Chicago Blackhawks assistant coach Marc Crawford issued an apology this week to Harold Druken, among other former NHLers, after the players brought to light past allegations of abuse from the former head coach.
“Recently, allegations have resurfaced about my conduct earlier in my coaching career,” Crawford said in a statement, printed in the Chicago Tribune. “Players like Sean Avery, Harold Druken, Patrick O’Sullivan and Brent Sopel have had the strength to publicly come forward and I am deeply sorry for hurting them. I offer my sincere apologies for my past behavior.”
Druken, from St. John’s, told NTV News Crawford was, “hands down the worst human being I’ve ever met.”
“...hands down the worst human being I’ve ever met.” — Harold Druken on Marc Crawford
He said Crawford, the first coach in the St. John’s Maple Leafs’ AHL team history before moving on to the NHL, was verbally and physically abusive, and also made derogatory comments about Druken’s Newfoundland background.
“Being called a dumb Newfie or a stupid Newfie or he’s going to send me back on the boats in Newfoundland, that’s just as offensive to me as it is being called something that’s derogatory,” Druken told NTV.
“He was absolutely ridiculous.”
Crawford coached Druken with the Vancouver Canucks, the organization with which the latter played parts of four seasons.
Druken’s best NHL season came in 2000-01 when he potted 15 goals and 30 points in 55 games for the Canucks.
Meanwhile, the Blackhawks announced this week they are retaining Crawford after concluding an investigation into the allegations.
Chicago suspended Crawford two weeks ago.
According to the Tribune, the Hawks said in a statement they had done a “thorough review” of the allegations against Crawford and, “engaged with Marc’s former players, colleagues, and executive management.”
“Through our review, we confirmed that Marc proactively sought professional counseling to work to improve and become a better communicator, person and coach,” the statement read. "We learned that Marc began counseling in 2010 and he has continued therapy on a regular basis since.
"We believe that Marc has learned from his past actions and has committed to striving to reform himself and evolve personally and professionally over the last decade. We have experienced no incidents during Marc’s coaching tenure with the Chicago Blackhawks.
“We have determined that Marc will remain suspended from team activities until January 2, 2020, at which time he will resume his assistant coaching duties, subject to his continued compliance with his contractual obligations and team expectations. In addition, he will continue with his counseling moving forward. We will have no further comment.”
Meanwhile, Druken did not respond to a text message seeking comment on the apology.
Twitter: @TelyRobinShort
