Kyle Beach skates across the ice against the Detroit Red Wings during a preseason game on Sept. 24, 2010. Photo courtesy of Gregory Shamus.
Over the past several years, the NHL has often been criticized when it comes to player safety due to its long history of questionable responses to concussion lawsuits and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, CTE, related player deaths. The issue of the league’s negligence and leadership flaws has now been thrust into the national spotlight with the ongoing Chicago Blackhawks sexual assault case.
In May 2021, an anonymous former Blackhawks player alleged that he was sexually assaulted by team video coach Brad Aldrich in 2010.