Blackhawks have good reason to withhold key details of the Corey Perry incident

The Chicago Blackhawks put everything in motion in order to terminate Corey Perry’s contract, placing the veteran forward on waivers on Tuesday and explaining in a press conference that he had engaged “in conduct that is unacceptable and in violation of policies intended to promote professional and safe work environments.”

General manager Kyle Davidson also put an end to the crazy rumours involving Connor Bedard’s mother Melanie Bedard, stating that that no other players or their families were involved, despite speculation to the contrary. Davidson added that anyone who suggests otherwise is “wildly inaccurate” and “frankly, disgusting.”

Sources told ESPN’s Emily Kaplan that Perry indeed traveled with the team to Columbus last Tuesday and an incident occurred that day involving a team employee. Prior to the contest against the Blue Jackets that following day, Perry was “immediately pulled” from the game once the Blackhawks were notified, and at that point, the club began an investigation.

On Wednesday morning, team insider Mark Lazerus of the Athletic added this to the ongoing chatter in an attempt to explain why the Blackhawks were withholding key details of the Perry incident.

“Questions remain, of course. The Blackhawks certainly could have good reason to withhold key details of the incident, this being a workplace incident and an internal personnel matter. Identities may need to be protected. But obfuscation fuels speculation, and social media was uglier than usual as Perry’s mystery absence lingered over the weekend.”

It’s a detail everyone needs to consider. If the employee in question is still with the organization, the identity and confidentiality need to be protected. And that’s something the Hawks need to be extremely careful with.

Lazerus also says: “It all happened in less than a week. Given how low the bar has been set for the franchise in recent years, it can easily be seen as encouraging. There was a problem. Someone felt empowered enough to report it. The team quickly addressed it, and did so with zero tolerance.”

The Blackhawks want to ensure they have learned from the terrible mistakes in 2010 with Kyle Beach and in 2021 when the Jenner & Block report came out.

And so it may not be as sensational as what has been rumoured and put on social media, but the Blackhawks felt it needed to be handled properly, quickly and especially with some confidentiality to protect someone’s identity.

And that is a real good reason to withhold key details on that incident.

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