CHICAGO _ Two weeks after suspending assistant coach Marc Crawford to investigate allegations he had physically abused former players, the Blackhawks announced he will remain with the team and resume his duties early next year.
In a statement, the Hawks said they had done a "thorough review" of the allegations against Crawford and "engaged with Marc's former players, colleagues, and executive management."
The team did not address any of the specific allegations against him and said the organization would "have no further comment" beyond the statement.
Neither Hawks President John McDonough nor general manager Stan Bowman was made available to discuss the investigation.
"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."
In the statement, Crawford addressed the past allegations of abuse made by several former players.
"Recently, allegations have resurfaced about my conduct earlier in my coaching career," Crawford said in the statement. "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."
