I’ve read the 69-page report more than once. He was later convicted of criminal sexual assault and sentenced to nine months in jail in Michigan.
At one of his next jobs, on the hockey staff at Miami University in Oxford, he was accused of sexual assault (no charges were filed). Aldrich was given an option – either resign or be investigated. Three weeks passed before a team executive reported the incident to the HR department. He left the room with the belief that the team president was going to address the issue. Quenneville has been depicted as being worried, at the time, about his team losing focus amid a circus of bad PR. Quenneville was in the room when the allegations were first discussed in 2010, just after the Blackhawks won the Western Conference title and just before they won the Stanley Cup. The Blackhawks covered it up for 10 years. The suits were based on allegations of sexual abuse, the alleged perpetrator was a former Blackhawks video coach, Brad Aldrich, and one of the victims was a former Blackhawks player, Kyle Beach. Quenneville was forced to step down from his job as coach of the Florida Panthers in 2021, when the past caught up with his former team, the Chicago Blackhawks. What does he see now? Does he need to apologize to anyone? He has waited four years for his next opportunity, but is that long enough? Will fans accept him? Will players?
#Intermission wausau full#
Is it a major stretch to say that John Tortorella was similarly portrayed on his way out of New York or Vancouver? How might Pierre-Luc Dubois describe Tortorella's dark side in Columbus?ĭo these portrayals describe the full measure of a man or a coach?Ĭertainly, Babcock has reasons to take a long look in the mirror. This is how Babcock was portrayed on his way out the door in Toronto, a notably tough media market in the Center of the Hockey Universe: as calculating and verbally abusive. 2: During a playoff game in 2008, Babcock, then the coach of the Detroit Red Wings, launched a verbal attack on Johan Franzen that sent a chill through the Detroit bench.įranzen, whose career was shortened by post-concussion syndrome, told a Swedish newspaper that he feared going to the rink when Babcock was his coach. That list was shared with at least one veteran.Īs Babcock has sought atonement, he has described a lesson gone awry, admitted he’d make a mistake and said he apologized to Marner. 1: The Toronto Sun reported that, in Mitch Marner’s rookie season of 2016-17, Babcock asked Marner to make a list of veterans on the team and rank them first-to-last in terms of work ethic. On his way out the door, he was accused of verbal and psychological abuse by a number of former players. The court of public opinion is fanciful.īabcock, 60, was fired by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2019 with four years remaining on his contract. How long must one wait to be redeemed? That is the question. I don’t discount anything or anyone, not Babcock, not even Quenneville.Īs Tom Petty tells us in “Lonesome Sundown,” redemption comes to those who wait, and forgiveness is the key. I think the Jackets are going to promote associate coach Pascal Vincent, but that is just guesswork on my part. Quenneville has won 969 NHL games – he's second on the all-time list behind Scotty Bowman – and three Stanley Cups. I don’t think the Jackets are going the Q route because their timeline for naming a coach is ahead of Bettman’s timeline for Quenneville’s potential reinstatement. Someone else is probably going to hire Joel Quenneville, who not only requires redemption but also needs the blessing of league commissioner Gary Bettman. All I can add is that Babcock has some support in the Jackets’ hockey operations department, and his candidacy is a serious one.īabcock has won 700 NHL games, one Stanley Cup and two Olympic gold medals, among other things. According to New York Post hockey columnist Larry Brooks, the team might be the Blue Jackets. One of these teams is probably going to hire Mike Babcock, who requires redemption. There may be more coming (Pittsburgh? Toronto?). The others are the Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames, New York Rangers and Washington Capitals. Presently, the Blue Jackets are one of five NHL teams with a coaching vacancy. Tiger Woods, for instance, is on his second redemption. Martha Stewart is on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit edition, isn’t she? America loves redemption. Scott Fitzgerald said, “There are no second acts in American lives,” but that is dead wrong.
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