Jonathan Toews attempts new apology to Kyle Beach after PR nightmare

Last week, former Chicago Blackhawks draft pick Kyle Beach came forward and revealed that he is in fact “John Doe”, Brad Aldrich’s victim from the team’s sexual assault scandal. There has been a lot of backlash and fallout from this - and finally people are starting to pay for it - but amongst all that, fans also pointed the finger at captain Jonathan Toews, who praised his former GM, Stan Bowman, saying he and Al MacIssac are good men when he first spoke with media after Beach identified himself as the victim.

Harsh comments were made about Toews, who claimed he didn’t hear about the assault until training camp the next year. During that training camp, according to the report, Beach said multiple players asked him if he “missed his boyfriend, Brad.” Toews is not mentioned in the report’s findings. Beach and other former players, like Brent Sopel and Nick Boynton, said everyone in the dressing room knew about the assault.

On Wednesday, the captain met again with media members and attempted a better approach in his apology to Beach, saying:

“I can’t undo what happened, I’d just like to know more and more about what Kyle feels and what he wants & what he envisions for the future. Maybe someone like me in my position can make a difference.”

He was also asked about former head coach Joel Quenneville, who resigned from his position as head coach of the Florida Panthers on Thursday after he met with Gary Bettman. Toews reiterated that his comments took away from Beach and what he went through and that his history with Joel is not what matters in this case.

Damn right.

Fans are still quite vocal about Toews and what he didn’t do then as captain of this team dealing with a massive issue. However, insider Mark Lazerus believes his new statement is better than nothing at all.

“I’m sure there’ll be further eye-rolling from these comments because we’re all so (understandably) cynical these days, but it’s never too late to say the right thing. Sure beats not saying it at all. Recognizing a mistake & trying to fix it is a good thing. Even if it’s part PR.”

What do you make of this? Better late than never?