Joel Quenneville Back in NHL After Ban for Blackhawks Scandal

Joel Quenneville is back at the helm of an NHL franchise.

The former coach of the Chicago Blackhawks has been tapped by the Anaheim Ducks less than a year after he was reinstated by the NHL. The league banned Quenneville along with former Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman and executive Al MacIsaac in October 2021 after a report found their response to allegations of sexual assault by a team coach had been inadequate. That ban was lifted in July 2024.

“In nearly four years away from the game, I have learned from my prior mistakes and realized it will be actions over words that demonstrate my commitment to being a better leader,” Quenneville said in a statement.

According to the report, Quenneville and the others learned of allegations against Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich during the team’s 2010 Stanley Cup run and decided not to act on them. Aldrich remained with the team through the postseason and had his name etched on the Cup. The team faced lawsuits from at least two former players related to the conduct of Aldrich and publicly settled with the main accuser, Kyle Beach. Three years after the Stanley Cup win, Aldrich was criminally convicted of sexual misconduct with a minor. (His name was removed from the Stanley Cup in 2021.)

In addition to the bans for the team’s leaders, the Blackhawks were fined $2 million for not having proper policies to handle such misconduct. All three men became eligible for hire last summer, and Bowman is now the general manager of the Edmonton Oilers, hired the same month the league’s ban ended.

“While it is clear that, at the time, their responses were unacceptable, each of these three individuals has acknowledged that and used his time away from the game to engage in activities which, not only demonstrate sincere remorse for what happened, but also evidence greater awareness of the responsibilities that all NHL personnel have, particularly personnel who are in positions of leadership,” the league said in a statement when clearing the former Blackhawks trio.

Quenneville was the head coach of the St. Louis Blues before leading Chicago to three Stanley Cups. After the Blackhawks fired him in 2018, he coached the Florida Panthers from 2019 through his resignation in October 2021.

“I had a miss in 2010 and I own it,” Quenneville said last year before his ban was lifted. “At the same time, I believe there’s a place for me in the game.”

The Ducks, not unlike the Blackhawks before Quenneville arrived, aren’t at the peak of their game. They haven’t reached the playoffs in seven years, and won their only Stanley Cup in 2007.

Quenneville, 66, is the second all-time winningest coach in NHL history. Bowman’s father, Scotty, is first.