The Athletic – Page 3 – CanucksBanter

February 11, 2022

U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley sent a letter Friday to USA Hockey concerning the national governing body’s “cooperation” and “compliance” with the U.S. Center for SafeSport’s policies and investigations. The U.S. Center for SafeSport investigates claims of sexual misconduct within the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee’s purview.

In the letter, addressed to USA Hockey executive director Pat Kelleher and president Mike Trimboli, Grassley (R-Iowa), the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, reminded USA Hockey of their legal obligations under the Empowering Olympic, Paralympic, and Amateur Athletes Act of 2020, which requires national governing bodies to protect athletes from sexual abuse; under the law, NGBs also have the duty to immediately report any “reasonable suspicion” of child abuse to both law enforcement and the Center.

“As the Nassar case exemplifies, inaction may lead to many more victims being harmed, which would be intolerable,” Grassley wrote, referencing the case of Larry Nassar, who sexually abused hundreds of young female gymnasts.

The law referenced by Grassley requires the U.S. Center for SafeSport to report to Congress within 72 hours “any attempt to interfere in or influence the outcome of an investigation” by a national governing body. The U.S. Center for SafeSport reported USA Hockey earlier this week, multiple sources confirmed to The Athletic.

It is not immediately clear the nature of the investigation being conducted by the U.S. Center for SafeSport. A spokesperson for the Center declined to comment on the investigation, citing the Center’s policy for ongoing probes. USA Hockey was not immediately available for comment.

Previously, the U.S. Center for Safesport reported to Congress that USA Badminton had potentially run afoul of the law based on allegations that it was discouraging reporting of sexual misconduct, encouraging concealment and destruction evidence on the subject and refusing to cooperate with the Center’s investigation, according to a letter published by Grassley’s office in October 2021.

In that case, Grassley’s office warned USA Badminton officials of its legal obligations and also advised that Grassley had alerted the Federal Bureau of Investigation about the concerns.

USA Hockey has come under scrutiny for how it handled allegations of sexual misconduct. Former USA Hockey president Jim Smith was investigated by the U.S. Center for SafeSport because of allegations he mishandled claims of sexual abuse involving former prominent Chicago-area youth and college hockey coach Thomas “Chico” Adrahtas. The matter was closed by SafeSport, but Smith later announced he would not seek re-election, referencing these allegations and telling members of the need to be “totally united as we move forward.”

USA Hockey is a co-defendant in a May 2021 federal lawsuit brought by victims of Adrahtas. The complaint alleges that Smith and others within USA Hockey and AHAI (Illinois’ amateur hockey state governing body) were told about the coach’s sexual misconduct and did not report the allegations to law enforcement or investigate the matter. USA Hockey filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in September, asking the court to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim.

(Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)

By Andrew Chernoff. Canucks Banter. Nov. 28, 2021

According to Thomas Drance of the Athletic, “It’s now an open secret that the Vancouver Canucks are in an active search for head coach Travis Green’s replacement.”

He writes further in his Athletic article, “Drance: Canucks leadership vacuum isn’t patience or due diligence. It’s just unfair to fans and all involved”:

On Saturday, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on Hockey Night in Canada that the Canucks had been granted permission from the Montreal Canadiens to talk to Claude Julien about the head coaching job. Industry chatter suggests that permission was granted a considerable time ago.

Julien and Benning have a longstanding relationship, dating back to their shared time in Boston. In fact, The Athletic understands that the club considered — at Benning’s recommendation — bidding for Julien when Willie Desjardins was still Vancouver’s head coach before Julien took the job for a second time in Montreal in the winter of 2017.

It’s widely surmised within the industry that Julien would be Benning’s first choice, all things being equal. If the club isn’t seriously pursuing that route, and Friedman’s reporting Saturday suggested they are not, then that speaks volumes.

Adding to the mix, Drance comments:

Bottom line, if the club has made the determination that key organizational leaders — behind the bench and in the executive suite — are no longer the right people for the jobs they hold, then the time to act is yesterday.

There are credible interim options internally. Behind the bench, assistant coach Brad Shaw has been a head coach at the NHL level and an associate coach for Ken Hitchcock. Within hockey operations, Johnson — the club’s director of player development and the general manager of the organization’s AHL team — has run day-to-day hockey operations at the minor league level for five years.

The club doesn’t need to have “the answer” ready when a new era of Canucks hockey is launched, although that’s clearly ownership’s preference based on past behaviour. It is fine to take a step back and conduct the wider search with actual diligence and patience while qualified caretaker personnel are put in charge temporarily.