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Oilers CEO Jeff Jackson defends team's decision to hire Stan Bowman as new GM
On Wednesday, news surfaced that the Edmonton Oilers had hired former Chicago Blackhawks general manager and President Stan Bowman. The decision comes after the NHL reinstated Bowman in July, when the NHL also reinstated Joel Quenneville, and Al MacIsaac following a nearly three-year absence from the league.
In 2021, Bowman resigned amid a scandal stemming from sexual assault allegations made by former Blackhawks player Kyle Beach, who alleged that he had been sexually assaulted by a video coach Brad Aldrich.
According to an investigation, after Beach made Bowman and other team staff members aware of the assault, the Blackhawks decided they would handle the situation after the Stanley Cup.
According to lead investigator Reid Schar, Bowman and the team's decision to hold off on reporting the assault allowed Aldrich to continue to prey on Beach. While he was never formally suspended by the league, Bowman resigned from his position.
Now, he will return to front-office duties as part of the Oilers organization following the team's loss to the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final. In a statement relayed by Puck Report, Oilers CEO Jeff Jackson explained the decision:
“I believe his vast experience & proven success in this role, together with the important work he has done in his time away from the game, fits our goal of being best in class when it comes to all facets of our organization."
Stan Bowman praised by Respect Group rep. Sheldon Kennedy for owning shortcomings, and taking steps to do better
While Wednesday's news of Bowman's hiring shocked many fans, he has been working behind the scenes to take ownership of his shortcomings in the Beach scandal.
When the scandal became public, Bowman, Quenneville and MacIssac reached out to Sheldon Kennedy. Kennedy co-founded Respect Group Inc., a company that works to prevent bullying, abuse, harassment, and discrimination in sports, schools and places of business.
According to Kennedy, Bowman has worked diligently, putting in nearly a full-time job's worth of hours into learning from his mistakes.
As part of his work with the program, Bowman held a workshop for three WHL (Western Hockey League) teams, using himself as an example of what not to do, and how teams can be better.
Because of that, Kennedy wrote Bowman a glowing review, relayed by The Athletic:
“I was immediately struck by Stan’s genuine care and concern for Kyle, and what could have been done differently. During that period, we spoke almost daily about the seriousness of sexual abuse from the victim’s perspective.
"We didn’t talk about hockey at all. We focused on what went wrong, what he could have done differently and, most importantly, what could be done to prevent this from happening again.”
Later today, Bowman will speak to media members for the first time since being hired by the team, where he's expected to field questions regarding the situation.
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