‘Unacceptable and intolerable:’ Jets GM breaks silence on Kyle Beach, Blackhawks scandal

Just days after he was exonerated by the NHL, Winnipeg Jets General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff has broken his silence about the handling of Kyle Beach’s sexual abuse allegations, saying the system “failed” him.

Cheveldayoff made the comments in a press conference on Tuesday — his first time speaking publicly since an investigation from Jenner & Block LLP into the Chicago Blackhawks’ handling of abuse allegations of one of their coaches was released last week.

The former Blackhawks assistant GM expressed remorse for what happened to Beach and added that he wished he did more to help the situation in 2010.

“I want to begin by stating how sorry I am that this happened to Kyle and that he suffered as horribly as he did,” said Cheveldayoff. “What Kyle went through is unacceptable and intolerable, no one should ever have to go through what he went through.”

RELATED: Gary Bettman apologizes to Kyle Beach, defends NHL in wake of sexual assault allegations

Cheveldayoff worked with the team in 2010, when the abuse took place. The investigation confirmed he was involved in a May 23, 2010 meeting where Blackhawks management discussed the allegations made by Beach against video coach Brad Aldrich.

The NHL said they found Cheveldayoff’s participation at that meeting was “extremely limited in scope and substance.”

Unlike others involved in the scandal, he has not lost his job — NHL commissioner Gary Bettman chose not to hand out any punishment to Cheveldayoff after meeting with him last Friday in New York.

“Kyle was failed by a system that should have helped him, but did not,” said Cheveldayoff. “I am sorry that my own assumptions about that system were clearly not good enough.”

“We all must do better to ensure that we have safe spaces and proper systems in place that prioritize a person’s health and well-being to make sure that something like this never happens again.”

Jets owner Mark Chipman has defended his current general manager, saying “he couldn’t have known” all the details about the allegations.

“He didn’t know about the harm that had been done to Kyle,” said Chipman.  “If he had known, the Kevin Cheveldayoff that I know would have acted and would have done whatever it took to ensure that Kyle received incredible levels of support.”

In an NHLPA virtual meeting conducted Monday night, executive director Donald Fehr recommended the union hire outside counsel to independently investigate its role in Blackhawks scandal.

Joel Quenneville resigned as the head coach of the Florida Panthers last week after meeting with Bettman.

Quenneville was the head coach of the Blackhawks at the time Beach made the claims.

With files from Sportsnet Staff