“The system has failed. He abandoned it. ”
Brendan Gallagher did not miss the testimony of Kyle Beach, ex-Chicago Blackhawks player who revealed Wednesday to have suffered a sexual assault during the 2010 spring playoffs. And the veteran of the Canadiens did not put on white gloves to comment on the hell his team put him through.
After Beach exposed the misconduct of video coach Brad Aldrich, the Hawks’ management agreed to cover up the case and not open an investigation. Beach never played in the NHL and went through a long descent into hell that led to alcohol and drug addiction. Aldrich, on the other hand, made another victim three years later and was found guilty of sexual assault on a minor.
Gallagher praised Beach for speaking out and said he hoped his initiative would help other victims of sex crimes do the same. “I hope he finds peace,” he added.
The winger was also delighted that the Blackhawks and their leaders suffered consequences as a result of this story. General manager Stan Bowman stepped down and the league fined the organization $ 2 million.
Kevin Cheveldayoff, assistant general manager in 2010 and now GM of the Winnipeg Jets, as well as Joel Quenneville, then head coach now at the helm of the Florida Panthers, have yet to meet with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. We will then know if they will be able to keep their functions. Cheveldayoff and Quenneville were both identified by the investigation report into this case as part of the group of people who had been made aware of the situation but took no action to help Beach.
The disturbing testimony, broadcast as part of a TSN interview on Wednesday, did not target only the Hawks. Beach said the NHL Players Association and its executive director, Don Fehr, were warned of the situation in 2010, but they too failed to act. In a written statement, Fehr said he was “sincerely sorry” about this turn of events and pledged to “make changes to ensure that doesn’t happen again.”
Himself involved with the Association as an assistant to Paul Byron, representative of the CH on the executive committee, Gallagher was not more tender towards his union. The Association, he recalled, “must protect a player in this situation”. On this one, she, too, “abandoned” Kyle Beach.
Essential denunciation
As much for the Canadian as for the San Jose Sharks, opponent of the Habs Thursday night, we praised the “courage” of Beach. “We can take our hat off to him,” summed up Cédric Paquette.
The Quebecer has more than once insisted on the importance, for victims, of denouncing their attackers. Even in tightly woven environments like sports.
Referring to the waves of denunciations of misconduct of all kinds that have swept through society in recent years, Paquette insisted that “these things can no longer happen, in hockey as in the world in general”.
According to him, “we are more open to talk about it”.
Its head coach Dominique Ducharme agreed with the same thing. “We are there to help young people, guide them, help them move forward, as a person and as a player. This is our role. If there are inappropriate things, they must be denounced quickly, ”he repeated.
“I think everyone will learn from this. Once again. ”
His counterpart in the Sharks, Bob Boughner, also felt that “lessons” must be learned. “We have to make sure that everyone is responsible and doing the right thing on a daily basis. ”
Boughner, on the other hand, was unwilling to provide an answer to a local reporter who asked how Mike Aldrich, Sharks equipment manager and father of Brad Aldrich had reacted.
“I don’t want to talk about what’s going on within our walls. We are a family and we support each other as much as possible under the circumstances, ”he said.
In addition, Montreal media have asked the Canadian to obtain a reaction from Marc Bergevin following the revelations of recent days. The request was declined. The current CH general manager was director of player personnel for the Blackhawks at the time of the incident, a role that gave him a close rapport with the young players in the organization. He was one of the witnesses met by the law firm responsible for investigating this case. The report released this week did not name him among those who tried to silence the Kyle Beach denunciation. However, that says nothing about his knowledge of the facts at the time.
The pre-match in brief
Desire for revenge
The Canadian and the Sharks meet 10 days after the Sharks silenced the Bell Center by winning 5-0 on the ice in Montreal. “We haven’t talked about it yet, but it’s still very fresh in my memory,” Cédric Paquette warned. We can’t be worse [qu’au cours de ce match]. We remember it and we want to avenge the defeat. ”
Back home
Despite losing 5-1 last Tuesday in Seattle, Dominique Ducharme has made no changes to his roster for the clash against the Sharks. The attacking lines and the defense pairs are the same, and Jake Allen will be in front of the net. Jake Evans, for his part, is still healing an injury. Gallagher said he appreciates his coach’s decision not to mess up his wetsuits, as he is still looking to find the chemistry with his partners Mike Hoffman and Nick Suzuki. On the other hand, this stability is not acquired: it must be “deserved”, he adds.
Back from my trip
Like the Canadian, the Sharks are looking to find their way back to victory. After getting off to a great start and winning their first four games of the season, they escaped the last two, against the Boston Bruins and Nashville Predators, respectively. Returning home after five straight away games, captain Logan Couture recalled that the first game after a trip to the East Coast was “always difficult”, and said he expected the Canadiens to be. “Hungry” to buy back his bad start to the season (1-6-0). Adin Hill will be the starting goalie for the premises.
The game will begin at 10:30 p.m. Quebec time.