Duncan Keith regrets involvement in Blackhawks’ sex assault scandal

In the wake of Kyle Beach’s interview with TSN last week, the entire hockey world is reeling and trying to come to grips with how this entire awful situation remained buried for more than a decade. In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past week, Beach, a former 11th overall pick of the Blackhawks in 2008, alleges that the team’s former video coach Brad Aldrich sexually assaulted him during the 2010 season. Furthermore Beach contends that he notified then Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman and head coach Joel Quenneville of the alleged abuse and neither took action. Bowman resigned last week and Quenneville, who was with the Florida Panthers organization most recently, was effectively forced to resign as a result of these findings.

When first asked about the allegations, former Hawks defenseman Duncan Keith, now with the Edmonton Oilers, said he didn’t know about the alleged abuse and that’s what prompted him not to take part in the investigation.

On Monday, Duncan admitted regretting his decision and expressed his remorse after winning over the Seattle Kraken. He explained how he was asked to be interviewed for the investigation on the same day he found out he had been traded to Edmonton last summer.

“If I could do it over again, I would,” Keith said Monday, per Sportsnet.

“There were a lot of emotions around the trade after spending 20 years in that organization. I was excited to be an Oiler, but there were still a lot of mixed emotions with the trade,” Keith added.

“If I could go back, I would do it. But at the same time my feeling was that I didn’t have anything to give, so I didn’t think it would help. But I should have sat there for the interview.”

Keith might feel even worse after seeing Beach’s interview on TSN in which he revealed himself as the “John Doe” initially named in the report.

“I watched the interview, it was obviously heartbreaking. It was tough to watch,” Keith said. “You feel compassion for Kyle and it is tough to imagine the pain he is going through. The courage that he showed in being able to speak about it, I have so much admiration for him. I hope he is able to find some peace if he hasn’t already. My heart goes out to him.”

Maybe it’s not too late for Keith to say something and make changes to help others…