roos to a contract. Unclear if this is an NHL or AHL deal. Either way, throw Roos into the mix to contend for a spot on Rockford’s blue line next season.

Filip Roos

Roos is a 6’4” left-shot blue liner who had 1 goal and 5 assists in 50 games with Skelleftea AIK in the Swedish Hockey League this season. He averaged 15:37 of ice time overall, which puts him 6^th among Skelleftea blue liners, though his minutes exceeded that average often on the back half of this season. For comparison, Blackhawks prospect Michael Krutil, who began this season on the IceHogs blueline but signed with the Vaxjo Lakers in the Swedish Hockey League in January, had 5 assists, no goals in 21 games played for Vaxjo. Roos skated his two previous seasons in Sweden’s ‘B’ league and had better offensive numbers. I’d like to see Krutil back in Rockford next year as well.

-Finally, the NCAA Frozen Four is this weekend in Boston.

Thursday April 7, 2022

#4 Denver vs #1 Michigan – 4pm central – ESPN2

#6 Minnesota vs #2 Minnesota State – 7:30 central – ESPNU

Saturday April 9, 2022

Championship Game – 7:30pm central – ESPN

No Blackhawks prospects on any of the Final Four teams this go-around, but Denver has a couple of Chicago area products – defenseman Sean Behrens (Avs) and forward Jack Devine (draft eligible).

Twitter @ChrisBlock
PuckChatter @ gmail.com

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This is something I wasn’t sure would ever happen again. We’ve talked about doing this for awhile now, but it finally came together.

Al Cimaglia and I sat down today to record a BRAND NEW podcast and discuss all the recent developments in Chicago Blackhawks-land.

Listen if you can.  We covered as much as we could in 85 minutes. We’ll follow up in the next week or two to cover the balance of topics.

Timestamps

3:00 – Reaction to the Blackhawks moves ahead of Monday’s NHL Trade Deadline

6:45 – Brandon Hagel trade

12:20 – First-rounders acquired from Tampa

21:20 – Stan Bowman wasn’t fired for poor performance

28:45 – Next steps in the rebuild operation

31:00 – Danny Wirtz and timeline of Stan Bowman firing

34:40 – Hawks missing out on other more qualified GM hires

35:50 – Kyle Davidson’s negotiation tactics

39:00 – Kyle Dubas vs Kyle Davidson

44:30 – Handling of prospects moving forward

48:40 – Jeremy Colliton and Dylan Sikura

52:15 – Concept of ‘over-ripening’ prospects in Rockford

55:00 – Anders Sorenson and Alex Nylander

57:45 – Recruiting the next Blackhawks coach

58:45 – Kane, Toews and more Wirtz’ incompetence

1:11:45 – Rocky Wirtz’ neutering of Chicago Blackhawks media

1:19:05 – Rocky Wirtz: Professional Victim

The post Puck Chatter Podcast ~ Rebuild the Rebuild appeared first on Puck Chatter / The Third Man In.

By Chris Block

In wake of the findings into the investigation of the Chicago Blackhawks handling of a 2010 sexual assault allegation made by John Doe 1, who we now know to have been 2008 first-round draft pick Kyle Beach, the organization’s response, and attempt to pivot into brand rehabilitation, have raised new questions, and refreshed memories of another recent Blackhawks’ scandal.

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Before I go any further, as much time as I’ve spent thinking about it this past week, I don’t think I can completely articulate how much I admire Kyle Beach for his bravery in filing his lawsuit against the Blackhawks organization and subsequently going on the record and telling his story to TSN last week.

I have had people in my life who have experienced sexual assault. Thus, I’m aware of how those experiences, and the collateral damage it causes can manifest itself in countless ways in a person’s life, their relationships and everyday situations that aren’t exclusive to sex or intimacy.  It’s an ongoing struggle that never completely goes away, which is what makes it such a heinous crime.

I may have covered Beach and interviewed him as much as anyone in his career.  From his draft in June of 2008 to his final days with the organization in late 2013, I saw his ups and downs. I criticized his on-ice play often. We had our moments, but he was almost always gracious with his time. The chats with him were usually very good. My final interview with Beach came just days before the Blackhawks traded him to the New York Rangers.

