In September 2010, then-Chicago Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich talks to Upper Michigan-based WLUC-TV about bringing the Stanley Cup to Houghton, Mich..
A law firm hired by Ohio’s Miami University to investigate a former Chicago Blackhawks video coach’s brief time on the Ohio campus found the public institution was unaware of prior allegations of improper conduct that arose two years earlier when he was with the team.
The university’s independent review, released Friday, confirmed Bradley Aldrich had a clean criminal record when he was hired in July 2012 as Miami’s director of hockey operations. He resigned five months later after a man accused him of unwanted sexual contact, the first of two complaints related to his time at Miami.
The eight-page review, conducted by the Barnes & Thornburg law firm, notes that Aldrich did not provide references as part of his resume. According to the report, Miami U spoke only to the coaching staff at Notre Dame, where he was working in 2012, and received “favorable information.”
The review found the university had an “appropriate and reasonable response” to sexual misconduct complaints related to Aldrich’s employment and that “there is no evidence that Miami could or should have taken any additional action based on the information known to them at the time.”
“We take allegations of sexual assault very seriously and believe that those who commit these heinous crimes should be held accountable,” said Jessica Rivinius, a university spokesperson. “Our commitment to supporting the victims of these crimes led us to seek an independent and thorough review of Bradley Aldrich’s employment at Miami. The findings of the report reassure us that we followed the proper protocols in these cases.”
Allegations revealed in two lawsuits against the Blackhawks filed earlier this year in Chicago sparked Miami University’s investigation.
In the first lawsuit, a former Hawks player alleged Aldrich sexually assaulted him in May 2010 during the team’s run to winning the Stanley Cup. A former high school hockey player in Michigan filed the second lawsuit; Aldrich pleaded guilty to having sexual contact with him in 2013.
Both lawsuits allege the Blackhawks failed to properly investigate Aldrich and take appropriate disciplinary action and thus allowed the wrongful behavior toward players to go undocumented and unchecked.
He helped the Chicago Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup. But now 2 lawsuits are bringing scrutiny to a former coach’s behavior around young players. ？
The Tribune reported this month that police and employers have documented allegations of a sexual nature against Aldrich involving a total of four teenagers and five men after his time with the Blackhawks.
Only one of the incidents, the 2013 case with the 16-year-old Michigan high school hockey player, resulted in charges. Aldrich, 38, of Hancock, Michigan, is registered as a sex offender in Michigan because of that case. He is not a defendant in either lawsuit filed against the Blackhawks and has not been charged in connection with the Hawks player’s allegation.
The Blackhawks filed motions to dismiss both lawsuits. The organization also launched its own investigation, led by a former federal prosecutor. Several members of the 2010 championship team, including former head coach Joel Quenneville and players Patrick Kane and Brent Sopel, have said they cooperated with the investigation. The results have not yet been made public.
The former Blackhawks player who sued the team, using the pseudonym John Doe, alleged Aldrich sexually assaulted him in his apartment in May 2010 and that team executives failed to respond appropriately, despite knowing of an earlier alleged incident of sexual misconduct with another player. That man has not filed a lawsuit.
In interviews with the Tribune and other media outlets, former Blackhawks skills coach Paul Vincent has said he informed team executives about the two players’ complaints but the team opted not to report Aldrich to Chicago police.
The suit states the plaintiff began counseling sessions after the 2010 incident with mental skills coach James F. Gary but Gary “convinced plaintiff that the sexual assault was his fault.” Gary’s attorney told the Tribune that allegation is false.
Timeline: The allegations against a former Chicago Blackhawks video coach ？
The Hawks went on to win the Stanley Cup in six games in June 2010. Aldrich left the team in July, according to his resume. He later worked for several months for the University of Notre Dame before Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, hired him in July 2012, at a $30,000 annual salary.
Five months after he was hired, that November, a young man accused Aldrich of an off-campus sexual assault, according to the university. The man had worked earlier that year for Miami as a summer intern in its hockey camps and returned that November to party with friends. The Miami University Police Department offered to assist the man in filing a report with the Oxford Police Department but he declined, university officials said.
The allegation coincides with Aldrich’s resignation. According to Friday’s report, the university immediately confronted Aldrich after learning of the allegation and told him he would be placed on interim suspension. Aldrich instead resigned, the report said.
In September 2018, a second man reported to university police that he had been the victim of what police described as a “sex offense” after falling asleep on Aldrich’s couch after a night of drinking in late 2012. The man was about 21 at the time of the alleged incident and attended Miami of Ohio.
The former student said he was “horrifically embarrassed” and “would prefer to forget this ever happened,” according to the review and other university records. He did not want to pursue criminal charges but wanted the incident on record “in case he ever does something like this again, particularly to children,” records show.
The report was forwarded to the Oxford Police Department. Oxford police have told the Tribune they did not investigate further “due to the lack of a responsive victim.”
The university’s independent review also details the handling of the Aldrich complaints by its Title IX office. The office closed an investigation without action because Aldrich no longer was an employee and the student who complained did not respond to attempts to reach him.
cmgutowski@chicagotribune.com
plthompson@chicagotribune.com
Miami of Ohio unaware of sexual misconduct allegations when ex-Blackhawks video coach hired, new report says
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