Former high school player’s lawsuit against the Chicago Blackhawks may hinge on a ‘smoking gun,’ but attorney says the team gained an unfair advantage with its independent investigation

Meanwhile, several law professors who spoke to the Tribune agreed that the lawsuit filed by John Doe 2 — a former high school hockey player whom Aldrich was convicted of sexually assaulting in 2013 in Michigan — might have a high legal hurdle to clear before reaching the discovery phase, in which the Hawks and other parties could be compelled to produce documents and witnesses indicating what they knew about Aldrich’s employment, background, abuse allegations against him and other evidence relevant to the suit.