Former Blackhawks forward blames Kyle Beach : “He put himself in a bad situation”

In an appearance on the Raw Knuckles podcast on Wednesday, former Blackhawks forward Andrew Shaw talked about the sexual abuse scandal in Chicago, smearing the reputation of the 2010 Stanley Cup champions.

But what Shaw had to say will not sit well with many.

“I have nothing bad to say about Kyle but it’s a shame something like this had to go that far when it could’ve been nipped in the bud pretty quick, from upper management and HR; it should have nothing to do with the players and the coaching staff,” Shaw said. “As a 20 year old, I would’ve never put myself in the situation Kyle was in.

“Obviously, I don’t know what was going on with Kyle, but he put himself in a bad situation.”

The conversation about Beach started when host and former NHL enforcer Chris Nilan reacted in disdaine on how former Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville was punished for his role in the scandal. Milan doesn’t believe the head coach should be out of the game.

As you remember, Quenneville and former general manager Stan Bowman stepped away from their respective jobs when news of the lawsuit broke. Beach filed a lawsuit in May 2021 alleging sexual assault at the hands of former Chicago video coach Brad Aldrich during team’s Stanley Cup run in 2010. It was then revealed how Blackhawks management met and decided not to address the incident until after the playoffs, after which the club’s human resources director gave Aldrich the option to resign or be terminated. While Quenneville had testify that he didn’t know of the allegations, he was said to be at the aforementioned meeting.

Shaw was not a member of the Blackhawks when they won the championship back in 2010, but he played and lived with Beach in their time together with the Rockford Icehogs, Chicago’s AHL affiliate.

“I lived with Kyle in Rockford, he was great to me, he helped me pay rent in my first two months, and he paid for my groceries for a couple weeks until I got a paycheque in me,” Shaw added.

And that did not stop him from saying what he said today?!

This will definitely not sit well.

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