Kyle Beach, former Blackhawks prospect, reveals he is ‘John Doe’ suing the team over 2010 sexual assault allegation: ‘I felt alone and dark’

CHICAGO — As an independent report on the Chicago Blackhawks’ handling of a 2010 sexual assault allegation against a former video coach continued to send shockwaves through the hockey world Wednesday, the former player whose complaint was at the heart of the scandal revealed his identity in a televised interview.

Kyle Beach, a Blackhawks center prospect from 2009 to 2013, revealed himself as “John Doe,” the pseudonym used in a negligence lawsuit against the team, during an interview Wednesday evening on Canada’s The Sports Network.

Beach, 31, spoke to TSN’s Rick Westhead about the 2010 allegations he has made against former Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich, which are the basis of his lawsuit, as well as the bombshell review of events that Chicago law firm Jenner & Block made public Tuesday.

He told Westhead he felt “just a great feeling of relief and vindication, and it was no longer my word against everybody else’s. Because a lot of things were made public, a lot of people were interviewed, and I really felt like there was a lot of lies told in the media. And it was very special and important to me to have that truth come out yesterday.”

Beach choked back emotion describing how he felt shortly after the alleged May 2010 encounter with Aldrich.

“To be honest, I was scared mostly. I was fearful. I had my career threatened. I felt alone and dark,” he said. “And I didn’t know what to do as a 20-year-old. 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.”

He said the first person he told was former Hawks skills coach Paul Vincent. Beach said watching Aldrich remain with the team through the Stanley Cup playoffs and the championship celebration made him “sick to my stomach.”

“I reported this and I was made aware that it made it all the way up the chain of command by ‘Doc’ Gary (former Hawks mental skills coach James Gary), and nothing happened,” Beach said. “It was like (Aldrich’s) life was the same as the day before. … It made me feel like I didn’t exist. It made me feel like I wasn’t important and … he was in the right and I was wrong.”

Beach, whom the Hawks selected with the 11th pick in the first round of the 2008 NHL draft, never played in a regular-season NHL game. He now plays pro hockey in Germany for a club called the Black Dragons.

When asked about the impact on his life, Beach said he has struggled for a long time, including abusing alcohol and drugs to help him cope. Until recently, Beach said, he did not talk about what he said happened and he suppressed the memories “to chase my dreams and pursue the career that I loved and the game that I love of hockey.”

“And now that I’m beginning to heal,” Beach said, “I begin to look back and it definitely had impacts on my life. I did stupid things, I acted out, I snapped. … I did things that I never could imagine doing. I relied on alcohol, I relied on drugs and … I’m just so relieved with the news that came out yesterday, that I’ve been vindicated, and I can truly begin the healing process.”

He thanked people such as Vincent, former Hawks assistant coach John Torchetti, and former players Nick Boynton and Brent Sopel, all of whom demanded the results of the investigation be made public. Boynton and Sopel have said the allegations involving Aldrich were common knowledge on the 2009-10 team.

“Word spread pretty quick,” Beach said. “I do believe that everyone in that locker room knew about it. Because the comments were made in the locker room, they were made on the ice, they were made around the arena with all different people of all different backgrounds — players, staff, media in the presence.”

Though the TSN interview was the first time Beach agreed to be named, he has in recent months answered questions through email for reporters, including for the Chicago Tribune.

Beach said he chose to come forward and be identified publicly as part of his healing process. So many details of his background had been revealed in court documents and the Jenner & Block report, he said, that people had identified him already anyway.

A Sept. 30 court filing by his attorney included his draft position and prior play in Villach, Austria. The Jenner & Block report said John Doe was 20 years old in 2010 and a member of the minor league Rockford IceHogs whom the Hawks called up during the Stanley Cup playoffs to serve with the “Black Aces” practice players.

The Tribune did not publish many of the details about his identity previously to protect Beach’s anonymity.

“More than that, I’ve been a survivor, I am a survivor,” Beach said. “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. Because there is support systems …”

Aldrich later pleaded guilty to criminal sexual conduct with a 16-year-old hockey player at Houghton (Mich.) High School whom he had coached in 2013. Beach apologized to the former high school player — who also has sued the Hawks — and said he would like to meet him someday.

“I’m sorry I didn’t do more, when I could, to make sure it didn’t happen to him,” Beach said. “To protect him. But I also wanted to say thank you to him. Because ... after a teammate asked me about it when I was playing overseas and I decided to Google Brad Aldrich’s name, that’s when I found out about the Michigan individual, the Michigan team. And because of what happened to him, it gave me the power and the sense of urgency to take action, to make sure it didn’t happen to anybody else. So I’m sorry, and I thank you.”

