We Need To Talk About The Blackhawks
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.พ. 2025
- Steve, Jesse and Adam discuss the sexual assault allegations surrounding the 2010 Blackhawks.
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the blackhawks giving him a letter of recommendation reminds me a lot of what happened with the USA gymnastics scandal, where abuse wasn't reported because it was easier to have an abuser move on to another gym than deal w/ the fall-out of reporting
A letter of reference is not not a letter of recommendation.
A letter of reference is only a verification of employment.
You do know an official letter of reference is different than a letter of recommendation.
@@thomasdidymus1393 i don't know why me using the wrong term by accident is what you're so focused on but I hope pointing out someone's error on the internet made you feel good about yourself
@@charlottelarochelle-compto2650 | your mistake is the difference between YES HE WORKED HERE vs YES HE WORKED HERE AND HE WAS FANTASTIC.
Your mistake is a HUGE MISTAKE...You being offended is a YOU problem.
This is how the Catholic Church deals with their pedos
I expect the NHL to treat this like they do concussions and pretend this isn't an issue.
or its pain killer/opioids/cocaine problems
No doubt they will. That's why we need the hockey media to hold their feet to the fire. People love to bash the media, but it has chased some huge issues everyone else was wanted to ignore and brought down some very powerful, very bad people.
That's not true. The NHL now have a clear concussion protocol. The now need to come up with a sexual misbehavior protocol that involves law enforcement reporting.
@@Mukunda16108 Concussion protocol hasn’t stopped the cause of concussions: dangerous, reckless hits, intended to injure. If the NHL wanted to limit concussions players like Tom Wilson wouldn’t be allowed on the ice.
@@shaynekempton3368 Sportsnet isn’t even talking about it. Probably because they have a deal with the NHL. If Dangle cares, he should talk about this during his live steams. That would reach a lot of people. But guess what, he won’t, because those streams are hosted by Sportsnet.
The fact he taught at a school is honestly the worst part seeing how the assault on thst child could have been stopped if the blackhawks took responsibility
My jaw dropped reading that in The Athletic today. I felt physically sick
Would’ve never happened if those players truly took a stand 10 years ago when it occurred. The fact we haven’t heard a peep of this till now is blood boiling. If the organization wasn’t gonna do anything about it, should’ve taken a higher action. Blood is on the hands of that repulsive Coach, the organization and any NHL player involved.
Yet this wouldn't be as big an issue if the coach was a woman.
@@patrickburke1103 what gives you the right to make a statement like, are you in the shoes of the two players, you don’t know what’s going on in their heads how they have tried to deal with this over the last 10 yrs, they stepped up when it happened and got treated like their nobodies.
@@24nathan48 More right than you can FATHOM. Once they realized action wasn’t gonna be taken within the org, they should’ve either stood up to the old man trying to suck em off or should’ve brought it out of house and got police involved then and there if it was such a problem, plain and simple. Yes, the higher ups who knew should’ve done something... But the players could’ve done a whole lot more than wait a decade
Babcock has been ostracized for making Mitch write a letter. How the hell is this story not getting more traction?
Babcock did alot more than make a guy write a letter and last I checked he is still affiliated with the NHL and making money off it.
@@JamesKlemm87 What Aldrich did was way worse than anything Babcock could have ever done he makes Babcock look like an alter boy
@@thelifeofoothyo4023 Indeed - while Babcock can be/was an asshole of a coach - he never broke the law like Aldrich had.
It's unreal how many of these things happen. Penn St, USA gymnastics, Ohio St, Michigan, and the countless others. Just horrible.
So THIS is what it's gonna take to get Stan Bowman fired.
This should be trending all over the world of sports. Disgusted to see this, especially the sleaziness and constant evasion.
The players need to come forward. Screw the privacy. The NHL covers this up, bc they know the players will stay hidden.
Thank you for talking in depth about the issue. I'm a Hawks fan and believe they need to remove everyone in the front office. Absolutely NO ONE is discussing it, even dialed in Hawks fans are overlooking it. Let's not let them
This makes you think what other teams are doing this too.
Exactly. I am a Hawks fan. I could honestly see them punishing the Hawks. Fines, Draft picks whatever. But the league needs a whistleblower program. They need league wide change and need to have a outside investigation done.
Confused and angry Hawks fan.
This isn’t the time to deflect attention away from this incident and the Blackhawks organization.
