Blackhawks' Marc Crawford Placed on Leave After Allegations He Kicked Sean Avery

The Chicago Blackhawks announced they placed assistant coach Marc Crawford on leave following allegations he kicked Sean Avery during his time on the Los Angeles Kings.

The announcement said the Blackhawks will conduct a "thorough review" of the situation before Crawford is potentially allowed to return to the team.

This comes after Avery told Larry Brooks of the New York Post that the assistant kicked him when both were with the Kings during the 2006-07 season.

"He kicked me after a too-many-men-on-the-ice call I took," Avery said of Crawford, who was the Kings' head coach at the time. "He didn't have me serve it, we got scored on, and he let me have it. You know how I stand at the end of the bench? He came down and gave me an ass kick that left a mark."

The Blackhawks appear to be using some caution here after another coaching controversy recently dominated headlines in the NHL.

Chase Kell of Yahoo Sports noted Bill Peters resigned as head coach of the Calgary Flames following an internal investigation into allegations of racism and physical abuse.

Former NHL player Akim Aliu said on Twitter that Peters "dropped the N bomb several times" because he was upset with the player's music choices when they were with the AHL's Rockford IceHogs. What's more, former Carolina Hurricanes player Michal Jordan said Peters was physically abusive when they were with the Metropolitan Division team.

Crawford was also the head coach of the Colorado Avalanche, Vancouver Canucks, Dallas Stars and Ottawa Senators in his career. He joined the Blackhawks' staff this past offseason.