Blackhawks trying to have courts throw out new accusations against Brad Alrdich and 2010 coaching staff

According to a report from TSN investigative reporter, the Chicago Blackhawks are appealing to an Illinois court to have a case against them and their mishandling on sexual assault allegations thrown out.

An unnamed former Blackhawks player alleges that former Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich sexually assaulted him during the 2009-10 season and that the team's coaching staff was negligent in their handling of the allegations. The Blackhawks are citing a statute of limitations and that essentially the allegations are not worthy of further litigation.

The Blackhawks, of course, settled out of court with former Blackhawks forward Kyle Beach two years ago when Beach shared the disgusting details of the sexual abuse he suffered from Aldrich while he was a member of the team during the 2009-10 season. These new allegations are from another member of the team, identified only as 'John Doe'.

More from Westhead:

The Blackhawks wrote in their filing that the player filed his lawsuit 13 years after he was allegedly assaulted by Aldrich. In Illinois, the statute of limitations for personal injury claims is two years, the team wrote.

“Plaintiff knew that he was injured by Aldrich… by no later than June 2010,” the Blackhawks wrote. “Although plaintiff may not have understood the ‘full extent’ of the negligence he now alleges, his knowledge was plainly sufficient to start the clock on the statute of limitations.”

The player alleged in his claim that Aldrich sent him harassing text messages, attempted to make him watch pornography with him, offered to pay for plaintiff to receive sexual favours from a masseuse if Aldrich could watch, physically assaulted him by grabbing him and “grinding” his genitals against him, and attempted to join him and a woman in a sexual encounter.

The filing says that the player allegedly told then-team mental skills coach Jim Gary about his interactions with Aldrich and that Gary told him he “should move on with his life.”

The team wrote in its motion to dismiss that even if Gary did tell the player to move on with his life, “these facts do not constitute extreme and outrageous conduct. Gary’s alleged comments were no doubt insensitive and inappropriate, but they were not so severe that no reasonable man could be expected to endure them…”

“A one-month delay in investigating and removing an adult accused of misconduct is neither extreme nor outrageous,” the Blackhawks wrote in their filing.

The Blackhawks, who were fined $2 million by the NHL for mismanaging the sexual assault allegations against Aldrich, have overhauled their leadership team and say they have introduced new reporting mechanisms for misconduct and training for employees.

So, in effect, the Blackhawks are saying, "too bad, you should have taken us to court years ago" in their request for dismissal.

Needless to say, this has the chance to get very ugly in the court of public opinion. Stay tuned.