Blackhawks owner asks Hall of Fame to cover Brad Aldrich’s name on Stanley Cup
Global News
Chicago Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz wants Brad Aldrich's name covered on the Stanley Cup in light of the sex assault scandal surrounding him and the team.
Chicago Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz wants the Hockey Hall of Fame to cover the name of an assistant coach engraved on the Stanley Cup after the assistant was accused of sexually assaulting a player during the team’s run to the 2010 championship.
In a letter addressed to Hall of Fame chairman Lanny McDonald, dated Thursday, Wirtz writes that Brad Aldrich‘s conduct disqualifies him being included on the Cup, and the team made a mistake by submitting his name.
“I am humbly requesting that the Hockey Hall of Fame consider `x-ing’ out his name on the Stanley Cup,” Wirtz wrote. “While nothing can undo what he did, leaving his name on the most prestigious trophy in sports seems profoundly wrong.”
The Hall of Fame cannot remove a name from the Stanley Cup, but it can decide to engrave a series of X’s to cover it up. In his letter, Wirtz pointed to the case of Basil Pocklington, the father of the former Edmonton owner who had his name engraved on the trophy after the Oilers won the 1984 title, but then was covered at the NHL’s request because Basil Pocklington had nothing to do with the team.
“That decision, among others, reflects the Cup’s storied history of engraving mistakes, misspellings and errors that have ended up enshrined in silver, or been corrected after the fact,” Wirtz writes.
ESPN first reported on the letter. A message was left Friday by the AP seeking comment from the Hall of Fame.
Wirtz and the Blackhawks are picking up the pieces of the franchise’s shattered reputation after it released a report Tuesday detailing how the team’s senior leaders badly mishandled the allegations against Aldrich more than a decade ago.
The independent review by a law firm was commissioned by the team in response to two lawsuits filed against the franchise: one by former first-round pick Kyle Beach alleging sexual assault by Aldrich in 2010, and another filed by a former high school student whom Aldrich was convicted of assaulting in Michigan.
