there was [a powerful article](https://theathletic.com/2917792/2021/10/27/lazerus-kyle-beachs-courage-and-humanity-is-in-sharp-contrast-with-the-craven-men-who-failed-him/) by mark lazerus in the athletic yesterday about the stark contrast between kyle beach's actions and blackhawks' callousness and neglect. it's unfortunate that it is under a paywall, but for those with an athletic subscription, please read it. for those without a subscription, here is the passage that broke me and highlights the absolute depravity of the blackhawks organization: >Kyle Beach is **sorry**. >Stan Bowman never said he’s sorry. In one of the worst prepared statements in public-relations history, the former Blackhawks general manager said he “regret(s) assuming” that John McDonough would report Beach’s allegations to the proper channels. >McDonough never said he’s sorry. The man who ruled the Blackhawks with an iron fist hasn’t spoken publicly since he was fired a year and a half ago. >Al MacIsaac never said he’s sorry. He disappeared from the organization as quietly as he ruled it for nearly two decades, not even mentioned by name in Danny Wirtz’s housecleaning on Tuesday. Kevin Cheveldayoff hasn’t said he’s sorry. He’s still running the Winnipeg Jets, claiming ignorance. Joel Quenneville hasn’t said he’s sorry. He was inexplicably behind the bench for the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night, a day before he was scheduled to fly to New York to meet with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, a mustachioed symbol of how little the NHL truly has learned, how little the NHL truly has progressed. None of Beach’s prominent 2010 teammates have said they’re sorry, memories and timelines suddenly hazy and disturbing allegations of homophobic bullying on the ice and in the locker room hand-waved away as never having happened. edit: if someone wants to read the article, pm me.

>Fans were especially hoping to hear from Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews on Wednesday. He’s always had the responsibility of being the voice of the Blackhawks. On Wednesday, he said something fans wish he hadn’t. He exonerated Bowman and MacIsaac of any wrongdoing. >“To me, Stan and Al, make any argument you want, they’re not directly complicit in the activities that happened,” Toews said after Wednesday’s game. “It’s not up to me to comment on whether they’d like to deal with it differently or not. I just know them as people and I’ve had a relationship and friendship with them for a long time as being part of the Blackhawks family. People like Al and Stan have made coming to the Blackhawks for players around the league, who come here to play on this team, one of the special places to play hockey. To me, I have a ton of respect for them as people.

It's just a complete failure to understand why what happened to Kyle Beach was so much worse because of the inaction of Stan Bowman and others. A failure to understand that Aldrich was able to go on and harm other people in part because Stan Bowman didn't protect Kyle. I know Kane sees Bowman as the man whose house he lived in his rookie year, and that they've both had over a decade of good working relationships with him. But at some point you have to step back and say "oh shit, my friend actually did something pretty terrible that allowed other people to get hurt". And maybe you can even still view that as a mistake, something that isn't irredeemable, but you have to at least acknowledge the gravity of the mistake and commit to change before that redemption can happen. Bowman hasn't done any of that, and Toews and Kane standing up for Bowman in this moment just proves they don't really grasp the gravity of what happened to Kyle Beach, and what Aldrich went on to do. It's incredibly disappointing.

Toews is such a fucking bozo for these comments man. For someone touted as such a "leader" he has the emotional range of a piece of toast for this entire thing.

This is basically the “Our bar for you was low but HOLY FUCK” moment of the day. Like literally all you had to do was go out there and apologize, offer support, and say you wished you did more. Yeah it’s hollow and cleansed and people would have lashed out at it anyways but it’s better than whatever the fuck these statements are. Instead they decided defending Bowman/Al and feigning ignorance was somehow a better response. Just complete incompetence all around…

They're on the wrong side of this and will not be remembered fondly for it. Their responses struck me as particularly tone deaf.

I've been in Toews/Kane's shoes before, finding out a close friend had done some beyond appalling things. I get it can be difficult to reconcile but you don't go out and defend them like they did last night. Team management fucked up and in an entirely clear way. Acknowledge that and leave it at that. No one cares that you think they're good people because guess what? They probably were good people to many others but they weren't to Kyle Beach. That's what mattered last night and Toews/Kane missed that. At the end of the day, all this tells us is to not hold athletes as any sort of role model or to idolize them. We don't know anything about them really. Toews was commonly held to be a good leader and role model, how he's handled the entire scandal has been anything but.

It's the culture of the NHL (or most sports really), if you crap on a GM, you are blackballed.

A reminder that Keith is also lying about not knowing

My gut says Toews, Kane, and Keith are trying to deflect their own guilt by supporting Bowman et al. There's nothing wrong with saying how much Bowman meant to them and their careers, but to try and defend his qualities in public statements... geez, not now, not ever.