Jenner & Block interviewed 139 witnesses, including Beach and Aldrich, who they said gave “wildly divergent” accounts of their encounter and whether it was consensual.

A woman whom Aldrich introduced to John Doe at a Chicago bar told Jenner & Block she “recalled being present for and engaging in sexual activity with John Doe and Aldrich in Aldrich’s apartment in Chicago, but leaving at a certain point” while John Doe stayed.

Investigators said her account contradicted parts of both Aldrich’s and John Doe’s statements.

John Doe said he was “blurry” on the exact date of the encounter with Aldrich, according to the report, but “he believed that the encounter occurred in Chicago at some point after May 9” and the woman was not there.

Regardless of the date, John Doe told investigators that he was hungover when he was at Aldrich’s apartment, that Aldrich began showing hockey highlights but flipped it to pornography and that Aldrich later began touching himself and asked John Doe if he was going to touch himself.

According to the report, John Doe said Aldrich reached into his own pants, and John Doe said he was uncomfortable. Aldrich then began rubbing John Doe’s leg, the report said.

“John Doe pushed Aldrich with his left hand as he punched Aldrich on or near Aldrich’s eye with his right hand,” the report said. “Aldrich stood up, grabbed a souvenir Cubs miniature baseball bat that was on either a shelf or window, and told John Doe that John Doe was not going anywhere.”

John Doe recalled that Aldrich said words to the effect of, “If you don’t lay down and act like you enjoy it, I’ll make sure you never play in the NHL or walk again,” according to the report.

John Doe told investigators that Aldrich forcibly kissed him and later began performing oral sex on him and that he demanded John Doe roll over and got on top of him.

According to the account, Aldrich didn’t penetrate John Doe but completed a sexual act on top of him, then said “words to the effect of, ‘You can’t tell anyone about this; it is our little secret; no one can find out or I will make sure you never play in the NHL.’ ”

A confidant of John Doe’s interviewed by Jenner & Block said he received a call from John Doe days later and he “could barely speak and was crying throughout the May 17 phone call.”

According to the report, “The confidant recalled asking John Doe to further explain how he could not fight off Aldrich, and reminded John Doe that he ‘fights for a living.’ The confidant recalled that John Doe responded that he was in and out of consciousness and mentioned to the confidant the possibility of having been drugged.”

The report said the Hawks senior managers who met May 23 to discuss John Doe’s allegations against Aldrich “reported that they only learned about the incident at a high level — that Aldrich, a coach, tried to ‘get under the sheets’ with John Doe.”

Moreover, Jenner & Block’s investigators wrote, “none of the participants recalled being told about the type of clearly non-consensual sexual conduct that is described by John Doe in his lawsuit or was described during John Doe’s interview with us.”

During a public briefing Tuesday about the contents of the report, Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz said he would instruct his legal team to come to a “fair resolution” in Beach’s case.

The Hawks legal team is scheduled to meet Monday with Susan Loggans, Beach’s attorney, according to a source.

The Hawks issued this statement after Beach’s interview aired:

“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.

“The Blackhawks have implemented numerous changes and improvements within the organization, including hiring a new leadership team that is committed to winning championships while adhering to the highest ethical, professional, and athletic standards.”

Beach said during the TSN interview that the Hawks took “a great step in the right direction” but the NHL continues “to try and protect their name over the health and the well-being of the people who put their lives on the line every day to make the NHL what it is.”

The fallout of Tuesday’s report — which included the resignation of Hawks president of hockey operations and general manager Stan Bowman — continued with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman preparing to meet with other former Hawks senior officials named in the report, including then-coach Joel Quenneville.

Meanwhile, Hawks players and coaches picked up the pieces and prepared to play a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night at the United Center.

Here’s a look at other developments involving central figures.

1. Joel Quenneville will have to account for his role in 2010 with the commissioner.

Quenneville, now the Florida Panthers coach, said he is scheduled to meet with Bettman to discuss his role in handling the allegation. Quenneville was the Hawks coach at the time.

“I want to let you know that (Thursday) I’ll be meeting with Gary Bettman,” Quenneville told reporters Wednesday morning, adding that he believed it would take place in New York, where the league is headquartered.

Quenneville coached the Panthers in a Wednesday night home game against the Boston Bruins.

Bettman will meet with Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff, the Hawks assistant GM in 2010, on Monday, according to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun.

Bettman said that four of the Hawks executives in 2010 would have to go through him before getting other NHL jobs, hinting there might be consequences for Quenneville and Cheveldayoff.

