Blackhawks GM, Kyle Davidson, Just Addressed The Corey Perry Termination And All Of The Rumors

That's really what the Blackhawks needed to do. Connor Bedard is 18 years-old and it is the organizations duty to protect him and his family. While the vast majority of the press conference was understandably a series of deflections he did address the rumors and squash them. Personally, I don't think this happened in a timely enough fashion. These rumors were going WILD yesterday and Bedard and the team still had to face the media this morning with all of this bullshit lingering. And...it will continue to linger. It will be chirps and tweets and signs in the crowd probably forever which is fucking gross, but that is the way it is because of how the organization has conducted themselves historically and recently. The internet is a slum and in my opinion the organization should've been more proactive in their public response. Dismissal, statement, and press conference should've happened virtually all at once and if that wasn't possible they should've at least squashed the ugliest of rumors. 

A few others notes...

1) I am surprised that it was Davidson facing the media and not Danny or Jamie and a lawyer. It was a workplace incident, not just a team incident. Davidson runs the team, not the entire organization. 

2) Davidson seemed visibly emotional to me by the entire situation. I actually felt bad for him up there. I thought he handled that as best as he could given the circumstances. He isn't a lawyer, but managed to address the most important things, while not putting his foot in his mouth. I would also guess that the timeline of the events were out of his control. If he can't control the process then he shouldn't be the one facing the media. 

He did own up to his role in signing Perry to be a leader and then doing something reprehensible enough to be kicked off the team in a matter of months. 

3) While nobody will want to give the Blackhawks credit for this, overall I few this as a step in the right direction for an organization that had clear and documented workplace issues going back to when John McDonough ran the team. Perry, in a terrible and unintentional way, did teach the young guys a valuable lesson...being a fucking scumbag has consequences. 

I am disappointed that the organization didn't squash the rumors that would damage their player and their families in a more expedient manner. They knew what was being said and at the volume it was being said online and did nothing for like 36-48 hours. That is unacceptable in my opinion and if I was a player in the league it is something I would take notice of. You want the organization to have your back (when innocent) and I don't think they did a good job of that with Bedard and his family.