Every Guy On Blackhawks Knew About Alleged Sexual Assault: Report

CHICAGO — A month after a former Chicago Blackhawks player and member of the 2010 Stanley Cup championship team sued the franchise for alleged sexual assault that involved a former video coordinator, another player has come forward and said that "every guy" on the team knew what was happening in the weeks leading up to the championship.

The Athletic reported on Friday that a former player made the revelation about the reports of the sexual assault of two players by former video coordinator Bradley Aldrich being common knowledge by players. According to the report, word that Aldrich — who is now a registered sex offender in Michigan and who went on to work with young hockey players — allegedly got the two players drunk and tried to perform oral sex on them during the encounters.

The Blackhawks are now the defendant named in two lawsuits after another suit was brought after the one filed by the former player in May. After WBEZ broke the news of the first lawsuit, Canadian network TSN reported that the two players reported Aldrich's conduct to Hawks skills coach Paul Vincent just before the start of the 2010 Western Conference Finals.

The report said that Vincent took the complaints to team officials — including team president John McDonough and general manager Stan Bowman along with two others — and said that a report needed to be filed with the Chicago Police Department. The TSN report said that those pleas were ignored.

But by then, players knew what was reportedly happening with Aldrich, who left the team shortly after the Blackhawks defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in the Stanley Cup Final. The Athletic reported that talk about the alleged assault made the rounds during four days in which the Hawks traveled to San Jose for the conference finals rather than fly back to Chicago.

“Every guy on the team knew about it,” the player on the 2010 championship team told The Athletic. “Every single guy on the team knew.”

The Athletic reported on Friday that the NHL has been in contact with the team that there is currently no active investigation by the league into the matter.

On Friday, former Blackhawks player Brent Sopel, who was a member of the 2010 championship team, retweeted the Athletic story and wrote that the front office members named in the story should "never work in hockey again" and that it is "BS that the NHL isn't involved yet."

According to the lawsuit, in May 2010, the coach "turned on porn and began to masturbate" in front of the player without his consent. The lawsuit also alleges that the coach threatened to injure (the player)…physically, financially and emotionally" if the player did not engage in sexual activity with the coach in text messages sent to the player.

The lawsuit maintains that the team was aware of the allegations made by the player before Aldrich reportedly sexually assaulted one of his teammates.

In a statement issued last month after the lawsuit was filed, the team said, "The Chicago Blackhawks take the allegations asserted by a former player very seriously. Based on our investigation, we believe the allegations against the organization lack merit and we are confident the team will be absolved of any wrongdoing. As this is a pending litigation matter, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further."