Leafs Win in the Windy City….

 

Look usually I would talk about how tonight’s Leaf game went but there’s a much bigger topic surrounding the Leafs Blackhawks game. I am sure many that read this are aware of what’s been going on but for those that aren’t, it won’t be easy, but I will do my absolute best to talk about it and explain the situation to the best of my ability.

 

For now, I’m going to quickly talk about the Leafs overtime win. The first period in Chicago if you’re a Leaf fan is one that would raise your blood pressure for sure. Right from the opening faceoff Toronto was sluggish and Chicago who have yet to win a game this season looked like they were cup contenders. Going into this game Chicago hadn’t opened the scoring in any game, until five and a half minutes into the game when Kirby Dach would open the scoring on the powerplay. Toronto’s Michael Bunting would be serving a tripping minor and from the box he would watch Dach dance around Toronto’s Jake Muzzin and he would chip the puck passed Jack Campbell giving the struggling Blackhawks the early advantage. After this goal momentum would be clearly in the favour of Chicago and their work would reward them as midway though the period Seth Jones would send a stretch pass that would spring Alex DeBrincat on a breakaway, and he would beat Campbell sending the puck into the top of the net and after twenty minutes of play Chicago would hold a well deserved 2-0 lead and the Leafs would head to the room searching for answers. Now in his post game interview Jack Campbell said that someone spoke up, he wouldn’t name names but there was a discussion with the players where they were called out for their play, and they were challenged to respond because the players were told they were going to win the game.

After the challenge was laid out in the first intermission the team needed to respond and they did exactly that. This period would see Toronto coming out flying they would spend more time in Chicago’s end of the ice and just after six minutes the Leafs would get on the board as John Tavares would score his second goal of the year on the backhand. With Toronto now trailing by only a goal they would keep the pedal down searching for their second. With pressure mounting thanks to zone time and special teams play Toronto even though they were playing much better they couldn’t find the equalizer and after forty minutes Chicago still led this contest 2-1.

The final frame saw Toronto still controlling play collecting chance after chance, but Chicago starter Kevin Lankinen was playing great and keeping the door closed. With eleven minutes of the third period played Toronto finally found the equalizing goal they were searching for, and it came from an unlikely source. With the third line on the ice once again forcing Chicago to spend too much time in their zone and David Kompf the former Blackhawk while in the middle of the slot would score his first goal of the season and first as a Maple Leaf as he would beat the Hawks goalie once again on the back hand and the Leafs would manage to come from two goals down and find themselves level at 2-2.

In typical NHL officiating fashion conveniently the whistle would be put away and some clear as day penalties were ignored meaning regulation would expire and overtime would be needed. In the extra session both teams would trade chances first it would be Chicago threatening early but Toronto starter Jack Campbell made some unbelievable saves giving the Leafs a chance. In fact, the game winning goal would come on the transition from a Chicago scoring opportunity. A Seth Jones point shot would go off Jack Campbell’s blocker and the puck would be brought up the ice by Auston Matthews who would quickly pass to William Nylander who would skate in all alone and slide the puck through the five hole of Lankinen for his third goal of the season and giving Toronto a desperately needed victory.

 

Alright the next part of this article is going to be where I do my best to discuss the disturbing story surrounding Chicago, and if people want to stop reading at this point, I completely understand.

 

 

*************THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS CONTENT READERS MAY FIND DIFFICULT***********

 

Over the past few months, the National Hockey League and an independent law firm were investigating accusations of sexual assault involving a former player and a former assistant coach Brad Aldrich. The accusations stemmed from an incident that occurred in 2010 when Aldrich performed a disgusting sexual act on the player without his consent. For months during the investigation the victim was known as “John Doe” and according to the legal document that was released the victim spoke to a staff member of the incident where Aldrich was accused of the sexual act and then threatened to beat the victim with a bat if he told anyone. So, with this news the staff member held a meeting with Hawks management that included General Manager Stan Bowman, Assistant GM Kevin Cheveldayoff (Now Winnipeg Jets GM), and coach Joel Quenneville (Now Panthers coach).

After the incident was brought to management’s attention, they chose to handle it at a later date because the team was in the process of a deep playoff run and felt trying to win a Stanley Cup was more important then handling this incident immediately. The Hawks would go on to win the cup and Aldrich would celebrate with the team lifting the trophy, taking part in the parade and being presented with his own Championship ring. Three weeks after winning the cup Aldrich would step down from the Blackhawks. In 2013 Aldrich was working at a Michigan High School where he sexually assaulted a minor that saw him go behind bars. There are many things I am leaving out for a few reasons; Information is still filtering out and it’s difficult to write about because it is such a serious and sensitive topic, but I feel it needs to be discussed.

This summer Joel Quenneville stated that he wasn’t aware of any of the accusations that were presented and this afternoon in a quick statement said he will be meeting Gary Bettmen Thursday to discuss the information reported. I understand I am jumping all over the place but as I said I am trying to piece everything together as news comes in.

Tuesday afternoon when the independent investigators presented their findings it resulted in Chicago owners removing all staff members that were with the team in 2010 that included Stan Bowman stepping down as the teams General Manager and then later Tuesday evening USA Hockey removed Bowman as GM of the upcoming Olympic team.

Tonight, just as the Leafs Broadcast went to air it was announced that “John Doe” was former Blackhawk and 2008 draft pick Kyle Beach. Beach never played a game for Chicago at the NHL level but was known as a “Black Ace” someone who practices with the team and travels with the club. In an interview with TSN’s Rick Westhead who has done a phenomenal job following this story Beach said that he had even spoken to NHLPA president Don Fehr and told him every single detail but unfortunately nothing came out of it. Beach also stated that he believes what Brent Sopel and Nick Boynton said when they claimed that every single member of the Hawks roster new of the sexual assault, these comments were made in a sperate interview earlier this summer.

This story is far from over because as I mentioned the Commissioner is meeting with Quenneville on Thursday and then meeting with Cheveldayoff on Monday both maintain they weren’t aware of any of the accusations brought to the team’s attention but the legal document states that both Joel and Kevin were present for the meeting and were fully aware according to the report. So hopefully in these upcoming meetings Bettman does the right thing because I feel that both Quenneville and Cheveldayoff should be removed from the league and all accomplishments shall be erased. What took place back in 2010 is a criminal act and if this happened in the everyday world the person accused would be fired from their job and thrown in jail instantly. I will continue to follow this story and will post updates on my facebook page.

 

I apologize for taking this article down a difficult path but again I felt this topic needed to be discussed. Thanks, as always for reading and hopefully my next article will be a positive one where I talk about another Leafs victory.

 

**If you or anyone you know are a victim of Domestic or Sexual Abuse call***

 

416 323 7327 (Ontario Number)

  

There is always someone willing to help you trust me it’s ok to talk to someone if you need help