It’s been just over a year since late Blackhawks owner W. Rockwell “Rocky” Wirtz died. The team is firmly under direction of new chair Danny Wirtz, Rocky’s son and the fourth generation of his family to own the Original Six NHL team.
Still invisible is John McDonough, the president and CEO of the team from 2007 to 2020. McDonough, previously the Chicago Cubs president, was hired by Rocky Wirtz to take over the day-to-day operations of the then-moribund Blackhawks shortly after Rocky’s father, Bill, passed away on Sept. 26, 2007.
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But McDonough remains at the center of the Brad Aldrich sexual assault scandal.
He didn’t enable Aldrich to allegedly sexually assault prospect Kyle Beach, a second Chicago player and then an intern. But McDonough did enable the scandal by mishandling Beach’s claim’s.
He also set the table for Aldrich to assault two other men after Aldrich went on to work for Miami-Ohio’s NCAA hockey program. After being fired by the Redhawks, Aldrich returned to his hometown of Houghton, Michigan in the state’s Upper Peninsula. There he assaulted a teenage hockey player and was sentenced to jail in December 2013 in a plea deal.
On July 1, the NHL reinstated Stan Bowman, Joel Quenneville and Al MacIsaac to work in the league after they were barred for their lesser roles in the cover-up. So it’s time to revisit why McDonough hasn’t been held accountable.
Related: Former Blackhawks Coach Joel Quenneville, Former GM Stan Bowman Reinstated To Work In NHL
Winning, But Checkered History
The Blackhawks turned around as a business under McDonough, but not without costs.
The biggest resulted from McDonough’s slow response and attempt to brush off Beach’s claim in May 2010 that he was assaulted by Aldrich, then the Blackhawks video coach. Per an independent investigation, McDonough said to staff in a meeting on May 23, 2010 that he “would take care” of the allegation from Beach, a 2008 first-round draft pick. But Aldrich wasn’t quietly released until after he and the Blackhawks paraded with the Stanley Cup in June 2010.
Bowman stepped down as Chicago’s GM and MacIsaac as his primary assistant on Oct. 26, 2021 after the investigation found the organization mishandled Beach’s allegations. Bowman, MacIsaac and Quenneville were in a May 2010 meeting led by McDonough when McDonough said he “would take care of” Beach’s complaint, and intentionally delayed doing so during the team’s championship run.
A timeline helps here:
McDonough, disliked by many Blackhawks employees because of his ego and arrogance, was released by the team in April 2020. That’s when Danny Wirtz’s duties were extended from the Wirtz Corporation’s giant Breakthru Beverage liquor wholesale business to include president of the Blackhawks.
In a news release, Rocky Wirtz said little more than the team needed a new direction.
McDonough never commented and has not been spoked publicly since. Logical possibility: McDonough irked his bosses and left under an non-disclosure agreement (NDA).
When Beach came forward with a legal complaint against the Blackhawks in May 2021, first as John Doe, the Blackhawks claimed it was the first they knew of his claims against Aldrich. The team eventually reached a settlement with Beach in December 2021.
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The settlement came after the Blackhawks commissioned the investigation into Beach’s claims. Conducted by Chicago law firm Jenner & Block, it resulted in a report that was published on Oct. 26, 2021. https://www.jenner.com/a/web/8kmbgFUEYWcNnvzFTa5h8H/4k1Z6N/report-to-the-chicago-blackhawks-hockey-team-october-2021.pdf
Bowman and Al MacIsaac resigned immediately in the wake of the report. It showed they were in the May 2010 meeting with McDonough and aware of Beach’s allegations, but didn’t step up. Quenneville resignedas coach of the Florida Panthers two days later after meeting with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in New York.
The story isn’t over. A second player has stepped with a lawsuit against the Blackhawks, claiming he too was targeted by Aldrich. The case is still active.
Related: Blackhawks Sued by Second Player for Cover-Up of Alleged Sexual Assault
And the questions abound:
Remember: McDonough said “he’d take care” of Beach’s claims in his meeting in May 2010. McDonough was released in April 2020,
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Were the other people in McDonough’s May, 23, 2010 meeting able to keep Beach’s claims a secret from team ownership?
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Was Rocky Wirtz first tipped off about McDonough’s cover-up shortly before dismissing him on April 27, 2020. In turn, did that lead to McDonough’s release?
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