Blackhawks owner asks Hall of Fame to cover Brad Aldrich’s name on Stanley Cup

Chicago Blackhawks proprietor Rocky Wirtz needs the Hockey Corridor of Fame to cowl the title of an assistant coach engraved on the Stanley Cup after the assistant was accused of sexually assaulting a participant through the staff’s run to the 2010 championship.

In a letter addressed to Corridor of Fame chairman Lanny McDonald, dated Thursday, Wirtz writes that Brad Aldrich‘s conduct disqualifies him being included on the Cup, and the staff made a mistake by submitting his title.

“I’m humbly requesting that the Hockey Corridor of Fame contemplate `x-ing’ out his title on the Stanley Cup,” Wirtz wrote. “Whereas nothing can undo what he did, leaving his title on essentially the most prestigious trophy in sports activities appears profoundly unsuitable.”

The Corridor of Fame can not take away a reputation from the Stanley Cup, however it may possibly resolve to engrave a sequence of X’s to cowl it up. In his letter, Wirtz pointed to the case of Basil Pocklington, the daddy of the previous Edmonton proprietor who had his title engraved on the trophy after the Oilers gained the 1984 title, however then was coated on the NHL’s request as a result of Basil Pocklington had nothing to do with the staff.

“That call, amongst others, displays the Cup’s storied historical past of engraving errors, misspellings and errors which have ended up enshrined in silver, or been corrected after the very fact,” Wirtz writes.

ESPN first reported on the letter. A message was left Friday by the AP searching for remark from the Corridor of Fame.

0:50
Chicago Blackhawks stars Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews react to Kyle Seashore interview

Wirtz and the Blackhawks are choosing up the items of the franchise’s shattered status after it launched a report Tuesday detailing how the staff’s senior leaders badly mishandled the allegations towards Aldrich greater than a decade in the past.

The unbiased evaluate by a legislation agency was commissioned by the staff in response to 2 lawsuits filed towards the franchise: one by former first-round decide Kyle Seashore alleging sexual assault by Aldrich in 2010, and one other filed by a former highschool scholar whom Aldrich was convicted of assaulting in Michigan.

Rocky Wirtz stated Tuesday that he and Danny Wirtz, his son and the staff’s CEO, have been first made conscious of the accusations forward of the Might submitting of Seashore’s lawsuit, an assertion by the proprietor that additionally was supported by the report from Jenner & Block.

The AP doesn’t usually establish individuals who say they’re victims of sexual assault until they arrive ahead publicly. Seashore spoke with TSN on Wednesday and posted an announcement on Twitter on Thursday expressing gratitude for the assist he had obtained prior to now couple days.

Stan Bowman, Chicago’s basic supervisor and president of hockey operations, resigned within the wake of the report, and the Blackhawks introduced that Al MacIsaac, one other one of many staff’s prime hockey executives, was not with the group.

The NHL fined the staff $2 million for “the group’s insufficient inside procedures and inadequate and premature response.”

The results of what the Blackhawks did in 2010 _ particularly a three-week interval through the playoffs once they didn’t act on Seashore’s allegations, permitting Aldrich to stay across the staff whereas it celebrated the championship _ reverberated all through the NHL this week.

Florida Panthers coach Joel Quenneville met with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman on Thursday after which resigned. Winnipeg Jets basic supervisor Kevin Cheveldayoff talked to Bettman on Friday, and the league introduced that Cheveldayoff wouldn’t be disciplined.

Quenneville and Cheveldayoff have been with the Blackhawks when Seashore’s accusations have been first reported to staff management. Aldrich has instructed investigators the encounter was consensual.