The leadership of the NHL Players Association was absolved of all wrongdoing in its handling of Kyle Beach’s sexual assault allegations, according to an independent review report released Friday.
Miscommunication was responsible for the board’s failure to act on reports that Beach was assaulted by former Chicago Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich, law firm Cozen O’Connor, which led the investigation into the NHL’s handling of Beach’s allegations, said.
“Ultimately, the failure to act on Beach’s reports stems from a failure of communication,” the firm determined in a 20-page report released by the NHLPA. “We cannot identify any individual wrongdoing or institutional failures of policy or procedure by either [Executive Director Don] Fehr, NHLPA personnel, or the (NHL/NHLPA Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Program) concerning the handling of Beach’s reports.”
NHL LEGEND MIKE BOSSY DEAD AT 65
The league’s executive board was informed of the findings last week and voted to make the findings public.
The investigation, which began last November and reviewed approximately 20,000 emails and phone records from 2010 and 2011, centered on accusations from Beach that he was sexually abused by Aldrich during the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Beach said he reported the incident to a psychologist, Dr. Brian Shaw, who was an administrator for the NHL’s Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Program. But Shaw said he believed it was a confidential conversation he was not allowed to share without permission.
Beach also said he reported the abuse to his agent, Ross Gurney, who claimed he told Fehr of the allegations, using the words “pedophile” or “sexual predator” when talking about Aldrich. Fehr said he did not recall hearing about the allegations when they surfaced. Aldrich said the incident was consensual.
The findings were based on “understandably imperfect and incomplete recollections of a few individuals, uncorroborated by documentary evidence,” the report says.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
A different report from the law firm Jenner & Block, which focused on the team’s role in the allegations, found fault in the leadership of the Blackhawks and fined the team $2 million. Then-General Manager Stan Bowman and Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Al MacIsaac resigned.
The report did not include suggestions on how the team should handle abuse allegations in the future.
