Minnesota junior hockey coach fired after video airs allegations of sexual misconduct

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The North American Hockey League announced that Minnesota Wilderness assistant coach Brendan Phelps has been fired and his former team asked the public for help in investigating him after allegations of misconduct surfaced in a video posted on YouTube over the weekend.

That video, which was uploaded and published on July 9, appeared to show Phelps being confronted by multiple people in a park near Sleepy Eye, Minn. and accusing him of trying to meet a teenage boy for sex.

According to the NAHL, Phelps, 31, was terminated from the position, and local law enforcement and the US Center for SafeSport were asked by the league to investigate the allegations.

“Based on the information available to the NAHL, the conduct in question does not appear to have involved any NAHL player personnel or activities. Upon seeing the video, the Wilderness contacted the NAHL, USA Hockey, and law enforcement. The Wilderness also informed Mr Phelps that his employment with the team had been immediately terminated.

“This matter was also immediately reported to the US Center for SafeSport, which has the exclusive authority within US junior hockey to investigate and to resolve the allegations. As a result, Mr. Phelps has been suspended from all participation in any USA Hockey sanctioned activity , including all activity within the jurisdiction of the NAHL.”

One of the individuals who filmed and participated in the roughly 18-minute video, which The Athletic has viewed, accused Phelps of sending graphic sexual videos to a person posing as a 16-year-old boy over a social media app, agreeing to purchase alcohol for him and procuring a hotel room to meet the boy for sex. The age of consent in Minnesota is 16, but SafeSport has policies with relatively wide latitude that govern conduct from coaches and allow SafeSport to use discretion.

According to SafeSport’s Code, “the privilege of participation in the Olympic & Paralympic movement may be limited, conditioned, suspended, terminated or denied if a Participant’s conduct is or was inconsistent with this Code or the best interest of sport and those who participate in it .”

Phelps’ coaching profile, which was public as of Sunday night, has since been removed from the Wilderness website. According to that since-removed profile, Phelps had worked for the Wilderness since 2019 and founded the skill development company STPhockey. He has worked previously as a scout for the Flin Flon Bombers in the SJHL.

The Wilderness, a junior team made up of players aged 16 to 20, released a statement on Monday afternoon that included many of the same details as those shared by the NAHL, but also urged others to reach out to law enforcement and SafeSport.

The team encourages any player, players family member, or billet family member who has concerns about Mr. Phelps behavior to contact team representatives, so that they can be put in contact with the US Center for SafeSport and/or local authorities, the statement said .

A message left with the Cloquet, Minn. police department went unreturned. Phelps has also not responded to multiple messages seeking comment.

(Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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