from Scott Stinson of the National Post,
There have already been suggestions that the calls for major reform in the world of professional hockey will not end until Gary Bettman is out of a job.
The argument is simple enough. The NHL commissioner, in responding to the sexual assault scandal involving the Chicago Blackhawks, levied a fine that was less than that handed out to punish salary-cap circumvention. He dismissed suggestions that he should have paid more attention to the stories of sexual abuse in junior hockey, even though it is the main feeder system to the pros. He protected the Chicago ownership even though Kyle Beach was one of their employees. He waved away the inaction of Kevin Cheveldayoff, now the Winnipeg Jets GM, as a reasonable response for a low-ranking employee, as though being the assistant general manager of the Blackhawks meant his job was merely to keep Stan Bowman’s coffee mug topped up. Bettman, 69, has also held the most senior post in professional hockey for almost 30 years. If he doesn’t bear some responsibility for the culture of the sport, then who does?
Calls for a Bettman ouster will only intensify if the Kyle Beach story ends up being one of many. Already on Tuesday, the wife of a former coach in the Pittsburgh Penguins organization announced that she would be suing that team for covering up her allegation of sexual assault against another minor-league coach in 2018. (The Penguins say action was taken immediately.) If this becomes a cascade of allegations involving hockey employees — as has happened in other industries once the cone of silence was first pierced — then a total housecleaning will become inevitable.
But short of that, Bettman is on sturdier ground than many critics would like to admit. I say that as a frequent critic. The reasons to dislike the job he has done are many and varied, from the league’s work stoppages to its player-safety record to the lack of support for a real women’s league to the fact that the Arizona Coyotes exist while the Quebec Nordiques do not.
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