(Publisher’s note: We have published NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman’s statement this morning about the Kyle Beach case. Sadly, the Beach case is not alone in the sports industry. We saw the horrifying sexual abuse of gymnasts and others in this country. The abuse is horrifying enough. What’s disturbing is people in power could have taken immediate action against the abusers, but didn’t. Here’s what Bettman said in his opening statement Monday. We have placed in bold what we thought were some key components of the Bettman statement.)
This certainly has been a disturbing and difficult week for all of us. But not nearly as disturbing and difficult as it has been this week, and since 2010, for Kyle Beach.
As I told Kyle on Saturday, I am sorry for what he has been through and thought he has been courageous, especially this past week. We discussed a path forward with him involved in efforts to confront abuse. We also offered to him and his family our resources for counselling.
Before Bill Daly and I take your questions, let me review the last week from our standpoint:
Until last Monday, we had not seen the Report in any form. Other than the allegations in the lawsuit, we had no other knowledge, and we were awaiting the findings of the Jenner and Block investigation. We were insistent on an independent investigation and we made clear from the outset that we could over-ride it OR pursue any other course of action if we were dissatisfied with how the investigation was conducted or had reason to question its findings. The only updates we received were on timing and process.
Jenner and Block did a very thorough and professional job – interviewing 139 witnesses – some multiple times — in the course of their investigation.
My first task in reviewing the report late Monday and into Tuesday was to deal with the Chicago Blackhawks. Whatever you concluded from what the witnesses said, it is clear that what happened was inappropriate, it was wrong on every level and it was not handled correctly by the Blackhawks’ organization. The fact that ownership was found to be unaware did not change my view that the Club bore responsibility in this regard and the Club was fined as a result. People can (and have) debated the amount of the fine, but it was substantial by any measure and acknowledges that the organization failed to act appropriately.
Also, the fine sends, as intended, a message to all Clubs as to how I view their organizational responsibilities.
I then turned to dealing with Joel Quenneville and Kevin Cheveldayoff. The Report laid out what witnesses said – some consistent, some inconsistent on various points — but it did not draw conclusions as to credibility. Therefore, as a matter of due process, I needed to meet in person with both Quenneville and Cheveldayoff so that I could best and most fairly decide what was appropriate in terms of a League response.
I met with Joel Quenneville on Thursday afternoon to discuss his view of the events of 11 years ago and wanted to make sure he felt he had a fair opportunity to tell me his account of what had happened. Ultimately, he decided it was best to resign, which, as you know from my statement on Thursday evening, is a decision with which I agreed.
Should he have coached on Wednesday night? I suppose people can differ on that point, and I understand that, but he had already coached 867 games since 2010, and I wanted to make sure that no one, including Coach Quenneville, could say that I had prejudged him.
Again, people can disagree on this but I was focused on the long term – not that one game.
As it relates to Kevin Cheveldayoff, I made clear on Friday that I do not believe he bore any responsibility for the Club’s failure to act appropriately.
There seems to be some confusion – and if I was not previously clear on that, I apologize – but there seems to be some confusion on the point of whether, despite his lack of power, position or seniority, he should have felt free to speak up. Because of his limited authority and circumstance, he left the meeting believing that this matter was going to be investigated by his bosses, and when Aldrich parted ways with the team, he thought that is what had happened.
Kevin was not in a position either to be made aware of or to access additional information about what was going on after the May 23 meeting and he did not have such information.
Having dealt with the Blackhawks, Joel Quenneville and Kevin Cheveldayoff, I then wanted to talk to Kyle – which I did on Saturday morning. Our discussion has generally been reported on in a couple of media outlets and I just referred to the substance of our discussion as well.
Having laid out for you all that transpired in the five days between Tuesday and Saturday, I want to say that it is clear that, in these types of matters, the NHL has made considerable progress from where it was a decade ago. Whether it is the agenda and education provided to young Players at the annual Rookie Orientation Program; League training and counselling programs; inclusion committees comprised of ownership, executives, players, fans and young people; written policies in place on harassment or other types of inappropriate conduct that is motivated by racial, sexual, religious or other improper biases; or a reporting hotline; ALL NHL personnel – whether at the League offices or with the Clubs, know what is and is not acceptable and how to address matters that are not appropriate – specifically harassment, assault, discrimination or any other activity that make the League, and its 32 teams anything less than inclusive and welcoming. Ownership has been fully supportive of our efforts to move forward in this regard. In addition, if you have listened to what NHL personnel, especially the Players, have been saying this past week, you know things have been changing.
Finally, in light of what has transpired in the last week, I want to make two additional points:
First, I am going to seek the assistance of outside professionals to evaluate the League’s efforts on these matters to make sure they are not only adequate but also most effective.
Second, while the NHL hotline is principally intended for NHL personnel, we think that it is important that everyone in hockey have an outlet for help.
There are many organizations that have the expertise to deal with victims of abuse. Accordingly, we intend to use our resources to engage in a worldwide effort to create a network of those organizations to be available to the hockey community, so that wherever you may be in the hockey eco-system – minor league pro, major junior, college or amateur youth and minor hockey – male or female – we think it’s important that everyone has an outlet for help.
Obviously, the details of the network and how it will operate will have to be worked out and I have no doubt, from your reporting on what I just said, we will hear from a number of those organizations.
Again, and where I started, we could not be more sorry for the trauma that Kyle has had to endure and our goal is to do what is necessary to continue to move forward.
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