Another lawsuit against Chicago Blackhawks: Ex-player, ‘Black Aces’ teammate of Kyle Beach alleges 2010 sexual assault by former video coach

CHICAGO — A former member of the Chicago Blackhawks’ “Black Aces” squad and teammate of Kyle Beach has alleged in a lawsuit that former video coach Brad Aldrich “groomed, harassed, threatened and assaulted” him during the 2009-10 season and that the Hawks suppressed his complaint to protect their Stanley Cup championship run.

Chicago-based law firm Romanucci & Blandin filed the negligence lawsuit on behalf of their client, named anonymously as “John Doe,” in Cook County Circuit Court on Thursday.

The suit, which accuses the Hawks of showing “utter indifference and/or conscious disregard for the safety of its employees, including John Doe,” names the team as the sole defendant and seeks a jury trial.

“This is a continuation of the institutional and cultural abuses that we are seeing coming from our sports teams, whether they are local teams or from ones that are around the country,” Antonio Romanucci, a founding partner of the law firm, told the Tribune exclusively.

The firm represented Plainfield Central football players in a 2021 lawsuit alleging sexual assault during a hazing ritual as well as former Northwestern football players in a suit this year alleging Black freshman players were forced to compete in watermelon-eating contests.

“What we aim to do with this lawsuit is continue to ensure that teams remain accountable,” Romanucci said. “We have a specific mission in mind, certainly that the Blackhawks remain accountable for the changes that they have promised that they have put in place with regard to prevention of these sexual abuses.

“But we also want to make sure that all teams around the country are on notice that this is not acceptable behavior. Putting winning before the mental health or even physical health of players, that’s over. Hard stop.”

The Blackhawks told the Tribune in a statement they “take allegations of workplace misconduct and organizational response very seriously, and it’s why, over two years ago, we commissioned an extensive independent investigation into the troubling events that occurred in 2010.

“We’ve changed as a result of what happened and implemented numerous positive improvements throughout our organization to ensure the safety and well-being of our players and employees. This includes completely rebuilding the leadership team with personnel who demonstrate our values and bring the right subject matter expertise in the critical areas of compliance and human resources, an expansive mental health program, and new reporting mechanisms and training for all employees.

“Until we learn more about this pending litigation, we will refrain from commenting with any additional specifics.”

Attorneys from Romanucci & Blandin confirmed to the Tribune their client is the witness “Black Ace 1″ who talked to independent investigators from Jenner & Block, which accused the 2010 Stanley Cup champions of a cover-up in a scathing report in October 2021.

His teammate Kyle Beach filed a lawsuit against the Hawks based on his own alleged sexual assault by Aldrich and reached a settlement in December 2021.

The Black Aces were a team of Hawks prospects who were brought up from the Rockford IceHogs and traveled with the NHL team during the playoffs in case of injuries.

“There was a decision made to place what (the Hawks) referred to at the time as ‘team chemistry’ above team safety,” said Jason Friedl, the plaintiff’s attorney in the new lawsuit. “And that seems to be a problem that is endemic not just to one team, one sport. It’s something that’s across the board.

“There are very real consequences. There are very real consequences for Mr. Beach, for our client, and also, frankly, having seen what happened afterward with Mr. Aldrich. So silence, and the complicity of silence, had consequences.”

In December 2013, Aldrich pleaded guilty to fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a student, a misdemeanor, in a case involving a 16-year-old hockey player at Houghton (Mich.) High School, where Aldrich volunteered as an assistant coach. Prosecutors dropped a felony count.

After Aldrich’s release from jail in 2014, he registered as a sex offender.

In the fallout from the Jenner & Block report, several senior leaders from the 2009-10 Hawks were either dismissed or resigned from their positions with the Hawks or other NHL clubs, including then-general manager Stan Bowman and coach Joel Quenneville, who was with the Florida Panthers.

The NHL also fined the Hawks $2 million.

Similar to Beach’s claims in his 2021 lawsuit, John Doe’s suit alleges Aldrich told him he could influence the player’s standing with Hawks coaches and that Aldrich hosted John Doe and other Black Aces at his home to discuss player strategies but later “attempted to make them watch pornographic movies with him.”

The suit says Aldrich’s “behavior became overtly and aggressively sexual” toward him, alleging the following:

— “Aldrich sneaked into the bedroom while John Doe and (a) woman were having sex and tried to insert himself into the encounter, making his presence first known by playing with John Doe’s feet in the dark.”

