Two weeks ago, I wrote an article about the NHL needing a change of leadership. Then, just a few days ago, Gary Bettman comes out and decides to be on the wrong side of a stance surrounding John Doe 2 and the NHL not be providing him therapy, as that decision would be up to the team. Here we are just a few days later, and the lawyers for the Chicago Blackhawks are now willing to provide therapy, but in another strikingly idiotic move are doubling down on their “we need more proof” stance.
Listen, before you start to comment or tell me, the lawyers need to do their job; I get it. Yes, in most circumstances, you need a let the process work out. However, as a league, team, and sport, you’ve had well over a decade, and instead of facing the hard reality, you swept it under the rug. There isn’t an excuse at this point to play the lawyer card because you need your sport to prove that it has one ounce of humanity left in it.
Beyond the human aspect of this issue, this proves that the folks involved in this scandal haven’t learned anything. They have doubled down by demanding evidence. They prove they just don’t get it by their refusal to talk settlement without arbitration in the Kyle Beach situation. Yes, you fired a coach. Yes, you fired a GM. Yes, you held a press conference here and a press conference there, but you have not changed your culture. There is no excuse here for the way the league is handling this. It is time to step up and tell the victims this isn’t their fault, and you’re going to support them; because you failed them enough already.
