A comprehensive timeline of the NHL’s coaching abuse allegations

The NHL has seen a multitude of coaching abuse allegations come to light this season. Here is a comprehensive timeline of events, all in one easy-to-read space.

This year, the NHL — and the hockey world at large — has seen multiple players across the sport step forward about coaching abuse. In incidents that span a decade or more, current and former NHL players have come forward about various physical and verbal accounts of abuse from coaches in many locker rooms.

It seems more reports come to light each day from somewhere in the hockey world, making this story more vast and complex than it originally was. As such, we’ve compiled a comprehensive timeline of all the reports, firings and suspensions seen this season related to this story, as it seems the floodgates are just starting to open.

The hockey world hasn’t seen a shakeup to its culture like this in the history of the league. While it’s hard to say if it will amount to any substantial change in how the sport operates, this is a movement in hockey worth following.

Nov. 11, 2019: Long-time Canadian broadcaster Don Cherry was dismissed from his position on Sportsnet’s “Coach’s Corner” segment due to xenophobic comments made on a broadcast.

Nov. 20, 2019: Toronto Maple Leafs’ head coach Mike Babcock is fired in the midst of a six-game losing streak.

Nov. 25, 2019: Reports come to light that years ago, Babcock asked then-rookie Mitch Marner to produce a list of the most to least hardest working players on the Maple Leafs. Babcock then goes behind Marner’s back and shares the list of players with those involved, humiliating Marner in the process.

Nov. 25, 2019: Former NHL player Akim Aliu tweets that Babcock’s head coaching “protege” in Calgary used racial slurs against him during his rookie season. Calgary Flames head coach Bill Peters was the coach of Aliu on the Rockford IceHogs during the 2009-10 season, when Aliu was a rookie.

Nov. 26, 2019: Aliu speaks publicly about his allegations against Peters to TSN, with two of his former teammates corroborating his story that Peters used racial slurs against him while he was controlling the team’s music during a morning skate.

Nov. 26, 2019: Former Carolina Hurricane Michal Jordan tweets that Peters kicked him and punched another player in the head during a game, calling him the “worst coach” he ever had.

Nov. 26, 2019: The Flames start an investigation into Aliu’s allegations, and hold Peters out of a game against the Buffalo Sabres as the team looks into the matter.

Nov. 26, 2019: The NHL Players Association tells players to go through official channels — instead of Twitter — if they have any problems of abuse.

Nov. 26, 2019: Daniel Carcillo, former NHL player and current advocate for players with post-concussion syndrome and mental health issues, opens his direct messages on Twitter for players to talk with him directly about the abuse they may have received across all forms of hockey.

Nov. 27, 2019: Hurricanes current head coach Rod Brind’Amour confirms Jordan’s story that Peters physically abused Jordan and an unnamed player in the incident that was tweeted.

Nov. 27, 2019: Former NHL player Patrick O’Sullivan tweets that he was physically abused by his “first NHL coach” during his time in the league. The coach in question was current Chicago Blackhawks assistant coach Marc Crawford.

Nov. 27, 2019: Peters releases a statement on social media confirming Aliu’s story that he did use racial slurs against his former player.

Nov. 29, 2019: Peters resigns as head coach of the Flames. Assistant coach Geoff Ward takes over as head coach in Calgary.

Nov. 30, 2019: Current Seattle general manager, and former Hurricanes general manager, Ron Francis releases a statement about the incident involving Peters and two players in Carolina. In the statement, Francis stated he was made aware of the incidents and “took immediate action to address the matter and briefed ownership.”

Nov. 30, 2019: Former NHL player Sean Avery comes forward against Crawford with an incident during the 2006-07 season where Crawford reportedly kicked Avery over a too-many-men penalty.

Dec. 2, 2019: The Blackhawks place Crawford on leave to conduct a “thorough review” of the allegations made by Avery. Physical abuse allegations against Crawford from former Blackhawks’ defenseman Brent Sopel on a “Spittin’ Chiclets” podcast from 2018 also made the rounds on social media.

Dec. 2, 2019: Hall of Fame player Chris Chelios tells a Swedish newspaper that Babcock verbally assaulted Johan Franzen to the point of a nervous breakdown when the pair were playing with the Detroit Red Wings in 2012, where Babcock was head coach.

Dec. 2, 2019: The Swift Current Broncos, a junior hockey club, fire their athletic trainer and equipment manager Jamie LeBlanc over “derogatory” and “unprofessional” comments made.

Dec. 3, 2019: Aliu meets with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly to review and discuss the Peters investigation.

Dec. 3, 2019: The NHL Coaches’ Association releases a statement about their commitment to making the sport of hockey a “respectful working environment.”

Dec. 4, 2019: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the NHL will be instituting a “code of conduct” in some form due to the incidents that have rocked the hockey world. The NHL reportedly rewrote their schedule for their upcoming Board of Governors meeting in California to discuss their next steps.

Dec. 9, 2019: Bettman, during the NHL’s Board of Governors meetings, lays out the NHL’s abuse prevention plan. The plan includes creating a hotline for players and team personnel to use to report inappropriate conduct, creating a no tolerance policy for abuse where teams will suffer “severe discipline” for any incidents and creating mandatory annual training on inclusion and harassment.

Dec. 9, 2019: Aliu tweets his support of the NHL’s proposals.

Dec. 10, 2019: The Dallas Stars fire head coach Jim Montgomery for an incident of “unprofessional conduct” that is reportedly not related to a coaching abuse allegation, though no known reason is given for his firing.

Dec. 11, 2019: A new story emerges involving Aliu. In 2011, during his time with the Colorado Eagles, a minor league hockey team, Aliu showed up to the team’s Halloween party to find one of the team’s equipment managers dressed as himself and wearing blackface.

Dec. 16, 2019: The Blackhawks suspend Crawford from team duties until Jan. 2, 2020 for his behavior. Crawford releases a statement apologizing for his behavior and detailing the efforts he has made to learn from his actions, of which he has taken full responsibility.

Dec. 17, 2019: Aliu officially accepted the apology of the Colorado Eagles and the team equipment manager in question who wore blackface in mockery of the player.