Former Blackhawks First-Round Draft Pick IDs Self As 'John Doe'

CHICAGO — For 11 years now, former Chicago Blackhawks first-round draft pick Kyle Beach said he has lived with the shame of a secret that has been hidden from public view by his former organization before a bombshell investigative report came to light Tuesday.

But a day after a 107-page report detailed the four-month investigation into the cover-up of a reported sexual assault of "John Doe" by a former Hawks video coach, Beach identified himself as “John Doe” to a Canadian cable TV network. In an emotional 25-minute interview with TSN, Beach spoke for the first time and outlined the feelings he has lived with since he says he was assaulted by former video coach Brad Aldrich.

The investigation, conducted by the Chicago law firm Jenner & Block, led to the resignation of Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman on Tuesday. Investigators determined that Bowman chose to ignore Beach’s allegations as did former team President John McDonough, former coach Joel Quenneville and other team executives. Aldrich, who resigned from his role as video coach in 2010, stepped away from the position after he was given the option of resigning or being part of an investigation into the incident.

No investigation was ever completed until this year, after Beach sued his former team earlier in the year. Meanwhile, Aldrich — who is now a registered sex offender in Michigan regarding a different person — continued to work in hockey after having his name added to the Stanley Cup as a member of the Hawks organization and received a $15,000 playoff bonus.

It was sickening to watch Aldrich celebrate as he received a Stanley Cup ring, Beach told TSN Wednesday.

“It was like his life was the same as the day before,” Beach said in the interview. “Same every day. And then when they won, to see him paraded around lifting the Cup, at the parade, at the team pictures, at celebrations, it made me feel like nothing. It made me feel like I didn’t exist. It made me feel like, that I wasn’t important and … it made me feel like he was in the right and I was wrong.”

Contacted by The Associated Press on Wednesday, Aldrich said he had nothing to say.

While Beach didn’t go into graphic details of the abuse he said he suffered at the hands of Aldrich, he noted that he feared Aldrich could ruin his hockey career if he went public. The investigative report said Aldrich held his position as a member of the coaching staff over Beach, making the Rockford Ice Hogs player — who was called up as a member of the "Black Aces" playoff backups — feel as if he was worthless.

Beach was the 11th overall pick by the Blackhawks in 2008. The Vancouver, British Columbia, native was the Western Hockey League's Rookie of the Year before he moved onto the Ice Hogs, whom he played with until 2013. After being traded to the New York Rangers, Beach eventually signed to play in Europe in 2014.

“I didn’t know what to do as a 20-year-old,” Beach told TSN. “I would never dream, or you could never imagine being put in this situation by somebody who’s supposed to be there to help you and to make you a better hockey player and a better person and continue to build your career.”

On Wednesday night, Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews and teammate Patrick Kane both said they remembered Beach as a "happy, go-lucky kid." Reporters asked them about the former playoff practice player after the Hawks' overtime loss to Toronto at the United Center. Kane said he got to know Beach pretty well over the course of a couple of training camps.

Both players commended Beach for having the courage to come forward. But both said that they don't remember hearing about the reported sexual harassment until after the fact even though Beach said "everyone knew" it had happened. Kane said that until Beach's revelation Wednesday night, which came out shortly before the Hawks took the ice against the Maple Leafs, he did not know that Beach was "John Doe"

Kane said he had not reached out to Beach, while Toews hadn't spoken to Beach in a few years.

“I don’t know if he wants to hear from us or not,” Kane said Wednesday night, “but I’d like to reach out to him and say that I wish I knew more at that time in that situation, if I could’ve done anything to help him out or not.”

Toews said that he "heard rumors" that something may have happened but that he didn't take it seriously at the time. Toews said that he, like his teammates and the rest of the organization, focused on winning the Stanley Cup, but now — 11 years later — regrets not doing more to help Beach and to prevent more damage from being done.

"Now if you look at the detail of it all, it looks ugly and it’s really hard to stomach the fact you didn’t dive into something like that a little bit more and take it more seriously," Toews said. “It’s always easy to say in hindsight, and obviously it’s a long time ago, but at the end of the day, I feel a ton for what Kyle went through and what he’s dealing with at this point, too.”

Since the incident, Beach said he has struggled to chase his hockey dreams while bouncing around the minors and European leagues. He said he fell into bad habits with drugs and alcohol, and lived with the shame of the reported abuse he suffered all while the Blackhawks executives hid behind a shroud of secrecy. He called Tuesday’s outlining of the findings of the investigation a day of many emotions as he struggled to know exactly how to feel.

In a statement issued Wednesday evening, the Blackhawks said:

"First, we would like to acknowledge and commend Kyle Beach’s courage in coming forward. As an organization, the Chicago Blackhawks reiterate our deepest apologies to him for what he has gone through and for the organization’s failure to promptly respond when he bravely brought this matter to light in 2010.

"It was inexcusable for the then-executives of the Blackhawks organization to delay taking action regarding the reported sexual misconduct. No playoff game or championship is more important than protecting our players and staff from predatory behavior."

After being known as “John Doe” since filing the lawsuit, Beach said in the interview that now was the right time to come forward as he attempts to move forward with his life.

“It’s a big step for me, my process of recovery, as I process the events that happened and as I truly deal with the underlying issues that I have from them. For me, I wanted to come forward and put my name on this,” Beach said. “To be honest, it’s already out there. The details were pretty accurate in the report, and it’s been figured out. More than that, I’ve been a survivor, 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. And I want everybody to know in the sports world and in the world that you’re not alone. That if these things happen to you, you need to speak up."

He added: “And I hope that this entire process can make a systematic change to make sure this never happens again. Because it not only affected me as a young adult and now as a 31-year-old man, but it also affected kids because it was not handled in a correct way.”