NHL commissioner Gary Bettman non-committal on punishments for Stan Bowman, others

Gary Bettman has no current plans to discipline the former Chicago Blackhawks executives who covered up Kyle Beach's abuse allegations 11 years ago.

"Those that needed to be separated from the game have been separated from the game," the NHL commissioner told reporters during a video call Monday, the first time he has addressed the media since an investigative report detailed which individuals were aware of Beach's allegations that he was sexually assaulted by  then-video coach Brad Aldrich. 

Stan Bowman resigned as general manager and director of hockey operations, as did fellow front-office member Al MacIsaac. Former team president John McDonough, who left the team in April 2020, and former coach Joel Quenneville, who resigned as coach of the Florida Panthers last week for his role in the cover-up, were aware of the allegations and met to discuss how to deal with them.

Aldrich remained on the staff during the Blackhawks' Stanley Cup run in 2010, when the incident occurred, and signed a separation agreement after celebrating with the team.  

Although no NHL team would likely hire Bowman or any of the other names associated with the scandal, Bettman did not close the door on their potential future employment in the league. 

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"If there's a point in the future where any of them are interested in coming back and there's a club (interested) in having them, then we'll have to evaluate that," Bettman said. "I'll have to evaluate that, taking into account all the facts and circumstances as we then know, including what may have transpired since the separation to that particular point in time.

"Nobody's been made any promises, if that's what you're asking. Absolutely not. I'm not sure, as I sit here today, how I would react at some point in the future, a request to come back." 

Follow Chris Bumbaca on Twitter @BOOMbaca.