Oilers hire Stan Bowman as GM & EVP of Hockey Ops

[MilkofthePoppy]

Of course, nothing to say now.

I have nothing to say to virtue signallers.

 

[Melrose Munch]

I have nothing to say to virtue signallers.

You have nothing to say period.

 

[MilkofthePoppy]

You have nothing to say period.

No, you don't know how to read between the lines.

 

[333359]

I have nothing to say to virtue signallers.

I swear some people can't come up with any original thoughts of their own.

 

[JPT]

I swear some people can't come up with any original thoughts of their own.

what's the virtue being signaled anyway? That some of us aren't happy with a guy being suspended for a few years for not taking sexual assault allegations seriously enough, quietly having his NHL work privileges restored, and then almost immediately being handed another GM job?

Yeah I guess I'm cool with signaling that "virtue."

 

[Mike C]

what's the virtue being signaled anyway? That some of us aren't happy with a guy being suspended for a few years for not taking sexual assault allegations seriously enough, quietly having his NHL work privileges restored, and then almost immediately being handed another GM job?

Yeah I guess I'm cool with signaling that "virtue."

Remember the good ole days when virtue was it's own reward

Vinny the L said it best "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON OUT THERE"

 

[T REX]

Wow...still open?

I always find it odd when posters attack each other, instead of the actual scumbags that screwed up.

WEIRD

 

[WATTAGE4451]

This is absolutely f***ing repulsive.

Stan Bowman is a piece of shit human being who covered up sexual assault. He should've been banned from the league for life.

On top of that, he's an absolutely horrendous GM.

Yet another example of failing upwards. The NHL is a posterchild for underqualified idiots being gifted positions they have no business being in.


They better not.

He never covered up sexual assault.

By kyle beeck's own admission Bowman never even knew about the sexual assault.

For all the people outraged on behalf of beech, you dont listen to a word he actually said. He said he didnt like or trust the team counselor/mental skilsl coach so all he told them is aldrich made unwated advances. He never told them any assualt happened so all any of them thought was that it was sexual harrassment. On top of that bowmans superior told him he was dealing with it.

2 weeks later aldrich resigned. Bowman assumed that mcdo ough did an investigation into sexual harrassment and aldrich resigning was wnd result. He had no idea how serious the co duct was nor did he k ow mcdonough actually sat on the i formation for 2 weeks before telling HR after another employee made a complaint and that aldrich resigned before the investigation even took place.

 

[WATTAGE4451]

what's the virtue being signaled anyway? That some of us aren't happy with a guy being suspended for a few years for not taking sexual assault allegations seriously enough, quietly having his NHL work privileges restored, and then almost immediately being handed another GM job?

Yeah I guess I'm cool with signaling that "virtue."

There were no sexual assualt allegations made at the time. Read what beech said. By beechs own admission, he only told them that aldrich was making unwanted advances or propositioning him- sexual harrassment.

Kyle beech admits he never told them an assualt took place. Mcdonough said he was handling it so bowman believed mcdonough was- especially after aldrich resigned 2 weeks later. An inveszogation always gas to take place before firing someone anyways. He didnt know mcdpnough sat on the i for for 2 weeks until another employee complained and aldrich resigned to prevent hr from investigating.

Its ironic all the peiple outraged for beech never bothered to actually listen to what beech said or that he has supported bowman returning to hockey.

 

[WATTAGE4451]

A matter of this scale should be handled by the PRESIDENT of the freaking franchise in conjunction with the HUMAN RESOURCES department, the OWNERSHIP and relevant business side higher ups, and the POLICE DEPARTMENT if the alleged victim requests it. You shouldn't have freaking hockey side employees who don't know the first thing about handling such a case running point.

And ambiguity about who does what IS part of the problem. There shouldn't be any ambiguity on who is in charge of what. There should be a clear chain of command on these things.

"Maybe this person should have done this" isn't good enough, there should be a clear defined role on who does what and it should be the non-hockey side higher up positions that are in charge, otherwise what are they and the HR department even there for?