Beach was often an introspective, insightful interview. For whatever reason, though, he had problems putting things together on the ice. Obviously, this recent revelation casts a new light on his career. It undoubtedly was a factor in his development.

If only Kyle Beach had someone of more consequence within the Blackhawks organization (no offense to Paul Vincent, Nick Boynton or Brent Sopel) who believed him, or showed Beach some empathy – perhaps Beach’s career path would’ve have played out differently.

And that’s the overriding shame that his former teammates, those in management, and ownership at the time should carry today. What victims need most from those around them is some compassion and understanding. Beach didn’t get that from his peers or the people, like mental skills coach James Gary, who were cast with being part of his professional support system.  Could his career have been more successful had his coaches, or upper management gone to Beach in the fall of 2010 and simply said ‘We’re sorry. What do you need? We’re here for you’? – We’ll never know but perhaps Beach will have a bigger impact on the game through the courage he’s showing now.

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During the web seminar to reveal the findings of Jenner & Block’s independent investigation into the Blackhawks handling of John Doe 1’s allegation of sexual assault by then video coach Brad Aldrich in the spring of 2010, Danny Wirtz claimed that ownership was not aware of the allegation, or its handling at the time.

Subsequently, the team released a statement, essentially dumping all responsibility for their failings on now-departed executive management – and claiming they’ve since instituted changes to prevent anything like what happened to Beach, and the inaction regarding it from happening again.

We’ve also since seen statements from some people who believe that there was no way Rocky Wirtz knew of the allegation at the time. But more on that later.

It’s been a few years since I’ve actively covered or written about the Blackhawks or their minor league affiliate AHL Rockford IceHogs. However, watching everything unfold these past five months has brought back memories of my experience covering a different kind of Blackhawks player alleged assault scandal in the spring of 2016.

In the fall of 2015, former Blackhawks forward prospect Garret Ross was arrested after an IceHogs practice and charged with “Revenge Porn.”

The victim in that case was a former girlfriend of one of Ross’ IceHogs teammates. Ross somehow came into possession of private and sexually explicit texts and video and then disseminated those to shame a Sycamore woman after Ross and his teammate had been found to be cheating on their other girlfriends via the Tinder app. Ross and his teammate suspected this Sycamore woman spread word of their cheating and caused their girlfriends to break off those relationships in the summer of 2015.

I’ve been thinking a lot about that young woman the past week. Never have I spoken to her, and I don’t know who she is, but I feel like as journalists we failed her.

Ross and the other un-named top (at the time) Blackhawks prospect stole her dignity. They purposefully embarrassed and shamed her. It was a gutless act they’ve moved on from without much consequence while she is forced to carry with her each day.

It’s difficult to believe the Blackhawks didn’t know. Even given the timeline in which they claim to have learned of crime, and Ross’ arrest – they still did nothing.  Ross was given a couple weeks off to hide from the media and when the case had to be dropped on a technicality the Blackhawks quickly reinstated him back into the lineup. The other player never missed any time.

Blackhawks statement following Jenner & Block report Oct 26, 2021

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In March of 2016, the Blackhawks organization was sent scrambling when news reports unveiled that the team had recently found itself amid the ‘revenge porn’ scandal.

On February 3, 2016, Rockford IceHogs forward and Blackhawks’ prospect Garret Ross was charged with nonconsensual dissemination of a sexual image, or ‘revenge porn.’ It was almost three months to the day since charges against Patrick Kane in the alleged sexual assault of a woman in Buffalo were officially dropped due to lack of evidence.

Ross, accompanied by his attorney, turned himself in to police in Sycamore, Illinois on Thursday February 4, 2016. He was booked, posted a $500 bond and released the same day. Somehow, news of a current IceHogs’ player, and Chicago Blackhawks prospect flew under the radar and didn’t make the news in Rockford, or Dekalb County for another six weeks.

The next day Ross was in the lineup when the Rockford IceHogs returned from the AHL All-Star break and played a home game against the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Rockford was pummeled in that game, losing 9-1. Ross was a team worst minus-4 in the contest.

In attendance the day after Ross’ arrest was Blackhawks team owner Rocky Wirtz.

Wirtz rarely made trips to Rockford home games. He didn’t own the team at the time, but he did ride out to Rockford that day to meet with the IceHogs and team officials.

After that game, IceHogs coach Ted Dent was uncharacteristically mellow following such a loss.