— “Aldrich offered to pay for John Doe to receive sexual favors from a masseuse if Coach Aldrich could watch.”

— “On multiple occasions ... Aldrich approached John Doe from behind, grabbed him in a hugging gesture, and ground his penis against John Doe’s back and buttocks through his clothes.”

— “Aldrich sent John Doe harassing text messages.”

— “On one occasion, Coach Aldrich sent John Doe a text message stating that he could give (oral sex better) than any woman could,” which “Black Ace 1″ told Jenner & Block investigators during an interview on Aug. 24, 2021.

The suit alleges that as the season and playoffs progressed, Aldrich “used threats to John Doe’s career to coerce (him) to not report” Aldrich’s alleged conduct.

At least one other allegation in the lawsuit mirrors witness accounts from the Jenner & Block report. The suit states: “On May 21 or 23, 2010 (when the Hawks were playing the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference finals), Coach Aldrich sent John Doe a text message with a picture of Coach Aldrich’s penis,” which John Doe showed “to President (John) McDonough’s secretary.”

The Jenner & Block report says “Black Ace 1 stated that a front-office employee was standing next to him when he received the text with the explicit photograph.”

Lawyers for John Doe said “McDonough’s secretary” is the front-office employee later identified in the report as “Employee A.”

According to the lawsuit, “Employee A” reported the incident to Hawks management, including then-senior vice president Al MacIsaac. “Employee A” declined to name the hockey operations person in her interview with Jenner & Block, though she “stated that it was possible the individual was Al MacIsaac.”

According to the Jenner & Block report, on May 23, 2010, “within an hour after the Blackhawks won the playoff game that secured their place in the Stanley Cup Finals,” five members of senior management — McDonough, MacIsaac, Bowman, then-executive vice president Jay Blunk and then-assistant general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff — held a meeting with Quenneville and mental skills coach James F. Gary to discuss Aldrich and Beach.

McDonough didn’t report the allegations about Aldrich to human resources until June 14, 2010.

On June 16, a week after the Hawks won the Stanley Cup, Aldrich met with the director of human resources and was given the option to resign or face an investigation. Aldrich chose to resign, according to the Jenner & Block report.

“Aldrich received a severance and a playoff bonus, and continued to be paid a salary for several months,” the Jenner & Block report said. “He was permitted to host the Stanley Cup for a day in his hometown, his name was engraved on the Stanley Cup, he received a championship ring, and he attended a Stanley Cup banner-raising ceremony at the United Center.”

There are several instances in the Jenner & Block report in which Black Ace 1 denied any sexual interaction with Aldrich, either directly to investigators or to witnesses who spoke to Black Ace 1 about Aldrich, according to their testimony.

“When interviewed, Black Ace 1 categorically denied ever having a sexual encounter with Aldrich or speaking to (skills coach Paul) Vincent at any time,” according to the report.

When asked about this discrepancy, Romanucci said: “Many people don’t understand or realize that they’ve been sexually assaulted until they understand what the definition is. And many of the activities that took place, that we’ve outlined in our complaint, are indeed sexual assaults.

“And for our victim to not know at the time is not something that he should be penalized for.”

Friedl added the Hawks told his client that the matter would be handled and that they would put a stop to Aldrich’s alleged conduct.

“These (hockey players) are gentlemen who are in a particular field where their toughness is an expectation; it’s a requirement of them,” Friedl said. “So not only is some of the conduct not immediately apparent as abuse, these are people who are starting off their career and are afraid of the stigma of being labeled a victim.

“The initial exchanges were essentially, ‘I don’t want to talk about this. I don’t have anything to contribute about this.’ And in fact, even in the Jenner & Block report, there are concessions made to the fact that some of these individuals just (didn’t) feel safe to come fully out and discuss everything at that time.”

Friedl said the reason “John Doe” didn’t tell Jenner & Block investigators about Aldrich allegedly grinding his genitals against him is because “our client was a little reticent to discuss everything, particularly a man coming up behind him grabbing him at a bear hug.”

“You’ve seen Coach Aldrich, you know he’s not the biggest gentleman,” Friedl said. “So part of that stigma is the idea that this smaller man is grabbing him in this way, in this manner, and that’s why that was not previously discussed.”