Former Blackhawks Andrew Shaw publicly speaks on Kyle Beach scandal

Former Blackhawks forward Andrew Shaw has publicly commented on the Kyle Beach scandal that has cast a shadow over the 2010 Stanley Cup champions.

Kyle Beach scandal

Beach, selected as the 11th overall pick by the Blackhawks in the 2008 NHL Draft, initiated legal action in May 2021 against ex-Chicago video coach Brad Aldrich for events that occurred during the team's Stanley Cup campaign in 2010.

The Blackhawks management came together and agreed to hold off on dealing with the incident until after the playoffs. After the playoffs, Aldrich was given the choice to resign or be terminated by the club's human resources director. Quenneville has stated he was unaware of the allegations, but the Jenner & Block report shows he was present at the meeting.


Quenneville chose to write a positive evaluation of Aldrich following the season, despite knowing about the allegations against him and the fact that the video coach had already resigned.



Shaw on The Raw Knuckles Podcast

The discussion commenced when the host and former NHL enforcer, Chris Nilan, conveyed his strong disapproval regarding the punishment imposed on former Blackhawks coach, Joel Quenneville, for his involvement in the scandal. Here's what Nilan had to say about Quenneville:

"I think they [expletive] that guy, the NHL. I think it's so wrong he's out of the game right now, or that he even had to sit out a year. That's a management thing and management run the show there, and they tell the coach, 'here's the deal, you focus on this team winning the Stanley Cup, you players don't say a word about it and just focus on winning."

Here's what Shaw had to say about the scandal on the Raw Knuckles Podcast regarding Kyle Beach:

"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. 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."


Shaw may not have been present when the Blackhawks clinched the Cup in 2010, but he did have the experience of playing alongside Beach and living together during their stint with the Rockford Icehogs, the AHL affiliate of the Chicago franchise.

"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 stated

Upon the revelation of the lawsuit, both Quenneville and former general manager Stan Bowman decided to resign from their positions. It has been reported that Quenneville will have a meeting with Gary Bettman after the playoffs to discuss his standing within the league