If you count yourself among those who watched the Zoom conference between NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly and a variety of reporters and journalists on Monday, you'll recall a specific point during the Q&A session where TSN and The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun had brought attention to the fact that TSN's Rick Westhead had yet to be called upon to ask any questions.
A short time later, after Westhead's name still wasn't called, LeBrun had the opportunity to speak once again, only this time, he allowed Westhead to step in to ask an important question relating to Brad Aldrich's second victim in the lawsuit against the Chicago Blackhawks, known as John Doe 2.
The question that Westhead had asked was whether or not the Commissioner would commit to offering John Doe 2 the same access to league-covered counseling for him and his family that Kyle Beach and his family were offered. Bettman's response was simply that he would require more information before he could explore the idea of making that commitment.
On Tuesday, Frank Seravalli, President of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, issued a statement wherein he expressed a deep disappointment in the NHL for attempting to "freeze out" Westhead, the journalist who was responsible for shining a spotlight on the Kyle Beach story in the first place. You can see Seravalli's full statement provided in the tweet below.
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Seravalli's recommendation for a free press in hockey is certain to generate a lot of support in light of Monday's events and the league's very evident attempt to refrain from allowing Westhead to do his job and asking the important questions.
The NHL's actions on Monday, trying to steer the narrative to appear more "transparent", were certainly disappointing and were it not for LeBrun allowing Westhead to slide in, he may not have even been given the opportunity to speak - whether that was a predetermined plan from the NHL or not.