“It’s going to happen over the course of 76 games,” Dent said in comments to reporter Reed Schreck and published in the Rockford Register-Star the next day. “You hope you don’t get blown out this bad. Throw it out the window. For whatever reason we had a stinker tonight, and just move on.”

“We had 20 hockey players tonight who weren’t that good.”

Hogs’ forward Mike Liambas, the lone Rockford goal scorer in the game, suggested the entire team wasn’t focused.

“Guys maybe as a whole weren’t ready mentally – that was the biggest issue.”

The Blackhawks team owner was not made available to the Rockford media that night, and the contents of his meetings that day are only known to those who were present.

For clarity, the Rockford IceHogs at the time were owned by the City of Rockford, with the local venues and entertainment board RAVE overseeing operations. However, all matters related to the hockey team were run by staff and management hired through the Chicago Blackhawks’ offices. The day-to-day business, game day arena operations, marketing, public relations and ticket operations were run by staff hired by the business side, owned and run by the City of Rockford.

Ross continued to play for the IceHogs for the next month and a half, until word of his arrest leaked through social media on March 19, 2016 – a Saturday.  Ross was quietly scratched from games that night and the next day without any explanation. After the game on March 20^th, which I was in attendance for covering as media, I asked Rockford head coach Ted Dent why Ross had missed the past two games and his response was “we’ll call that coach’s decision.”

At that time, I was not aware of the post on Twitter, nor another social media post referencing Ross’ arrest that led to Ross’ being scratched from the lineup Saturday and Sunday.

The next day, after being made aware of the social media posts, I researched the arrest, verified it with Dekalb County and posted a story about it that night. The story quickly got picked up by Yahoo! Sports, TMZ Sports, and then local Chicago media.

Monday was an off day for the IceHogs. On Tuesday, Dent told reporters in Rockford that Ross had been excused from practice for personal reasons. Blackhawks management were still declining comment to news organizations. It wasn’t until the following day, March 23^rd, when the Blackhawks finally issued a one paragraph statement and ‘suspended’ Ross.

The Blackhawks claimed to have only learned of Ross’ arrest on March 19 – or 45 days after the arrest and 44 days since Rocky Wirtz made a rare visit to Rockford.

Of course, this claim would indicate that Ross, Ross’ agent and attorney all kept this news from the Blackhawks and – presumably – the organization was embarrassed when the arrest made news six weeks after the fact.

It would also mean the second player, whose name is redacted in the Ross criminal complaint, but at that stage was also at risk of being charged, would have also kept this from Blackhawks management and ownership.

The timing and context in which this saga came down is also important to understanding why the Blackhawks hoped the Ross arrest would stay under the radar.

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It was the summer of 2015, in the wake of their third Stanley Cup in six seasons, when Patrick Kane was alleged to have sexually assaulted a woman in Buffalo.  Kane was defiant in saying he “did nothing wrong” and the Blackhawks stood by him.  In contrast to that case, which was eventually dropped due to lack of evidence, there’s no denying Ross did what the criminal complaint in his case alleged.

On August 6, 2015, the news first broke that Patrick Kane was being investigated in Buffalo for an alleged sexual assault after a night of partying that previous Sunday. Needless to state, but it was a public relations nightmare for the Blackhawks. A month later, September 17^th, with the investigation still ongoing, Kane made his first public statement (and little else) at the opening of Blackhawks training camp in South Bend, Indiana. John McDonough, Stan Bowman and Joel Quenneville were all seated at the table in support of Kane.

Unbeknownst to the organization at the time, Garret Ross was engaged in actions that would eventually become another stain on the team’s reputation and a second sexual assault-type scandal in just a few months.

At 11am on Wednesday September 2, 2015, a ‘Jane Doe’ walked into the lobby of the Sycamore Police Department to report a harassment claim against two Blackhawks prospects who would soon be reporting the Blackhawks training camp at Notre Dame. (Sycamore is about 70 minutes west of Chicago and a 45-minute drive southeast from Rockford.)

The woman explained to Sycamore Police that she had been in a relationship with a player on the Rockford IceHogs (whose name is redacted in the criminal investigation report) from January through February 2015. During that time, she had exchanged nude photos and videos with the player which she considered to be private.

