NEWSLETTER
Now identified as the ‘John Doe’ in the sexual assault lawsuit against the Chicago Blackhawks, former Blackhawks prospect Kyle Beach joined TSN’s Rick Westhead on Sports Centre this evening. Beach and Westhead discussed the findings in the independent investigation by Block & Jenner, LLP. that were made public on Tuesday afternoon.
Kyle Beach, John Doe in the Blackhawks investigation, talks to @rwesthead about how his NHL experience 'changed forever,’ his reaction to the findings, and support for other victims of sexual assault.
VIDEO: https://t.co/hVG7ZYiY1d pic.twitter.com/vcQYxINOX8
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) October 27, 2021
Beach said that after he was called up from the Rockford IceHogs to serve as a Black Ace during the Blackhawks’ 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs run, he was assaulted by then video coach Brad Aldrich. “Those memories were tainted, and my life was changed forever.”
Beach spoke highly of former Blackhawks skating coach Paul Vincent, who was the first person he told about the assault by Aldrich, but said that there is “no way” former Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville can say now that he didn’t know about anything. Beach spoke emotionally about the fear and mental anguish he endured after being told that his career would be negatively affected if he reported the incident. He said that he “felt sick to [his] stomach” when Aldrich remained with the team for weeks throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs after the front office was alerted to the incident.
"As a 20-year-old, you could never imagine being put in this situation by somebody that's supposed to be there to help you and make you a better hockey player."
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) October 27, 2021
Former mental skills coach Jim Gary went as far as to say that Beach had no one to blame but himself for the incident because he put himself in that situation, according to Beach.
“Now that I’m beginning to heal and I look back, it had a negative impact on my life,” Beach said about the alcohol and drug usage that he turned to in an attempt to numb the pain of the assault and the lack of fallout from the assault.
As far as whether or not the Blackhawks players knew about what hapepned, Beach said this:Â “I do believe that everybody in that locker room knew about it.”
Kyle Beach on the 2010 #Blackhawks: "Word spread pretty quick. I do believe that everybody in that locker-room knew about it because the [homophobic] comments [towards Beach] were made in the locker-room, they were made on the ice, they were made around the arena."
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) October 27, 2021
Kyle Beach: "I am a survivor and I know I'm not alone. I know I'm not the only one male or female — and I buried this for 10 years, 11 years, and it's destroyed me from the inside out. I want everybody to know in the sports world and in the world that you're not alone."
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) October 27, 2021
You can watch the entirety of the 25-minute interview in its entirety here.
In response, the Blackhawks tonight released a statement:
A statement from the Chicago Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/x1XbMXDiyA
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) October 27, 2021