The Blackhawks team president McDonagh was informed of the issue and said he would take over the issue and handle it. He didn't do that. The fault is 99% on him IMO.

Worth noting that beech himself saidnhe o ly told them that aldrich made unwanted advances, he was too embarrassed and offended by the counselor jim gary to tell him the assualt actually took place so he all management knew wasnof propositioning and sexual harrassment so there actually wasnt anything from their knowledge to report to the police. Mcdononough allegedly didnt notify HR until after they won the cup. He should have botified HR before having a meeting with management as HR should be ones taking pount, not quenneville mcissaac chevy and bowman. Additionally hr allegedly told aldrich he could resign or face investigation from multiple complaints they received. The fact they pressured him to resign so they wouldnt have to investigate was a big mistake and enabled him. The fact he was so quick to resign rather than cooperate with an investigation should have been red flag.

 

[JPT]

There were no sexual assualt allegations made at the time. Read what beech said. By beechs own admission, he only told them that aldrich was making unwanted advances or propositioning him- sexual harrassment.

Kyle beech admits he never told them an assualt took place. Mcdonough said he was handling it so bowman believed mcdonough was- especially after aldrich resigned 2 weeks later. An inveszogation always gas to take place before firing someone anyways. He didnt know mcdpnough sat on the i for for 2 weeks until another employee complained and aldrich resigned to prevent hr from investigating.

Its ironic all the peiple outraged for beech never bothered to actually listen to what beech said or that he has supported bowman returning to hockey.

You must be new to the discussion. I'm taking my stance based on information from the investigation report in which a sexual assault was described by "John Doe" to Jim Gary who then relayed that information to higher ups. In that same report, another player for the Black Aces also described sexual abuse by Aldrich to Gary. It's improbable that these things were unknown and that no one knew there were credible allegations of assault, but even if I conceded your points you're still trying to discredit my opinion by saying they merely overlooked sexual harrassment until it was brushed under the rug, which led to a minor being assaulted by the same person accused of the abuse.

Beach* (he's not a tree) isn't the only victim in this whole thing. That you're centering everything on him in a poorly-constructed effort at a gotcha is not original to this discussion, but nice try anyway I guess. Others have made more convincing and concise arguments that haven't swayed me. Yours doesn't even come close.

 

[Soundwave]

McDonagh is the one 99% to blame IMO. The matter was reported to him, the minute that happened it was his responsibility and on top of that he told the hockey staff exactly that, he would take over the issue and handle it.

He sat on his hands and then did nothing for several weeks.

 

[GOilers88]

McDonagh is the one 99% to blame IMO. The matter was reported to him, the minute that happened it was his responsibility and on top of that he told the hockey staff exactly that, he would take over the issue and handle it.

He sat on his hands and then did nothing for several weeks.

Until I see people crusading to have Chevy removed from his GM position in Winnipeg and banned for life like people think Bowman should be, I'm hard pressed to think any of them really even care about the neglectful nature of everyone else involved at the time.

 

[McGarnagle]

"Yikes"

"This should go over well"

"Do better"

I swear some people can't come up with any original thoughts of their own.

Everyone's tripping over themselves to do performative outrage

 

[Soundwave]

Until I see people crusading to have Chevy removed from his GM position in Winnipeg and banned for life like people think Bowman should be, I'm hard pressed to think any of them really even care about the neglectful nature of everyone else involved at the time.

Technically at that point, I'm not sure what Bowman is supposed to do. Start his own sexual assault investigation independent of the organization where the alleged victim does not want to involve the police? How exactly is that even supposed to work?

Because without an investigation he has no grounds to really fire anyone for something outside of a hockey matter.

McDonagh is the one who was in charge of the situation, he is the one that should be blamed but since he has conveniently peaced out of the NHL world the blame has to flow somewhere else even though it should be squarely on him.

And yeah some of the outrage feels perfomative, Chevyadalov knew basically as much as Bowman did, don't see any mass protests. If Chevy can be a GM for the last several years it doesn't make sense Bowman shouldn't be allowed to be, they both were hockey side employees who reported it up to their senior boss (the correct thing to do) who then was in charge of the situation.