Bettman said he planned to discuss “their roles in the relevant events as detailed in the report. I will reserve judgment on next steps, if any, with respect to them.”

Quenneville seemed to speak to his vulnerability Wednesday when he said, “(I) look forward to continuing to contribute to the process” with the Panthers.

He added, “I respect you all doing your jobs and having your questions as well here, but I won’t comment any further until the appropriate time after I meet with the commissioner.”

Quenneville may have to answer for a conflict in his account of 2010.

On July 13, Quenneville said in a statement released by the Panthers, “I first learned of these allegations through the media earlier this summer. I have contacted the Blackhawks organization to let them know I will support and participate in the independent review.”

However, Jenner & Block’s report placed Quenneville and Cheveldayoff at a May 23, 2010, meeting of senior managers — including then-President John McDonough, Bowman, Al MacIsaac (removed Tuesday from his role as senior vice president of hockey operations), then-executive vice president Jay Blunk and mental skills coach James F. Gary — to discuss how to handle the allegation against Aldrich.

Quenneville arrived at the meeting after it started. The law firm said it interviewed Quenneville “multiple” times about his recollection of what was said in the meeting, but he did not remember specifics. According to the report, Quenneville said he “believed that the issue being discussed involved a coach doing something improper and that the group was meeting to decide whether to ‘make it public.’”

However, according to the law firm’s interview with the team’s director of human resources, whose name was withheld in the report, “Gary said that during the meeting, Quenneville appeared angry and was concerned about upsetting team chemistry. ... Gary recalled that ‘they’ decided to hold off talking to Aldrich about the situation until the season was over.”

The report said: “Quenneville also said when interviewed that he did not recall anyone saying it was hard for the team to get where they were in the playoffs, but recalled that his focus was on winning and this meeting was unexpected. He said that there was no resolution of the situation at the meeting.”

The report continued: “Bowman recalled that during the meeting, McDonough and Quenneville made comments about the challenge of getting to the Stanley Cup Finals and a desire to focus on the team and the playoffs.”

Also troubling is Quenneville’s comments in a June 29, 2010, performance evaluation that investigators said they found during their review of team documents. The evaluations were positive, the report said, including the final one Quenneville is believed to have written after Aldrich had resigned and the allegations were known.

“Aldrich did a great job for the coaching staff in preparing us for all our meetings and coordinating several tasks that we forward his way. Brad has several people relying on him at the same moment and has a way of deflecting and accommodating everyone at once … Congrats on winning the Stanley Cup!”

When investigators asked Quenneville about it, he said he did not recall writing it. But he did not dispute that he may have written it and said, “the review looked to him like something he would write.”

2. Current coach Jeremy Colliton appears safe in his job for now.

Entering Wednesday night, Colliton’s team had gotten off to a brutal 0-5-1 start and looked overmatched at times by even middling teams.

But there probably is too much upheaval to make a change at coach — not that the Hawks were planning to.

Bowman walked away from his role as president of hockey operations and GM, and Kyle Davidson stepped in as interim GM.

“For me, working with Kyle is not a new thing,” Colliton said Wednesday. “Kyle’s been involved with the management group here and someone I speak to regularly, and now even more so.

“We’ve had a bunch of conversations already.”

Davidson hasn’t spoken with the media in the last two days, but there’s little motivation for him to make a drastic change. As someone fresh on the job, he has the latitude to be deliberate with his next choices.

Incidentally, Marc Crawford, a former Stanley Cup-winning coach, would be the obvious choice as an interim head coach, but he’s in the COVID-19 protocol.

Earlier this week, two players, including captain Jonathan Toews, said they “100 percent” have faith in Colliton.

3. Interim GM Kyle Davidson has been a fast riser in the organization.

According to his bio, Davidson was a hockey operations intern in 2010, got a full-time job as a hockey analytics/video analyst the next season and worked his way up from there.

Later in 2011, he was promoted to hockey administration coordinator. He was named hockey operations manager in 2015, then senior manager of hockey operations in 2017 and assistant to the general manager in 2018.

In his previous role, Davidson worked with Bowman doing “player contract research and negotiations, salary-cap management, salary arbitration, collective bargaining agreement administration as well as scouting at the professional and amateur levels.”

Colliton said that based on his interactions with Davidson, he’s a “hard worker and wants information and likes to have discussions about players and how the team’s playing, all those things.

“Obviously (we’ll) get to know each other a little more now, but it’s not as if it’s a brand-new relationship. And I think obviously he’s risen up pretty quickly in our organization. It says a lot about what he brings to the table.”