A second member of the Chicago Blackhawks’ Black Aces squad from the 2010 postseason has filed a lawsuit against the Blackhawks, alleging sexual assault by former video coach Brad Aldrich, as announced during a press conference on Monday morning.
The initial report came from the Chicago Tribune on Sunday afternoon. The Tribune’s report is lengthy (content warning for that link for anyone who may be sensitive to detailed accounts of the interactions between Aldrich and the plaintiff) and identifies the Blackhawks as the sole defendant in the case, with a jury trial the stated goal of the filing. This lawsuit follows the one filed by former first-round pick Kyle Beach, who reached a settlement with the team in December 2021 following his lawsuit against the team that brought to light the organization’s mishandling of the allegations against Aldrich.
Some additional comments came out during a Monday press conference with the plaintiff’s lawyers:
The Blackhawks were fined $2 million by the NHL as a result of the initial investigation, while former coach Joel Quenneville and former general manager Stan Bowman remain out of NHL jobs, as does former team president John McDonough. No one involved in that May 23, 2010 meeting of Blackhawks’ front-office personnel just hours after that team won the Western Conference Final remains affiliated with the Blackhawks. Because of that, as ESPN’s Emily Kaplan mentions below, it seems unlikely any additional penalties assessed to the Blackhawks organization or any people involved would stem from new information being revealed. Although this lawsuit is new, much of the information cited in the lawsuit was included in the Jenner & Block report from 2021.
We’ll have more updates on this story should they arise.