By Frank Pingue

(Reuters) – Sheldon Kennedy is a former NHL player and an advocate for abuse in sport. He said that while the Chicago Blackhawks’ handling of allegations of sexual assault against a former coach was unacceptable, he hopes to learn from it.

Kennedy spoke one day after Canadian hockey player Kyle Beach was identified as “John Doe”, who brought a lawsuit against Blackhawks regarding the NHL’s handling his 2010 allegations against Bradley Aldrich.

Kennedy stated to Reuters that there needs to be a cultural shift, not only the fear of Kyle Beach (whom we know now), but also the fear that Kyle is going to reveal his identity.

“Look at these bystanders… They probably weren’t confident or knowledgeable or were afraid to speak up.”

An investigation released this week by American law firm Jenner & Block that was commissioned by the Blackhawks concluded Chicago team executives ignored for weeks the allegations made during the 2010 playoffs.

According to the report, Beach’s accusations were discussed by executives but they did not act until Chicago had won its first Stanley Cup in 1961.

In a Wednesday statement, the Blackhawks acknowledged that they had “failed to promptly respond” to Beach’s allegations about Aldrich.

Kennedy was a cofounder of Respect Group, which is designed to prevent bullying, abuse and harassment, as well as discrimination. Kennedy said that one of the upsides of the scandal was that it showed players have the courage to speak up.

Kennedy stated, “The greatest thing about me in this instance, which I consider a positive is that the Blackhawks, and the NHL believed if they could be silent on this, it would go away.”

The shift we have witnessed in society (not just in hockey but in society) is that the society today demands greater attention to these issues than it ever has.

Stan Bowman, the Blackhawks president of hockey operations, resigned last week. The NHL also fined $2 million to the Blackhawks for “inadequate intern procedures” and “insufficient and untimely responses.”

Kennedy made public his 1996 account of being abused by minor hockey coaches and believes that everyone within the NHL 32-league league should be taught about bullying, harassment, diversity and discrimination.

We know social change is slow but this will be a start. Kennedy stated, “Get everybody on the exact same page so we can know what to do.”

People turn their backs and don’t want them to deal with these issues because they carry a tone and fear associated with them. They don’t know what to do so they avoid it, which is even more damaging.

Aldrich left his job in the 2010 offseason, but he continued in many other positions in ice hockey including those at college and high schools.

Jonathan Toews (Blackhawks’ captain since 2008) said that Aldrich was the first thing he heard about before he started training camp in 2010-11.

We wish we had done things differently. I included. Kyle deserves my deepest sympathies for the way he handled this. Toews stated, “I wish that I could do something.”

It’s not an excuse to look back but it is the truth that a lot were just focused on playing hockey.