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An independent report released in October by a Chicago law firm
said senior Blackhawks officials suppressed former player Kyle
Beach's allegations in 2010 against then-video coach Brad
Aldrich to avoid distracting the team during their playoff run.
Despite the allegations, Aldrich remained with the team for
three weeks en route to their Stanley Cup victory before he was
permitted to resign on his terms and even given a day to spend
with ice hockey's most famous trophy.
The fallout from the report saw top executives lose their jobs
in Chicago and also affected other teams with Florida Panthers
coach Joel Quenneville -- who was behind the Blackhawks bench in
2010 -- resigning.
The NHL fined the Blackhawks $2 million for their failed
response to the situation but Commissioner Gary Bettman, who
publicly apologized to Beach, received pushback from critics who
said the fine should have been bigger.
The Blackhawks scandal tainted a year in which the Seattle
Kraken made their debut as the NHL's 32nd team, while the league
welcomed fans back to arenas for the first time during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
OLYMPICS RETURN
Washington Capitals captain Ovechkin's scorching start to the
2021-22 season helped him moved past Hall of Famers Marcel
Dionne (731) and Brett Hull (741) into fourth place on the
all-time scoring list.
Ovechkin, whose lightning-quick release from his signature spot
inside the left face-off circle has baffled goalies for years,
could still bump former NHL forward Jaromir Jagr (766) from
third spot before the campaign is over.
The 36-year-old Russian sniper will be able to showcase his
scoring prowess to the world in February as the NHL agreed to
allow players to compete at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
The return of NHL players to the Olympics after sitting out the
2018 Pyeongchang Games ensures the men's tournament with names
like Ovechkin and Canada's Sidney Crosby will be one of the
marquee events at the Feb. 4-20 global sporting showcase.
The Tampa Bay Lightning became only the third back-to-back
Stanley Cup champions in the last quarter of a century when they
beat the Montreal Canadiens in July behind the stellar play of
Russian goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Off the ice, Henrik Lundqvist, who established himself as one of
the NHL's greatest goalies during a 15-season stint with the New
York Rangers, announced his retirement nL1N2PR1NM following
open-heart surgery in January that forced him to miss all of
last season.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Peter
Rutherford)
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