I’m not sure why you assume other teams are doing this. I have a feeling this is an issue that is strictly a Blackhawks problem, I highly doubt this a league wide problem
Penguins hands down.. Crosby and all those rookies that were traded in the past 10 years.. He must've hump & dumped every prospect that the penguins traded.
@@Tremonti4ever if an nhl team covers up for one pedo. Safe to assume a lot of other teams would too. I think saying it only ever happened in the blackhawks is pretty naive..
Fire absolutely everyone who knew and did nothing. Bare minimum.
As a Hawks fan: Fire Stanbo for sure. What about the guys elsewhere in the league though? Quinneville is with the Panthers, Chev is with the Canadians.
@@Somestupidloser fire them also everybody
exactly my thoughts even those who have moved on from the Blackhawks and are still in the league Jeol Quennville, Kevin Chevaldavov, and Marc Bergevin
@@lawrencefrazier2044 That's what should happen, so of course it won't. Chicago and NHL are paying "independent" investigators to cover this up as we speak.
Lifetime NHL ban for every coach, asst coach and executive of any sort that knew about it. Period. If they don't care about the safety of players then, they should not be entrusted with future kids coming into the league.
Edit: also I have been a life long Blackhawks fan so don't bother going there. The people that ignored this are every bit as criminal as the guy that did it.
lifelong Blackhawks fan here and I totally agree with you. this is unacceptable in everyway and that should be the punishment and youre right, I think they should do a whole front office shakeup because if Stan Bowman knows and he didnt want this to come out then nobody should be employed by this team until they find better replacements who are A. Smart enough and human enough to understand and not do this. B. Im going to be the New GM of the Hawks and I wont tolerate any of this behavior in the future. This is gross, Disgusting and Awful in Every single way.
@@Blackhawks_ yeah and I realize some of the names. Stan bowman, Quenneville, Marc Bergevin was director of player personnel. The list goes on. A lot of big names that should have been more concerned that they apparently are capable of.
Lifelong hawks fan here 100% agree that we should do something about the front office
I was reading about it yesterday and I was thinking... why isn’t this all over ESPN and other sports media??? Crazy stuff
I’m a Hawks fan and not even I knew about this and I follow way too many Hawks sources
www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/31702731/in-lawsuit-unidentified-former-chicago-blackhawks-player-says-former-assistant-coach-sexually-assaulted-2010
Not important enough. This is disgusting and often injustice of American system that rapist has more rights than victim. The sad part is victims are blamed for any sexual things may done in past or even if watch porn they say must not been that bad.
Thank you for your blunt honesty about this, and your support of survivors, guys. Although my experience at work was with another type of harassment, I know all too well the "let's investigate it internally" routine with no action. I hope there is justice for these players and all the ones who weren't safe to speak up.
On the "Why is no one talking about this" angle, you guys should read up on the Late Russ Conway, who dug into and broke the story about Alan Eagelson. Lots of NHL reporters, both sides of the boarder, didn't pick up on that story either until main stream journalists started to and made it impossible for sports reporters not to talk about it. We are left to speculate what retaliation NHL reporters are afraid of. This is a story with legs.
This is genuinely heart breaking stuff. The sport you love, that you grew up with, and that you cherish is covered in this slime and muck.
Almost anything that has big money involved is the same way. It’s kind of sad
Sheldon Kennedy and Theo Fleury were talking about this stuff YEARS ago. It's a shame nobody takes it seriously until it's far too late.
This really needs to blow up to the point the NHL and Blackhawks can no longer sweep it under the rug and have to openly address it.
The ol'saying of "I've never met a bad guy in hockey" has been exposed as complete and utter bullshit the last 2 years or so. This game needs to be cleaned up.
Whoever says that about any organization is lying. The more people in said organization(s), the more it's inevitable. It's a numbers thing at that point, but the fact the NHL does nothing about it, or have policies and plans in place to deal with it is infuriating.
Thank you for putting an episode like this out, this needs to be talked about
Goes to show that anyone can become a sexual assault victim. None of us are immune. I sincerely hope the two Blackhawks players have been able to get all of the help and support they need in their recovery.
Yes its gross they did nothing. I know cant force someone to go police but you have to prevent it. Plus there are support systems out there not affiliated with organization like rape centers in each state. They had been pretty stupid not to do that.
In addition to this and the Akim Aliu incidents, I believe this was about the same time Patrick Kane had some sexual assault allegations levied against him, and they really didn't address that either...
When kane came to Philly we addressed it
@@jon8004 A settlement? Are you sure? I seem to remember her allegations fell apart.
