Stan Bowman asked odd question which dances around the Chicago Blackhawks scandal

PUBLICATION

Joshua Deeds
November 5, 2024 (8:11 PM)

SHARE THIS STORY

Blake Bolden and Andi Petrillo are two of the commentators for the newly launched Prime Monday Night Hockey.

Bolden is a former Olympic hockey player, turned scout for the Los Angeles Kings, and now a co-host for Canadian coverage of hockey for Prime Video.

The broadcast is a shift from the usual personalities in the sport, and you'd think it'd be a refreshing new view of the NHL. During the broadcast though, Stan Bowman former GM of the Blackhawks was asked a question about his "three years off" by Bolden.

"You've taken a little bit of time off, three years to be specific, and now in your new role as a GM, how have you had a new outlook on this role?"

We all know why he had to leave Chicago and stay out of the league for the last three years. But his reinstatement, along with Coach Quenneville happened in July and he was allowed to find a new job in the sport. He'd land in Edmonton(big surprise), as they love to collect controversial personalities, and Jeff Jackson decided Bowman was next.

That came this summer when he was named Edmonton's GM, three years after he resigned as the Chicago Blackhawks' president of hockey operations in the wake of an independent investigation that found the organization mishandled reports of sexual assault from former player Kyle Beach against former video coach Brad Aldridge.

Surprisingly the question got a somewhat introspective answer from the former Blackhawks GM.

«I think sometimes when you have some time away you can reflect and try to look at things that you can do differently and do better. And I had a chance to grow a little bit. And the big thing I focused on was trying to improve the culture of the game.

«And I had a chance to work with some great people, and we did some fun things with junior teams, and some college teams. We brought that this year to our team in Bakersfield, in the American league [the AHL], trying just to make sure that the environment is a positive one where these players can show up and be themselves and be welcomed by the team.»

We all know it's a touchy subject with what Bowman did in Chicago, and he'll never live it down. But it was a softball question from Bolden, which avoided the gist of the topic, complicity in a scandal that has since ruined the Hawks' reputation in some NHL fan's eyes forever.

While the answer offered an idea of what he's gone through the last three years in exile from the league, the question could've been more direct.

The question drew outrage from fans online:

Bolden was a former NWHL, and CWHL player and began her professional career in the NHL as a scout with the Kings last season. She was a fixture on ESPN Broadcasts last season too. This year, she was then added to Prime Video's Monday Night Hockey team.

The softball question might be have something to do with the fact she's new to this venue of sports. But you'd think there'd be more to it than just a rhetorical dance around the topic itself.