Bill Guerin, Wild release statements after his name is included in sexual assault lawsuit
A lawsuit filed by a former assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins organization has prompted Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin and his team to issue statements. The suit alleges Jarrod Skalde, a former assistant coach with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Pittsburgh's AHL affiliate, brought allegations of sexual assault to Guerin, who was an assistant GM with the Penguins at the time, and was told to keep quiet about it.
"The Minnesota Wild has discussed this matter with Bill Guerin and fully supports him," reads the statement. "As this is a matter of active litigation, we will have no further comment."
"When I learned of these allegations, I promptly brought them to Pittsburgh Penguins' senior management," said Guerin. "The allegations were quickly investigated. I emphatically deny anything to the contrary."
Skalde alleges his wife was sexually assaulted by former WBS coach Clark Donatelli in late 2018 while the three were attending a road game in Providence, R.I. Skalde claims he brought the allegations to Guerin seven months later, but was told to keep quiet. He also claims he was fired months later because he brought forward the allegations of sexual assault. He said he didn't bring the allegations forward sooner because "they had never experienced such an attack and were unsure what to do."
In their lawsuit, the Skaldes allege that they learned of “countless other episodes of inappropriate conduct by Mr. Donatelli, sexual and otherwise, which apparently the Penguins were aware of but did little or nothing to stop. Donatelli's misconduct… was well-known by the Penguins management, but tolerated because he was a successful coach.”
The Pittsburgh Penguins are asking that the lawsuit be completely dismissed saying "The team investigated and took immediate action in June 2019 when notified of the alleged incident, which Mr. Skalde reported seven months after it allegedly occurred. Mr. Skalde continued to coach for the team [Wilkes-Barre/Scranton] for an additional year, when his contract was not renewed due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The allegations made against the team have no merit."
Donatelli left the WBS organization a few months after Skalde brought the allegations forward citing personal reasons.
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EN DIRECT
6 JUIN 2026
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