Chicago Tribune (Sunday)

Three interview for GM vacancy

- By Jay Cohen |

The Blackhawks have interviewe­d Kyle Davidson, Eric Tulsky and Scott Mellanby for their general manager vacancy.

The team made the announceme­nts Friday and Saturday.

Davidson has been serving as the team’s interim GM. Tulsky is an assistant general manager with the Carolina Hurricanes. Mellanby was the assistant general manager for the Montreal Canadiens from 2014 until he resigned in November.

Davidson was elevated to the interim job after longtime general manager Stan Bowman resigned in October in the wake of a report by an outside law firm that found the organizati­on mishandled allegation­s that an assistant coach sexually assaulted a player during the team’s Stanley Cup run in 2010.

The report also played a role in the departure of Al MacIsaac, another of the Blackhawks’ top hockey executives, and the NHL fined the team $2 million for “the organizati­on’s inadequate internal procedures and insufficie­nt and untimely response.”

Two lawsuits related to Kyle Beach’s allegation­s that he was assaulted by then-video coach Brad Aldrich in 2010 were resolved in December. But the organizati­on is still grappling with its response.

Facing questions Wednesday for the first time since the firm’s report was published in October, owner Rocky Wirtz angrily refused to address the team’s handling of the accusation­s. Wirtz, 69, ended up apologizin­g for his reaction later in the night.

Three more people are weighing lawsuits against the Blackhawks for the team’s handling of the matter, according to Christophe­r Cortese, a Chicago attorney representi­ng the men.

On the ice, Chicago has dropped seven of eight, including an ugly 5-0 home loss to the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday.

Former Blackhawks forwards Eddie Olczyk, Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp are helping the team with its GM search, and CEO Danny Wirtz has said the organizati­on plans to interview candidates “both inside and outside of hockey.”

Davidson is in his 12th season with Chicago. He started as a hockey operations intern in 2010. He most recently held the title of assistant GM of hockey administra­tion.

Tulsky is in his eighth season with the Hurricanes. He previously served as the team’s vice president of hockey management and strategy.

Tulsky graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and physics, and he has a doctorate in chemistry from California-Berkeley. He also has worked in nanotechno­logy and holds 17 U.S. patents.

Mellanby, 55, had 364 goals and 476 assists in 1,431 regular-season games over 21 years in the NHL.

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