Should Chicago’s NHL team have first draft pick after its handling of sex assault scandal?

Chicago’s NHL team is celebrating its lucky draw, winning the first overall draft pick on Monday and (presumably) snatching up the league’s most sought-after rising star, Canadian 17-year-old Connor Bedard. 

The moment not only boosted one of the league’s original franchises, but brought in more than $5.2 million US in season ticket plan sales in the first 12 hours after the pick — almost half of it within 90 minutes — according to The Chicago Sun-Times. 

Hockey fans were quick to point out that that sum is more than the $2 million US fine the team was required to pay the NHL following the 2021 settlement over its handling of former player Kyle Beach’s sexual assault accusations against a former team coach.

There was also criticism of Chicago not having to forfeit its first draft pick when other teams — such as the Arizona Coyotes and the New Jersey Devils — faced that penalty in the past for running afoul of league protocols. 

The sport itself has lately been facing a reckoning — on various levels, not just in professional leagues — over allegations of sexual assault against Canadian junior hockey players, discriminatory behaviour on the ice, bullying and harassment and an overall toxic culture. 

But Chicago has had its fair share of controversies on its own, including recent fallout over its decision to forgo players wearing special jerseys for Pride Night and a failure to recognize the abusive past of former team star Bobby Hull when it marked his passing in February. 

“Chicago has been riddled with problems for far too long, including the [team] name,” said Cheri Bradish, an associate professor of sport marketing at Toronto Metropolitan University and director of the school’s Future of Sport Lab. 

Sportscasters often don’t use the team’s official name, in light of a reckoning about the use of Indigenous names and images in pro sports. 

“It creates a great case for, yet again, how hockey and professional hockey culture needs a serious examination and a look in the mirror because these sport properties are businesses, but they’re also social trusts,” she said. 

Neither the team nor the league responded to a CBC News request for comment. 

Reward for bad behaviour? 

Bradish said it’s “mind boggling” that the Chicago franchise hasn’t faced harsher consequences and that “it seems like bad behaviour has been rewarded.”

She says it should give potential players, and even their families, something to consider — noting that hockey legend Wayne Gretzky last year suggested parents should be concerned about their young sons’ safety if drafted by Chicago.

Attorney Susan Loggans, who represented Beach in his lawsuit, says she understands why people may be angry about the Chicago team’s good fortune in the draft pick and its uptick in season ticket sales. 

“Everybody is so upset with what happened with the Kyle Beach case and they feel like there needs to be something that actually hurts the team rather than just paying what seems like an insignificant sum of money,” she said. 

The $2 million US fine was separate from the settlement with Beach, the details of which are subject to a non-disclosure agreement. But Loggans says she believes Beach coming forward and filing his lawsuit may have helped make Chicago a “better team” and helped right some of its past wrongs.

Beach’s case was “the first opening of the can of worms” when it came to shining a spotlight on sexual abuse in the sport, she said. 

“The NHL, for the first time, really had to look at what was [happening] and became much more sensitive to trying to keep this kind of thing from happening in the future,” she said.

She said if the franchise has “achieved zero tolerance,” they should be entitled to “a new beginning.” But Loggans says she’s unaware of what steps the team has taken since the settlement. 

Bradish has yet to see evidence either, but says now would be the time for the team and its owners — and the league itself — to come forward with proof of systemic changes. 

She says if people don’t see change, they might conclude that it’s not a priority.

Support is available for anyone who has been sexually assaulted. You can access crisis lines and local support services through this Government of Canada website or the Ending Violence Association of Canada database. ​​If you’re in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.