It came out that the woman lied about Kane
This honestly made me want to cry, I am so furious. The assault of that 17 year old boy is on all of their hands
As a jets fan, if it comes out that there’s even a chance that Chevy was involved, I will no longer support them until he is gone. I have a hard time believing he didn’t play a part
16
The 2010 Chicago Blackhawks allowed a 17 year old boy and god knows who else to be abused. Absolutely appalling.
This was reported a few months ago and I had a conversation with a buddy about how shocked we were people weren't talking about it then. Same thing happening now.
Thank you so much for discussing this guys! I have so much respect for you all. I understand this is a sensitive topic but why the HELL is no one making a bigger deal about this? I’m not a Hawks fan but I’m a hockey fan, and I’d like to think of myself as a person who shares compassion with my fellow humans so this story boils my blood. The fact they they did nothing, they tried to cover it up, they allowed this disgusting sex offender to assault MORE people. The absence of action is compliance, they are at fault here! I hope all the victims receive their due justice and this man is put behind bars. Also everyone that knew about it and did nothing should not have a job.
This story isn’t as underreported as you think. It’s been widely talked about in Chicago media for at least the last 2 months.
Thank you guys for covering this article.
I can’t believe that I have heard about this until this video. Shameful and sad
Just hearing about this for the first time and I'm from Chicago
FYI Graham James was a substitute teacher before becoming a junior hockey coach. Even after his first conviction, parents still wanted their kids coached by him! Winning isn't everything but for some it's the only thing that matters.
How am I supposed to feel about this being a hawks fan....
Fire everyone who knew, players included....
Start fresh
Glad you reported with tact and respect, there’s some podcast giggling about the situation; I’m glad I can stay/trust with you because you give the subject the reverence it needs
There are huge differences between open secrets and rumours. You cannot blame some of the executives if it's only rumours. But Stan Bowman seems confirmed to be part of the cover up.
I dont see how Stan Bowman, Joel Quenville, Alain C of the Winnipeg Jets, Mark Berjevin and the rest of the Blackhawks upper management survives these allegations which sounds like they are true. Smells like Jerry Sandusky and Joe Paterno all over again. Blackhawks will have a new GM before the season starts in 2021-2022
Really ... that's your stupid prediction from this BS story!?!
If the allegations are true, the guy who would have orchestrated any cover-up, John McDonough, has already been fired. He's been gone almost a year. We all wondered why his firing was so sudden. This might explain it.
I’m a Flyers fan and that Kane goal still haunts me. Now it infuriates me! A team getting way with covering up a deplorable ends up getting rewarded?
We know exactly why no one is taking about this. There's an anonymous source who doesn't want his name out there because he's afraid of repercussions FROM WITHIN THE LEAGUE. People aren't talking about it because they don't want to be blackballed. Pure and simple.
Thank you for helping to spread awareness of this, I too am amazed this isn't a bigger deal than it is right now.
Everyone who knew about this likely abuse should not only lose their jobs, especially the Bowmans they should receive lifetime bans from the NHL. If the Hawks lose draft picks I won't be overjoyed since I am a fan, but I will understand because they deserve the harshest of punishments and that includes the Wirtz family.
I dont think losing picks is the way to go. If the league wants to make real change (which they dont) then a hefty fine (to be allocated to a plethora of related causes). Taking away draft picks feels like putting a bandaid on the issue, nothing will really change
Well, this is disturbing on several levels. My question is, how did those players not knock him tf out when he did that? I mean being gay is one thing, sexually assaulting people is on another level! The fact he was allowed to go do this elsewhere is insane. Not to mention the 17 year old kid who he assaulted. The term castration comes to mind
@Edgardo Maldonado acuna So I see you’re just trolling around now huh? Well if that makes you happy troll away
@Edgardo Maldonado acuna Yes it would’ve been more understandable if it had been a woman.
Bowman should resign immediately. This is unconginable. It's bad enough he's destroyed a once competitive team,I can't imagine the team has any trust in him knowing he doesn't have their backs.
correct me if I'm wrong but isn't past the statute of limitations for bringing charges for this as a crime in the USA? This will just end up being bad PR for a while because no one will care about an adult male hockey player as a victim.
Great job Adam, a really thought provoking segment
In sexual allegations cases anywhere! (elementary schools, sport clubs, companies, collages) internal investigation are always worse for the victims and taking in considerations keeping the reputation of the place clean and hushing it up. Always go first to the police/news, then the place will have to do what's right, with no considerations.
