Stan Bowman, after Blackhawks scandal, hired as GM of Oilers - ESPN

EDMONTON, Alberta — The Edmonton Oilers hired Stan Bowman as general manager and executive vice president of hockey operations on Wednesday, making him the first former Chicago Blackhawks executive re-hired by an NHL team since the team's 2010 sexual assault scandal came to light in recent years.

The league reinstated Bowman, coach Joel Quenneville and fellow executive Al MacIsaac earlier this month. Bowman resigned as Chicago's GM in 2021 after an independent investigation found the organization mishandled the allegations made by player Kyle Beach that he was sexually assaulted by video coach Brad Aldridge.

Bowman, 51, ran the Blackhawks when they won the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013 and 2015.

«I believe his vast experience and proven success in this role, together with the important work he has done in his time away from the game, fits our goal of being best in class when it comes to all facets of our organization,» CEO of hockey operations Jeff Jackson said. «Through our many conversations, we share a common vision of where we are as a team and what is required to achieve another Stanley Cup title.»

Bowman becomes the 11th general manager in Oilers history and succeeds Hall of Fame executive Ken Holland, whose contract was not renewed after the team's run to the Stanley Cup Final, where the Oilers lost in Game 7 to the Florida Panthers.

Bowman was never formally suspended after the Blackhawks investigation, but NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said earlier his month that Bowman, Quenneville and MacIsaac could return to working in the league under «appropriate conditions,» including a continued «commitment» to participating in «myriad programs, many of which focused on the imperative of responding in effective and meaningful