All that said, I'm still not thrilled with this hire. I don't think he's good enough of a GM to really put up with this. If anything though, I would bet on situations like this in the future he will be hyper vigilant because of all the training he's had and the fact that it cost him several years from his career. He paid a price for McDonagh not doing his job (although certainly he is nowhere close to the main victims here) and has worked with organizations like Kennedy and has spent time with Beach also when almost no one else involved in the situation has done any of that.

Even now does the NHL mandate any kind of training for GMs/assistant GMs in terms of how to handle this? I don't believe so. It's basically "report it to the president".

 

[GOilers88]

Technically at that point, I'm not sure what Bowman is supposed to do. Start his own sexual assault investigation independent of the organization where the alleged victim does not want to involve the police? How exactly is that even supposed to work?

Because without an investigation he has no grounds to really fire anyone for something outside of a hockey matter.

McDonagh is the one who was in charge of the situation, he is the one that should be blamed but since he has conveniently peaced out of the NHL world the blame has to flow somewhere else even though it should be squarely on him.

And yeah some of the outrage feels perfomative, Chevyadalov knew basically as much as Bowman did, don't see any mass protests. If Chevy can be a GM for the last several years it doesn't make sense Bowman shouldn't be allowed to be, they both were hockey side employees who reported it up to their senior boss (the correct thing to do) who then was in charge of the situation.

All that said, I'm still not thrilled with this hire. I don't think he's good enough of a GM to really put up with this. If anything though, I would bet on situations like this in the future he will be hyper vigilant because of all the training he's had and the fact that it cost him several years from his career. He paid a price for McDonagh not doing his job (although certainly he is nowhere close to the main victims here) and has worked with organizations like Kennedy and has spent time with Beach also when almost no one else involved in the situation has done any of that.

Even now does the NHL mandate any kind of training for GMs/assistant GMs in terms of how to handle this? I don't believe so. It's basically "report it to the president".

I definitely think he was complicit in what happened after Kyle Beach. The extent to which can be argued. I also agree about his work with Beach and Kennedy, which is why I'm having a hard time condemning the man for life, especially when as you say he seems to be the only one involved from that whole group who has done any sort of work towards bettering himself and how things like this may be handled in the future.

Also agree that I think it's a bad hire. The bad press is totally not worth it imo, especially so because he really isn't a very good GM.

That said Jeff Jackson has made a solid believer out of me so far, so I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt on the hire. I don't think he's some tone deaf idiot who has no handle on what he's doing or how it may effect him and the organization moving forward. I think he's completely aware of what's going on, I believe him when he says he reached out to Kyle Beach, and I think he has a reason(s) to take the route he's taken. All I can do now is wait and see how it plays out.

 

[Soundwave]

I definitely think he was complicit in what happened after Kyle Beach. The extent to which can be argued. I also agree about his work with Beach and Kennedy, which is why I'm having a hard time condemning the man for life, especially when as you say he seems to be the only one involved from that whole group who has done any sort of work towards bettering himself and how things like this may be handled in the future.

Also agree that I think it's a bad hire. The bad press is totally not worth it imo, especially so because he really isn't a very good GM.

That said Jeff Jackson has made a solid believer out of me so far, so I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt on the hire. I don't think he's some tone deaf idiot who has no handle on what he's doing or how it may effect him and the organization moving forward. I think he's completely aware of what's going on, I believe him when he says he reached out to Kyle Beach, and I think he has a reason(s) to take the route he's taken. All I can do now is wait and see how it plays out.

I still think McDonagh is the main one at fault, once he was informed it's his responsibility from that point on.

People in hockey ops who zero experience or training for that sort of thing shouldn't be handling the situation any longer from that point on.

Could Bowman have gone above and beyond? Perhaps, but people also act like this was something that went on for years, it was a 3 week period roughly at which the end, Aldridge was no longer working for the team.