While watching this video I was reminder of all the young players who get drafted and start playing on a team right out of juniors and school and go live with an older teammate. I’m sure 99% of those interactions are benign but without some way of reporting, how do you keep those kids safe from someone they see all day everyday? This should be at the league level to ensure consistently and the league needs to step up to keep players safe.
Yeah, the organization doesn’t look great right now... and people will feel sorry for the NHL players involved.. but I’m Pretty disgusted by the players waiting this long to make this half hearted stand. If something was done sooner, this repulsive predator wouldn’t have had a chance to work at school. You’re an NHL hockey player... if you truly don’t want to be touched in that way... you’re not getting touched, plain and simple... a high schooler who desperately wants his chance to make it to the show does NOT have that luxury and can absolutely feel pressured in that way. Shame on that monster who actually sexually abused children and shame on those players for not truly standing up until 10 YEARS later, after a helpless kids life got ruined.
If this happens to a woman it gets players suspended ,Jake Vertanan for example
Shockingly, I am like many of the other viewers of this video. Was oblivious to this until now. How is this not major news? Sad that it isn't and many people within the Hawks organization need to be held accountable.
stan bowman should never work in hockey again as far as i'm concerned
Although I enjoy following hockey, hockey culture and its commodification is why I will never enroll my son in organized hockey. Good local martial arts, all the way.
If you’re active on Chicago Twitter, then it’s talked about quite a bit. But people who aren’t and just take in your average TV news and some other news sites, likely no clue. My Dad who is a die hard fan had no clue and I had to tell him about it. And that’s completely unacceptable. Thank you for talking about this and bringing more attention to it. There’s no way I can continue to be a fan of this team, and it honestly breaks my heart.
Scumbag upper management does nothing to protect their employees. I don’t know why this is surprising anymore but god you never imagine it to be this bad.
Disinterested is the right word. It means unbiased not uninterested.
This isn't even making news here in the U.S. Shameful.
Why isn’t Sportsnet covering this?
As a lifelong Blackhawks fan, this article hurts so bad. I'm deeply disappointed that the organization protected a pedophile and ignored victims. Sex assaults are serious crimes with lifelong effects for victims. Shame on the Blackhawks management and the NHL.
The fact that is just coming out now after 10 years isn’t good if this ever goes to court.
🤮🤮 ... im glad you guys spoke on this though, f the silence. Absolutely disgusting
Anyone who thinks everyone in that office didn’t know has no idea how corporate America operates. Can it be proven or have steps been taken for deniability, maybe but no chance in hell everyone in that office didn’t know of the potential problems or the allegations. If all the players knew how can you believe the coaches didn’t know either?
There's a third party investigating the matter. A ex Federal prosecutor with no ties to the Chicago Blackhawks or NHL is investigating The Blackhawks for this. The Blackhawks and NHL both declined comment until the investigation is completed...
Problem is now... There's no evidence that can be corroborated, it's going to be plausible deniability all the way.
if it was sexual assault towards a woman, this would be front page of the world. equality baby!!!
My best guess is that the nhl won't handle this until the offseason for hopeful pr reasons. It won't work.
The NHL is disgusting in a lot of ways
Video coaches simply don’t have more power in the league than players. Players could’ve stood up and made this known one way or another... before a kids life was ruined. NHL players involved should rot just like the coach
As a Blackhawks fan, this is just disgusting. This needs more attention.
I don't understand why anyone is surprised by this, not quite a cover up, but an unwillingness of MSM to report on it. He's gay, in a "victim" class and if they go after him or report on the truth then they'll be labeled bigots, homophobes, racist etc etc. This is disgusting behavior but in no way is this new. Just like in the 40s or 50s if there was a coach who was assaulting women it was hushed up so as not to "give the organization a black eye" in the public. It was wrong then and it's wrong now.
th-cam.com/video/jjPQ_jVlEnQ/w-d-xo.html
You have to hope that the Jets fire Chevy, the Habs fire Bergevin, and the Hawks fire Bowman. They all knew. No way that people low on the totem pole knew and Bowman knew but not his closest confidants. Furthermore as a Hawks fan we deserve some sort of fine or loss of draft picks at the very least.
If they are going to force Pat Foley out for minimal word blunders and nothing here then idk what to say.
