Blackhawks owner lashes out at reporters, issues generic apology afterward
The Chicago Blackhawks' principle owner, Rocky Wirtz, lashed out at The Athletic's, Mark Lazerus and swept a serious situation under the rug on Wednesday. Lazerus asked Wirtz about what the Blackhawks were doing to empower players in the future in order to avoid what happened to Kyle Beach happening again. Wirtz gave the worst response possible.
"We're not going to talk about Kyle Beach. We're not going to talk about what happened. We're moving on."
When the Jenner & Block report came out in October 2021, Wirtz preached transparency and a new culture in Chicago. Now 4 months later, when Kyle Beach isn't in the regular news cycle, Wirtz wants to move on from the incident.
Wirtz is naive if he thinks that the organization can just "move forward" from this incident. Kyle Beach and John Doe 2 will both have to live with this for the rest of their lives. Wirtz's comments today show that his comments about bettering the organization after the Jenner & Block report came out were all talk.
In Wirtz's first media availability since the report was released - he refused to answer any questions on the matter and acted unprofessional towards reporters who were doing their jobs. You can see his inappropriate conduct below.
Phil Thompson followed up after Wirtz's outburst on Mark Lazerus and Wirtz threw a temper tantrum and asked "why don't you ask about something else? Who don't you ask about the GM search? Why do you bring up something else? Why do you bring up old business?"
This "old business" is deemed as such because Rocky Wirtz's staff decided to attempt to cover up Kyle Beach being sexually assaulted because the organization cared more about winning the Stanley Cup than doing the right thing.
The Chicago Blackhawks and Rocky Wirtz himself promised transparency and a change in the culture of the Chicago Blackhawks. Wirtz's conduct and refusal to answer the question on how the Blackhawks are doing so currently and in the future to ensure they are practicing what they preach shows that what Wirtz said on October 21st was all talk.
In a poor attempt at saving face, Wirtz (but more likely a PR rep) issued the following statement, apologizing for his actions on Wednesday.
This whole ordeal is just further evidence that the league has a long way to go to create a safer environment for its players and staff. Just abhorrent behaviour from an NHL owner and enabling it will just push the league further away from progress.
