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PHT Morning Skate: Kane, Toews on Blackhawks report, Kyle Beach

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Michael Smith goes in on the Chicago Blackhawks, who he feels prioritized success over the safety of Kyle Beach, the former NHL player who is alleging he was sexually assaulted in 2010 by a team video coach.

Welcome to the PHT Morning Skate, a collection of links from the NHL and around the hockey world. Have a link you want to submit? Email us at phtblog@nbcsports.

• Two reactions from the Blackhawks following their Wednesday game against Toronto:

Patrick Kane: “Just a terrible situation and very courageous for him to come out and let his name be known to the world after everything he went through. I knew Kyle pretty well from a couple different training camps and just seemed like a happy-go-lucky guy and always in a good mood. So I think hearing that it was him and with the news and with everything going, obviously you feel for him, compassion for him and his family, and wish back then we could’ve done some different things or new about some different things and maybe we could’ve helped him.”

Jonathan Toews: “Listen, at the end of the day, I don’t wish to exonerate myself in this situation in any way by saying I didn’t know. But the truth is that I had not heard about it until training camp the next year. At the end of the day, that doesn’t change what happened. It doesn’t take that away. It doesn’t make it go away. At the end of the day, collectively, as players, if guys did know, hindsight’s 20-20. We wish we could’ve done something differently, myself included. My heart goes out to Kyle for what he dealt with. I wish I could’ve done something. It’s obviously not an excuse looking back, but the truth is a lot of us were just focused on playing hockey and doing what we were doing every single day. If you do hear rumors, in the back of your mind. Now if you look at the detail of it all, it looks ugly and it’s really hard to stomach the fact you didn’t dive into something like that a little bit more and take it more seriously. It’s always easy to say in hindsight, and obviously it’s a long time ago, but at the end of the day, I feel a ton for what Kyle went through and what he’s dealing with at this point, too. I don’t know what else to say. The guys that were part of that group all wish they could’ve done something different.” [NBC Sports Chicago]

• Sheldon Kennedy on what the NHL should do next: “There needs to be a real, clear knowledge on how to get better, we need to get to the bottom line and get to the truth because until we do, we can’t start getting better. The league needs to learn and make sure that they’ve created the infrastructure within every organization to not only educate every single person, but they also have to have a clear pathway for those to be able to receive help, and have a clear action plan for when that disclosure comes forward.” [Sportsnet]

• Here is the full 26-minute interview of Kyle Beach with TSN’s Rick Westhead:

• Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff will meet with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman on Monday following the release of the Jenner & Block report. Cheveldayoff was the Blackhawks’ assistant GM from 2009-2011. [TSN]

• A look at who might end up replacing Stan Bowman as Blackhawks GM. [Daily Faceoff]

• Sidney Crosby is inching closer to returning to the Penguins’ lineup. There is a chance he’s back Thursday night against Calgary. [Tribune-Review]

• It’s been quite a ride for Josh Bailey into the Islanders’ top-10 all-time scoring list. [Lighthouse Hockey]

• Why there could be more to a Jack Eichel-to-Vegas trade than just winning a Stanley Cup. [Sin Bin Vegas]

• A look at production and shooting metrics for the likes of Vladimir Tarasenko and Mitch Marner. [NBC Sports Edge]

• What is there to take away from the Wild’s 4-0-0 start? [Zone Coverage]

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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.