Its men, no one cares about us, are you kidding? If this was a female assistant or analyst or any type of personnel, this would be spread like wildfire
My God, this sounds like the Penn State/Paterno/Sandusky scandal. It's bad and abhorrent.
thing is ppl watch sports to escape reality for a few hours... the world is already f'd up enough it's tough talking about this
and you know the two names of the actual players will eventually come out and just saying Jonathan Toews was very young back then and he missed all of this year and no one knows why, maybe he was one of the two players and he is having trouble coping with all of this and he knew awhile ago that this was all going to come out eventually and he will feel ashamed
remember when some people thought the logo was the most disturbing thing of this organisation...
I am deeply appalled by this story had having to gone through it myself today I’m brave enough to admit it the only way we can combat this is to start taking action.
Wow this is insane that its not being talked about
How have the Blackhawks evaded today's headlines in Canada?
This reminds me of Sandusky and that hairball of a cover up. It is not excusable in the least.
any1 got the journal link on this?
Regardless how this goes, regardless who gets charged, heads must roll. Who's heads? No idea. But heads must roll
as a hawks fan, i’m just NOW hearing about this.
So ashamed to be a Hawks fan. Its disgraceful to hear that it was covered up, its a black mark on the organisation. Anyone who helped cover it up needs to be banned from any hockey operations at the least.
Wasn't Akim Aliu with the Flame's farm team when the abuse happened tho?
No. Icehogs.
The only reason this hasn't spread is because of the playoffs, and the whole ref issue, this would've caught fire during the reg, just like the Peters scandal. This gonna persist during the off-season.
So let me get this straight. Jake Virtanen gets an investigation and rightly so. Yet when a player is assaulted no need to worry? It seems to me sexual assault against men is treated as it is nothing
its not just the incident that's disturbing its the "open secret" that nobody acted upon that's really terrible.
I hope that once this gets the big news coverage that it deserves that hockey fans actually believe and support these victims unlike the times when women have come forward with allegations against players and they're shouted down and told they're lying.
Why didn't they just leave the creeps apartment? That's what I would have done and when people asked why I kept a distance from the creep I'd tell them why.
I'm an adult and wouldn't expect my employer to fight my battles for me. But if the creep was in a position of power (video coach?) that changes things. I don't know why they gave him a letter of recommendation, that's the worst part in my eyes.
Ban them all. Bowman, Quenneville anyone who knew....lifetime ban and disgrace. And whoever wrote that letter of recommendation should be tarred and feathered.
Open the floodgates.
no one is talking about this and its a terrible situation
SHARE THIS VIDEO. SHARE THE ARTICLE
Haha it will be swept under rug, this is how life really works guys
Good Reporting: Does this remind us of the Catholic Church hiding their dirty laundry? The NHL should be gutting anyone that attended witnessed that initial meeting; whether they are at the Chi. Blackhawks or NOT!!
Wonder if the same hands that were involved in this cover up were involved with the 2015 Patrick Kane allegation
That was a hoax. The girl used a rape kit when she went to the hospital and they found 0 Patrick Kane DNA.
Haley pandolfo was proven to be a liar and kane was innocent.
It's possible that she was paid off. They smear her name/reputation to save Kanes. Not saying it did or didn't happen but news like this does make me wonder if she was actually telling the truth.
Scotty and Stan Bowman ownership has to be at fault too faults coaching staff is at fault I'm in the organization everyone in the organization is at fault for this the Hawks everyone in the organization possible for what happened to those players
Not getting any traction because the blackhawks are the NHL's sweetheart franchise.
This will likely not get full exposure for a few reasons. One the Stanley Cup Finals are underway. Two, Chicago is the third largest media market and since the Blackhawks are an O6 franchise, it’s going to stain the NHL and Chicago sports even further. Third it’s another stain on Bettman as a commissioner and his already sordid legacy, if this gets through he will be destroyed.
This reminds me of the horrible nonsense Theoren Fleury, and other junior hockey players went through 20-30 years ago.
Progress moves really slow. 😔
His name still on cup shows you how gun shy the Hawks & league are dealing with the magnitude of situation. Imagine the audacity of Hawks execs keeping this “in house” and still letting sicko psycho in team photo AND have his name engraved on the cup. Sick to my stomach as a fan
Finally front Page News now.. took long enough
sounds kind of like keefe and frost huh?
11:15
This isn't going away..
. . .
Everyone that knew and did nothing should not only be removed from hockey/coaching ever again but also prosecuted. Also maybe take a championship or 2 away. Make an example out of them for this so its less likely to happen again. Don't even get me started on the players saying they didn't know. Sopel said it was bullshit, along with the recent developments as well. They are just as cowardly and complicit in this for saying nothing