July 24, 2024 by Ryan Lotsberg

The Edmonton Oilers announced that they hired Stan Bowman as their new General Manager and Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations on Wednesday.

The #Oilers have named Stan Bowman General Manager & Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations.

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) July 24, 2024

The 51-year old was the GM of the Chicago Blackhawks from 2009 until 2021. He was also the VP of Hockey Operations (2009-2015) and the Sr VP of Hockey Operations (2015-2021) of the Blackhawks. Bowman won three Stanley Cups with the Blackhawks in 2010, 2013, and 2015.

Bowman famously resigned from the Blackhawks after the Jenner & Block report, which cited the results of an investigation into the handling of a serious sexual assault report involving a Blackhawks player and a member of the team’s coaching staff in 2010, was made public in 2021.

Jackson said that he wanted to make sure he got the right person for this job. He failed. Bowman is unequivocally the wrong hire.

I outlined my stance on the subject in a two-part piece on Bowman when it was reported that he would be a candidate for this position after it was announced that he, Al MacIsaac, and Joel Quenneville would be reinstated by the NHL, making them eligible to receive NHL jobs.

I did a deep dive into the Jenner & Block report in part one of my piece. I’ve provided a link to the report for those that want to click it, but I will warn you that the report contains graphic information about the incident of sexual assault. I’ll summarize Bowman’s role in the mismanagement of the situation below.

Related: On Stan Bowman: Part One – The Scandal

Bowman first became aware of the sexual assault incident in the famous meeting that occurred after Game 4 of the Western Conference Final between the Blackhawks and the San Jose Sharks on May 23, 2010.

Jim Gary, the team’s mental performance coach at that time, had been made aware of the situation and shared the news with Bowman, MacIsaac, Quenneville, Kevin Cheveldayoff, and team president John McDonagh.

Gary and Bowman were the only two people in the meeting that were able to give a clear statement on what happened in that meeting. He said that “…the situation did not strike him as immediately alarming at the time as the allegation did not involve a sexual assault as having occurred” as described to him in that meeting. 

Bowman said that McDonagh said that the team might never make it that far in the playoffs again and that they needed to think about when to handle the issue. Bowman claimed to have asked McDonagh what he wanted to do about the situation, and McDonagh told him that he would handle it. Bowman also recalled a discussion about needing to find out more about what happened.

McDonagh reported the situation to the team’s Director of Human Resources on June 14, 2010, five days after the team won the Stanley Cup. McDonagh was quoted as having said that it was a group decision to handle it after the playoffs so as to “not to disturb team chemistry”.

I will be clear in saying that it was a complete failure by everyone in that meeting for the result of that meeting not to have been to act immediately. I feel that McDonagh is by far the most at fault because my interpretation of what I read in the Jenner & Block report is that he did not want to have the situation become a distraction to the team while competing for the Stanley Cup. The lack of clarity from McDonagh in the report, the fact that Bowman said that he believed that McDonagh would handle the situation after the meeting, and the fact that the Director of Human Resources said that McDonagh told her that it was a group decision to wait makes me think he was hiding something.

McDonagh was the most powerful person in the room and he was the one that ultimately reported the situation to the Director of Human Resources five days after the team won the Stanley Cup. Everyone else in the meeting is guilty of not stepping up and demanding that the situation be dealt with immediately.

Sheldon Kennedy, co-founder of the Respect Group, recently endorsed Bowman. Kennedy was a victim of sexual assault by a former coach early in his hockey career, and he has since dedicated his life to raising awareness. The Respect Group, founded by Kennedy and Wayne McNeil in 2004, is dedicated to “the prevention of bullying, abuse, harassment and discrimination”.

Kennedy said that Bowman, MacIsaac, and Quenneville all reached out to him after the Jenner & Block report came out and they were suspended from the NHL in 2021. Kennedy was particularly impressed with Bowman’s level of care about the issue and his desire to learn more about what he could’ve done differently as well as making amends with the victim.

“I believe Stan would be a valuable asset to an organization due to his acknowledgment of past mistakes and his relentless efforts to make the locker room/game safer for everyone. He possesses the insights, knowledge, and confidence needed to lead in this area. I feel building a strong and healthy culture within an organization and practicing it on an ongoing basis will be a top priority for Stan. I also believe Stan will carry this message within the hockey eco system, which can only help… I know that wherever Stan lands, whether in the game of hockey or not, he will be a true champion in the important area of Respect” said Kennedy in his release on the matter.

While it’s great that Bowman did this work with Kennedy and the Respect Group, I still feel that this was the wrong hire due to the optics of it and how bad of a look this is for the Oilers franchise.

I also feel that Bowman’s body of work as the GM of the Blackhawks isn’t as impressive as the three Stanley Cups suggest that it is. He added some pieces around the edges of those teams, but the core of that team was largely drafted well before he was the GM.

Related: On Stan Bowman: Part Two – The Hockey Perspective

The true test of his GM ability came after Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane’s matching $10 million contracts kicked in for the 2015-16 season. Bowman had to make sacrifices for cap reasons, but he ended up running the team into the ground by moving out veteran players and not getting quality young players back. He also traded young players like Philip Danault away for veteran players that didn’t move the needle in an effort to keep the glory years alive.

That’s the exact situation the Oilers are about to find themselves in assuming that Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid both sign contract extensions with the Oilers. Bowman failed to keep the Blackhawks competitive for very long after Toews and Kane signed their big contracts, and we don’t have evidence that Bowman will have more success with the Oilers.

This is an incredibly disappointing hire by Jackson and the Oilers. Frank Seravalli said that the team’s interest in Bowman dates back to before Jackson was hired, which tells me that the interest came more from Oilers owner Daryl Katz than anyone. We will find out more during the team’s press conference introducing Bowman at 10:30 AM Wednesday. Stay tuned to Heavy Hockey for more content on this hiring later in the day.

I understand that a lot of Oilers fans are angry at the team for hiring Bowman, and rightfully so. My attitude is that if you’re outraged that the Oilers hired someone that failed to do enough to support a victim of sexual assault, then you should do something to support victims of sexual assault in your community. You can do that by making a donation to the Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton (SACE). They offer free counselling for victims of sexual assault, and they provide outreach and education to prevent future instances of sexual assault.

I made a fundraising page for SACE when Bowman was first reported as a candidate for this position. I said that I would make another one if he got hired, and I have made another personal fundraising page for SACE. You can also donate to SACE at sace.ca/donate. My goal is $1000 by the end of July. Let’s take this negative situation and turn it into a positive for SACE and our community!