NEWSLETTER
It appears that Stan Bowman, for now, will continue to act as the General Manager for the 2022 U.S. Men’s Olympic Hockey team.
According to a report from TSN’s Rick Westhead, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) has rejected the request from Child USA to have Blackhawks President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Stan Bowman suspended from his position as General Manager of the USA Men’s 2022 Olympic Hockey team as he and the Blackhawks remain under investigation. This comes just days after the request was officially made by Child USA, a non-profit advocacy organization, to have Bowman suspended while the lawsuits against the Blackhawks focused on alleged incidents from 2010 and 2013 involving former video coach Brad Aldrich continue to be investigated.
You can find Westhead’s full report here:
The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee has rejected an American think tank’s request to suspend Olympic men’s hockey team GM Stan Bowman while he faces allegations that he helped cover up the sexual abuse of two Blackhawks players.
Story from @rwesthead: https://t.co/UOVcsc7Iq5 pic.twitter.com/lUyBJaXF2B
— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) September 15, 2021
According to the report, USOPC spokesman Jon Mason said to TSN that the U.S. Center for SafeSport is the appropriate organization to investigate allegations against Bowman.
“The U.S. Center for SafeSport was created as an independent organization dedicated to receiving and investigating reports of sexual misconduct and harassment, and emotional and physical abuse within the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic movements,” Mason wrote. “The Center has the exclusive jurisdiction over participants, and to investigate and resolve allegations involving child abuse or sexual misconduct, including failure to report such allegations.”
Mason refused to say whether the USOPC would consult with the center for SafeSport about the request made on Sept. 10 by Marci Hamilton, founder of the advocacy group Child USA, to suspend Bowman from his position with USA Hockey.
Marci Hamilton, the co-founder of Child USA and the organizer of the request to USOPC to suspend and investigate Bowman, responded to the decision in a message to TSN…
“SafeSport doesn’t select the summer and winter Olympic coaches and SafeSport has an opaque, slow and ineffective system,” Hamilton wrote. “That’s USOPC once again avoiding its own responsibility for athlete safety and for the sex abuse that runs through athletics.”
The U.S. Center for SafeSport was already aware of the Blackhawks scandals and has been involved in the process after having contact back in June with Susan Loggans, the lawyer representing the alleged victims of Brad Aldrich. As Westhead reports, it is unclear is the U.S. Center for SafeSport has or will open their own investigation into Bowman and the Blackhawks.
This news comes on the same day that the FBI is coming under scrutiny for their handling of the Larry Nassar assaults within USA Gymnastics, as former U.S. gymnasts testify before a Senate Judiciary Committee.
We will continue to keep up with this multi-faceted story and investigation as it develops.