She went on to explain that 6-8 weeks into their romantic relationship, she discovered that this player had another girlfriend. At this point, she broke off the relationship and said that she had no further contacts with that player since February.

The player whose name is redacted in the report, was a friend, roommate and teammate of Ross on the IceHogs.

Fast forward to August, the girlfriends of this player and Garret Ross each learn that these two IceHogs players have been having sexual affairs with other women via the Tinder app. The Jane Doe in this case had at least one mutual friend with those player’s girlfriends at the time. Ross and the teammate each accused ‘Jane Doe’ of “spreading lies” to their girlfriends. She told Sycamore police she had no contact with the player’s girlfriends.

On August 30, 2015, the Sycamore woman began getting harassing text messages from Ross about Tinder and getting dumped by his girlfriend.

Over the course of these harassing texts, Ross sent Jane Doe a sexually explicit video she had previously sent to Ross’ teammate in January 2015 while she and that player were having romantic relations. Ross then followed through on a threat to send said video, which had the Sycamore women’s face visible, to other mutual acquaintances in effort to shame her.

The woman told police she never gave Ross’ teammate permission to share the video with anyone and stated her intentions to pursue charges against both men. Police investigated the matter and on October 7th obtained a search warrant for Garret Ross’ cell phone.

That afternoon, the day before the IceHogs left for their season opening game in San Jose, officers confronted Ross in the parking lot of the BMO Harris Bank Center in Rockford after an IceHogs practice and seized Ross’ phone. When officers gave Ross a copy of the search warrant they asked Ross if he had any idea what this was about – Ross responded that he thought he did but then declined to speak further without an attorney present.

Ross, minus his cell phone, went on to travel with the IceHogs to San Jose for the season opener and continued to play while the investigation was ongoing. In 41 games up until the All-Star break, Ross had 7 goals and 9 assists with a plus-4 rating and 9.2% shooting percentage. For comparison, the same time period the season prior, Ross had 14 goals and 14 assists to go with a plus-20 and 15.1% shooting percentage.  Word of the investigation never cracked the newswire.

On Wednesday February 3^, 2016, Sycamore Police secured an arrest warrant on Ross for Non-Consensual Dissemination of Private Sexual Images, which had only recently become a felony in the State of Illinois. That day they left a phone message with Ross’ attorney to contact the department. The next day the attorney learned that a warrant for Ross’ arrest had been issued. Ross’ attorney advised police that Ross would turn himself in.

Later that day, February 4^th, Ross and his attorney drove to Sycamore. Ross was fingerprinted and processed. On the advice of his attorney, he refused to be interviewed by police and was released after posting $500 bond.

A day later, by coincidence or not, Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz made the rare trip out to Rockford to meet with IceHogs officials and was in attendance later that night for their blowout 9-1 loss to Grand Rapids.

The Blackhawks and much of its upper management on the hockey ops side were on the road in Arizona and Dallas that weekend.

Over the next six weeks, Ross never missed a game. Between the arrest and news being made public, Ross played in 18 games. He didn’t score a goal in that stretch. Ross posted 4 assists, was a minus-10 with 34 shots on goal from February 5 until March 18^th. The Rockford team as a whole, that came out of the All-Star break in first-place in AHL Central, went on a 3-4-4 slide to begin the season’s back half.

At morning skate, Saturday March 19^th, Ross’ name was listed on the lineup board in the IceHogs’ locker room prior to that evening’s game versus the Chicago Wolves, a rematch from the prior night in Rosemont. That afternoon, a Chicago sports themed blog Sports Mockery posted a story about Ross’ arrest based on a Nick Burzych tweet from earlier in the day.

News that Ross’ arrest was now public quickly made it to the Blackhawks public relations staff, either through keeping eyes on the Sports Mockery blog, or through the Blackhawks hashtag attached to Burzych’s tweet. Either way, word came down from Blackhawks management to pull Ross from the lineup that night. Ross’ jersey was also pulled from a ‘jersey off our backs’ promotion that night that all other IceHogs’ players, including injured and healthy scratches, participated in.

