Edmonton Oilers defenceman Duncan Keith declined to take part in an interview as part of an investigation into sexual assault allegations levied against former Chicago Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich, TSN’s Ryan Rishaug reported Thursday.
Keith, who was an assistant captain on the team when the alleged assault occurred, declined to be one of the 139 interviewees about the incident claiming he didn’t know anything about the incident and that he believed he didn’t have anything to contribute, Rishaug reported.
Keith said Wednesday that he was unaware of the incident, and not everyone on the team knew of what had happened.
This, however, has been refuted by multiple former players on that team including Shawn Lalonde, Brent Sopel and Nick Boynton, as well as Kyle Beach, who identified himself as the John Doe in the allegations.
Beach, now 31, spoke out about the incident Wednesday revealing himself in a one-on-one interview with TSN’s Rick Westhead.
A report released Tuesday from Chicago law firm Jenner & Block said the Blackhawks’ executives, led by president and CEO John McDonough and then-coach Joel Quenneville willingly buried the knowledge of the incident to instead focus on the Stanley Cup Finals.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.