NHLPA not responsible for wrongdoing in handling of Kyle Beach report, independent investigation says

An independent investigation commissioned by the NHL Players' Association found that executive director Don Fehr and others were not responsible for wrongdoing when they failed to act on a report that a Chicago player had been sexually assaulted by a staff member in 2010.

A law firm hired to look into the Fehr and the union's actions in 2010 and 2011 concluded miscommunication and misunderstanding were behind the lack of action after Kyle Beach reported being assaulted by video coach Brad Aldrich.

"Ultimately, the failure to act on Beach's reports stems from a failure of communication," the firm Cozen O'Connor wrote in a 20-page report released by the NHLPA on Friday. "We cannot identify any individual wrongdoing or institutional failures of policy or procedure by either Fehr, NHLPA personnel, or the [NHL/NHLPA Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Program] concerning the handling of Beach's reports."

The NHLPA executive board was shown the report last week. Players voted in favour of making it public.

The union launched the investigation in November after an independent probe into Chicago's mishandling of the allegations raised questions about what Fehr and others knew at the time and why they did not act. Aldrich told investigators then that the encounter was consensual, but the scandal rocked Chicago and led to sweeping changes in the front office and ripple effects across the NHL.

The latest investigation included reviews of about 20,000 emails and phone records from 2010 and 2011 and included interviews of 11 witnesses, including Dr. Brian Shaw from the Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Program. Beach and an unidentified player who reported having inappropriate conversations with Aldrich both declined to be