Even today if the NHL is really serious about these kinds of situations and expect people way out of their element (GMs, coaches, trainers, etc.) to know what to do they should provide training, but they don't do that.

Because even today, the NHL assumes you're supposed to take it to the team president who is then supposed to take it to HR. It was taken to McDonagh who then sat on it for a few weeks.

 

[DingerMcSlapshot]

Stan Blowman.

 

[MarotteMarauder]

Stan Bowman was GM
GM can hire and fire staff.

All he had to do was suspend Aldrich or place him administrative leave while HR conducted an investigation.

When you pass the buck or worse, cover it up and plead ignorance, you get bit in the buttocks.

As far as Q goes, he should have been outraged at the charges that one of his coaches was involved and DEMAND he be removed from day to day team functions.

But nooooooooooooooooooooooo.

 

[JPT]

Everyone's tripping over themselves to do performative outrage

It's funny how this was a reply to a post complaining about a lack of original thought.

 

[T REX]

Sadly, par for the course for a significant segment of the posters on here. Luckily, that wasn't the case with the jury in the Duke lacrosse case.

What jury? It never went to trial. SMDH

Talk about performative...yelling Duke Lacrosse without even knowing the details...now that is performative.

 

[Rebels57]

I still can't believe they did this.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Stan Bowman was GM
GM can hire and fire staff.

All he had to do was suspend Aldrich or place him administrative leave while HR conducted an investigation.

When you pass the buck or worse, cover it up and plead ignorance, you get bit in the buttocks.

As far as Q goes, he should have been outraged at the charges that one of his coaches was involved and DEMAND he be removed from day to day team functions.

But nooooooooooooooooooooooo.

You don’t know what he was able to or not able to do.

 

[K1984]

This is exactly why myself and others dislike the oiler franchise. This kind of unthinkable hire is only seemingly acceptable with them. When I said in the playoffs that this was a motley crew jerks, assholes, and people who had credible legal allegations made against them, I wasn't being 'colourful'. The oilers 'hockey club' has fully embraced the idea of hiring scumbags to their office, and signing scumbag players under the veil of giving players a '2nd chance'.

In reality, it's simply a shortcut and choosing an easy route. They know they're an undesirable market. Edmonton sucks. Look, I'm a born and raised Winnipegger so I know the optics of it and how it sucks to have players not want to come to your city. The only city in the NHL with a lower desirability than Edmonton is my hometown. But the Jets have attempted to deal with this handicap in an honourable way by being loyal to players (often to a fault) and trying to develop young players and get them invested in the organization. It's gross, its unethical, it's disgusting.

You going to stop throwing stones for a moment and look at your own house?

Cheveldayoff was in that meeting too, and the Jets chose to keep him. So take a step off your high horse.

 

[FiveTacos]

You going to stop throwing stones for a moment and look at your own house?

Cheveldayoff was in that meeting too, and the Jets chose to keep him. So take a step off your high horse.

If this had come out right when it happened, Chevy never gets hired anywhere as a GM. Bowman ends up as a coattail riding 1 year GM and probably that's the end for him as a GM too.

But in Chevys case, in the report it seems he was brought into that meeting, but it was Bowman who had additional info, such as the 20 minute call from Gary and the direct follow up conversations with the confidant letting him know that the victim was in a bad state. AFAIK Cheveldayoff was not privy to any of that, and he had far less power in the league.

And for all the "performative" talk ... If we accept that Bowman did everything right, then it follows that his volunteer work, claims that he'd do better in a similar situation going forward, etc. would be entirely performative, no? It's all for show. So obviously being performative doesn't actually bother Bowman defenders.

You think Kennedy or Beach would have given the same okay if Bowman had said "I did nothing wrong, I was scapegoated, this was all just fake outrage. Next time I'll handle it the exact same way because that's what I'm supposed to do. But in my work with them I taught Beach and Kennedy a thing or two about proper chain of command, which is what's really important here."

If you truly believe Bowman is blameless, then you cannot also hold any position other than his recent enlightenment must be insincere performative BS.