By Frank Pingue
(Reuters) – A sexual assault scandal involving the Chicago Blackhawks might be what people remember most about the NHL from 2021, taking the shine off a year in which Alex Ovechkin continued rewriting the record books and Tampa Bay repeated as Stanley Cup champions .
An independent report released in October by a Chicago law firm said senior Blackhawks officials suppressed former player Kyle Beach’s allegations in 2010 against then-video coach Brad Aldrich to avoid distracting the team during their playoff run.
Despite the allegations, Aldrich remained with the team for three weeks en route to their Stanley Cup victory before he was permitted to resign on his terms and even given a day to spend with ice hockey’s most famous trophy.
The fallout from the report saw top executives lose their jobs in Chicago and also affected other teams with Florida Panthers coach Joel Quenneville — who was behind the Blackhawks bench in 2010 — resigning.
The NHL fined the Blackhawks $2 million for their failed response to the situation but Commissioner Gary Bettman, who publicly apologized to Beach, received pushback from critics who said the fine should have been bigger.
The Blackhawks scandal tainted a year in which the Seattle Kraken made their debut as the NHL’s 32nd team, while the league welcomed fans back to arenas for the first time during the COVID-19 pandemic.
OLYMPICS RETURN
Washington Capitals captain Ovechkin’s scorching start to the 2021-22 season helped him moved past Hall of Famers Marcel Dionne (731) and Brett Hull (741) into fourth place on the all-time scoring list.
Ovechkin, whose lightning-quick release from his signature spot inside the left face-off circle has baffled goalies for years, could still bump former NHL forward Jaromir Jagr (766) from third spot before the campaign is over.
The 36-year-old Russian sniper will be able to showcase his scoring prowess to the world in February as the NHL agreed to allow players to compete at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
The return of NHL players to the Olympics after sitting out the 2018 Pyeongchang Games ensures the men’s tournament with names like Ovechkin and Canada’s Sidney Crosby will be one of the marquee events at the Feb. 4-20 global sporting showcase.
The Tampa Bay Lightning became only the third back-to-back Stanley Cup champions in the last quarter of a century when they beat the Montreal Canadiens in July behind the stellar play of Russian goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Off the ice, Henrik Lundqvist, who established himself as one of the NHL’s greatest goalies during a 15-season stint with the New York Rangers, announced his retirement nL1N2PR1NM following open-heart surgery in January that forced him to miss all of last season.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
