After two-and-a-half years away from the league, Stan Bowman officially returned to the NHL Wednesday, the long-time executive unveiled as the Oilers’ new general manager at a press conference in Edmonton.
Bowman resigned as the Chicago Blackhawks’ GM and president of hockey operations in October 2021 — and was subsequently banned by the NHL, along with head coach Joel Quenneville and fellow front-office executive Al MacIsaac — after an independent investigation revealed that they had mishandled allegations of sexual assault raised by a former player, who later identified himself as Kyle Beach, regarding the team’s video coach Brad Aldrich in 2010.
On July 1, Bowman, Quenneville and MacIsaac were reinstated by the NHL.
Speaking Wednesday alongside his new GM, Oilers CEO of hockey operations Jeff Jackson said Bowman’s work in his time away from the game led him to believe the former Blackhawks GM is fit to lead Edmonton’s organization moving forward.
“Let me be very clear — what happened to Kyle Beach in 2010 was wrong. It was horrible,” Jackson said Wednesday. “It wasn’t handled properly at the time. Stan has acknowledged and taken full responsibility for the inadequate response. But I also know that he’s spent a great deal of time in the two-and-a-half years since then to educate himself, to try to learn. He’s done a lot of work with Sheldon Kennedy, who’s one of the foremost experts in the field of abuse, sexual and otherwise.”
Earlier this week, Kennedy — co-founder of the Respect Group, which trains Canadians on their roles and responsibilities to prevent bullying, abuse, harassment and discrimination — released a statement in support of Bowman’s return to the NHL, saying he “would be a valuable asset to an organization.”
“Part of my process was talking to Sheldon, because I knew that he had done a lot of work with Stan over the years,” said Jackson. “He gave a full endorsement of Stan’s work, his commitment, the fact that he’s sure that he learned from his mistakes. That was a big part of the decision for me. We wouldn’t have made this hire without knowing that Stan had done all that work.”
Bowman began his own statements Wednesday by addressing his exit from Chicago and the work he’s done in the years since.
“I’m not here to re-litigate the past, but I do think it’s important to start off by touching on my departure from the Blackhwks a couple seasons ago,” Bowman said. “I can tell you, in this room and to everyone watching — as well as something I’ve said directly to Kyle Beach — that my response was inadequate back in 2010. I didn’t handle things properly. I should’ve done more. That’s something I regret, and it’s something I’ve had a chance to reflect on and try to learn from.
“In addition to Sheldon, I’ve had a chance to work with his group — I’ve also had a chance to work with Kyle Beach, and other people. In that process, I feel like I’ve learned some things that I didn’t know. And I’ve learned ways that I could do a better job in the future. And I can tell you, without a doubt, that those things will never happen on my watch again.”
Bowman said he spoke with Beach on Tuesday night to inform him of Wednesday’s press conference. The Oilers’ new GM also shared more details regarding his initial conversations and work with Beach in the wake of his exit from Chicago in 2021.
“When I left the Blackhawks, I reached out to Kyle, and I didn’t hear anything back from him,” Bowman said. “A few months later, I started working with Sheldon, and in our time together, at one point Sheldon said, ‘Have you ever talked to Kyle Beach?’ I said I’d tried to reach him but I didn’t hear back. He said, ‘I understand that. Sometimes it’s a lot to process, and he might not be ready for that. You might want to think about giving it some time, and reaching out again at some point.’ I took that to heart. … I reached out to Kyle [again], and the second time I did, he responded and said, ‘Yeah, I’d be willing to talk.’
“I wasn’t sure what to make of that call, preparing for it. … My goal in reaching out was to apologize, and to let him know I felt for everything he had went through. We ended up talking for close to 90 minutes, we covered a lot of different things. We certainly covered 2010 and that situation, but then things shifted — we talked about his family, his playing career ending, he also talked about [now being] a coach.”
The two discussed the Respect Charter pilot program that Bowman worked on alongside Kennedy, which led to the pair travelling to Langley, B.C., in August 2023 to work with Beach and his team at Trinity Western University.
“I think that was a big moment for both of us,” Bowman said. “We spent a day-and-a-half together. We certainly reflected on the past, but I think it was more so looking ahead to how we could mend fences, and how I could bring something of value to his team. … I’ve kept in touch with him since that point.”
Asked during the press conference about what he learned, through his work with Kennedy, about the impact of his inaction during the situation that transpired during his Chicago tenure, Bowman spoke about the need to take a more active role if ever involved in similar situations in the future.
“I think the biggest thing I learned from Sheldon is the negative power of silence, and not taking a bigger role. When I look back on it, that’s what I reflect on,” he said. “You don’t want to assume other people are doing things. You want to take an active role and make sure things happen that are supposed to happen. That’s a learning experience, and that’s what I’m going to take away from that. Sheldon [explained] there’s a bystander effect, and you want to make sure you do what you can to play an active role in those situations.”
Bowman was also asked about other victims of former Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich, whose post-NHL career brought further abuses cases at Miami University and Houghton High School. Bowman did not clarify whether he spoke with any other victims before returning to the NHL.
“I don’t want to go into the past. Kyle was the person that I had involvement with, and I know I let Kyle down,” he said. “Certainly, anybody that has been negatively impacted, I feel for them. I certainly wish they didn’t go through that, so my heart goes out to them. It’s something that I want to try to be better at going forward.”
Jackson said he spoke with Beach a couple months ago, and that the latter was “very supportive” of Bowman returning to the NHL, but said the team has not spoken with any other victims related to Aldrich’s cases, as their identities have not been made public.
Many Oilers fans expressed their concerns with the team’s hiring decision via social media early Wednesday. Asked what his response would be to those fans, Bowman said he hopes to prove himself, in time.
“Listen, I respect people’s opinion,” the new GM said Wednesday. “One thing I’ve learned over time is it’s very difficult to try to talk people into things. So, I’m not going to try to make an argument on why they should feel a certain way. I respect the way that the fans feel. I think what I would say is, it’s going to be my job to try to win them over, and I think the goal is to try to do that through your actions as opposed to what you’re saying.
“I understand where they’re coming from, and I want to try to earn their respect over time.”