I covered the IceHogs home games both that night, and the next day but was unaware of the Ross news until late Sunday night. No other media members present were apparently aware either. It was a strange couple of days. On Sunday, one Hawks higher up who was always good for at least a handshake, locked eyes with me and then ducked into his office.  People on the Blackhawks staff who were typically friendly, or at least cordial were all avoiding me. That was normal when John McDonough was present for an IceHogs game but that wasn’t the case on Sunday. When I asked the IceHogs PR person for updates on Ross – wondering at the time if he was injured or a healthy scratch – I was told they would ask but never received a follow up. Ted Dent was left by the higher ups to do the dirty work. In retrospect, he stood outside the IceHogs locker room postgame Sunday – seemed bracing for my inevitable query about Ross’ pending criminal case – but at that point I was still unaware.  Later that night a twitter follower pointed me to Burzych’s tweet and I followed up on it the next day during a break at my day job. By Monday night my story was posted and I was shocked no one else had written about it to that point.

It was a full 24 more hours before the Blackhawks could muster a response to media inquiries. Ross was then ‘suspended’ pending the legal matter. The organization claimed they were entirely unaware of Ross’ arrest until news hit social media six weeks later, or five-plus months since Ross had his phone seized by police in the parking lot on Rockford IceHogs’ property.

Ross’ case was dropped a week later on a technicality when investigators determined Ross was in Michigan when he sent the sexually explicit materials via texts. This meant the case would have to be tried in the State of Michigan, where the charge was considered a misdemeanor offense, as opposed to Illinois, where nonconsensual dissemination of a sexual image/videos had recently become a felony. For whatever reason, the victim opted not to pursue the case in Michigan. She was understandably “infuriated” with how the Blackhawks handled the situation.

The IceHogs went on to drop from 1^st to a 3^rd place finish in the AHL Central. Ross returned to the IceHogs lineup three days after his charge was officially dropped. He skated in six more games that year, going without a point. Rockford was swept in the first round of that postseason by the eventual Calder Cup winner, Lake Erie. Ross did not appear in a playoff game and was not re-signed that off season.

Ross’s teammate was able to keep his anonymity and escape scrutiny even though it was that unnamed teammate’s action – sharing the private explicit video and texts with Ross – that allowed the crime to take place at all.

These two young men stole a woman’s dignity and escaped accountability completely.

Blackhawks ownership cannot be held responsible for every movement or action of the players under their auspices. But how the team responds to unlawful action – or actions that fall outside the bounds a decency – is absolutely important.

The victim in this case has to live with the consequences of their actions while those players have eluded any sort of accountability. It seemed protecting an asset was more important to the Blackhawks than decency.

Blackhawks management and ownership, for that matter, hid behind the legal system and to our part, the media allowed the Blackhawks to get away with that.

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In 2013, when Kyle Beach returned to the Blackhawks from Sweden, where he was on loan that fall, Beach was sat out, and even left home from a two-game road trip to Charlotte, for what the team determined to be “code of conduct” violations.

Details of those ‘violations’ were never shared with the media, but it is telling that the Blackhawks organization didn’t consider what Ross and his IceHogs’ teammate, both top prospects of that period, as being code of conduct fouls. At least that is until Ross’ arrest leaked through the media. And then once the charge was dropped on a technicality, the Blackhawks essentially said no harm no foul.

We could have asked more questions. I could’ve asked more questions. We could have and should have persisted in the face of gutless “no further comment” responses – But we didn’t. And that was wrong of us. We failed the young woman.

Fast forward now to October of 2021. We now have Stan Bowman putting out a statement in the aftermath of having to relinquish is position and VP and General Manager of the Blackhawks. In his statement, Bowman pointed the finger at others (McDonough, Quenneville) and tried to absolve himself of blame by pointing out that he was only a first-year GM when Kyle Beach brought his story to management.

Well, in 2016 general manager Bowman was in his 7^th year at the position.

We also have the Wirtz’ claiming that 2010 doesn’t exemplify the organization that the Blackhawks are today and many changes have been instituted along the way.  Well, five years ago they handled Ross and another top prospect’s crime by hiding and then doing nothing.

And today, five months after essentially calling Kyle Beach a liar, the Blackhawks are attempting to co-opt his courage for public relations points. The players who didn’t stand by him when he was John Doe are now wanting to be seen as saluting Beach for his bravery.

There is something profoundly wrong with hockey and the culture that surrounds it.  We all, from players to fans, media and organizations abound must admit to that and insist on change. This past week is an opportunity to be the beginning.

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ChrisBlock@TheThirdManIn.com

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