Chicago Blackhawks attempting to dismiss negligence lawsuits against them

The Chicago Blackhawks continue to be embroiled in one of the uglier situations in recent sports memory after a former member of the 2010 Stanley Cup winning squad accused former video coach Brad Aldrich of sexual abuse, coupled with additional reports from more former players that the entire team was aware of the abuse that was happening. 

For those of you who are unaware of the situation, an unidentified player from the 2010 Stanley Cup-winning roster is suing the Blackhawks for ignoring his claims that he and another player were being sexually assaulted by an assistant coach, and that the team did nothing to stop it. 

The report states that in May of 2010, which would have been during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, team video coach Brad Aldrich “turned on porn and began to masturbate in front of” the player. Additionally, the report says that Aldrich sent “inappropriate text messages” to the player and threatened to “physically, financially and emotionally” harm the player if he “did not engage in sexual activity" with the coach. 

However, the Blackhawks trying to move on. On Friday, the team filed amended motions to dismiss the negligence lawsuits against them.

Per the Chicago Sun-Times: 

The Blackhawks filed amended motions to dismiss Friday in both negligence lawsuits related to Bradley Aldrich, the former video coach who allegedly sexually assaulted a Hawks player in 2010.

The amended motion in the second lawsuit, filed by a student (identified anonymously as ‘‘John Doe 2’’) whom Aldrich assaulted at Houghton (Michigan) High School in 2013, focuses on the lack of evidence to support a claim that the Hawks sent a recommendation letter to Houghton on Aldrich’s behalf.

Aldrich left the Hawks in summer 2010, worked at Miami (Ohio) University in 2012 before resigning because of another alleged sexual assault, then became a volunteer assistant for the Houghton boys’ hockey team.

......

The Hawks said they made a request Friday — outside of the court motion — to Susan Loggans, the lawyer representing both the former Hawks player and the Michigan student, that she withdraw the claim.

‘‘Plaintiff effectively admits he has no facts to actually establish that [the Hawks] did either of these things,’’ the lawsuit states. ‘‘Indeed, [the Hawks] made a request . . . that [Loggans] withdraw these allegations because they are demonstrably false.’’

Because of the pending motions to dismiss, neither lawsuit has progressed to the discovery stage, when such a letter might surface.

But The Athletic reported in June that Houghton High didn’t perform a background check on Aldrich at the time. And a Sun-Times public-records request to Miami University returned 50 pages of documents, including a résumé from Aldrich that mentioned the Hawks, but no correspondences with the team.

We'll be standing by watching to see what happens next.