Quenneville facing Blackhawks for first time since scandal

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CHICAGO — First-year Anaheim Ducks coach Joel Quenneville returned to the United Center on Sunday for the first time since details of a sexual assault scandal involving his 2010 Stanley Cup Blackhawks team came to light in October 2021.

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Quenneville, 67, has led the Ducks to a 2-2-0 start nearly four years after he was forced to step down as coach of the Florida Panthers. He was suspended from the NHL for almost three years.

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“I'm glad to be back in the game,” Quenneville said before the Ducks' meeting with the Blackhawks. “I’m really excited to be back here in Chicago.”

It's been a long road for Quenneville, the second-most successful coach in NHL history. His 971 career wins on Sunday trail only Scotty Bowman's 1,244.

An independent investigation commissioned by the Blackhawks led to Quenneville resigning from the Panthers in October 2021. The investigation concluded that the team mishandled allegations made by 2008 first-round draft pick Kyle Beach against video coach Brad Aldrich during the team's inaugural Stanley Cup run.

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Former Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman and assistant general manager Al MacIsaac also resigned and were banned from working in the NHL.

They were reinstated by the league in July 2024. Bowman became Edmonton Oilersgeneral manager three weeks later. The Ducks signed Quenneville in May to replace Greg Cronin.

Quenneville spent parts of 25 NHL seasons on the bench for St. Louis, Colorado, Chicago and Florida. He managed the Blackhawks for more than 10 years and led them to championships in 2010, 2013 and 2015.

The Blackhawks fired Quenneville in November 2018 after a 6-6-3 start. He joined the Panthers for the 2019–20 season.

Quenneville returned to the United Center for the first time with Florida in January 2020 and received a video tribute from the Blackhawks and a standing ovation from fans. He was behind the Panthers' bench at the arena four times during the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, but no fans were there.

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Quenneville seemed a little unsure about how he would be received by visitors to the United Center this time.

“The memories we had here were very positive,” he said. “I’m just excited to be back in this building and hear how excited the crowd is, and the crowd looks like they’ve been good this year.”

When asked if he expected recognition from fans, Quenneville responded with his caption: “We'll see.”

Before hiring Quenneville, the Ducks conducted a background check and spoke with Beach, who said he took responsibility for his role in the scandal and took part in educational activities to deepen his understanding of sexual assault scenarios.

“From the day we joined the Ducks, we had a lot of positives,” Quenneville said. “Just talking to the people that are involved in the game, talking to the organization, having a young team, it reminds me of the team when we were here.”

With Anaheim, Quenneville led a team that experienced the third-longest active playoff drought in the NHL. The Ducks finished sixth in the Pacific Division last season with a 35-37-10 record after finishing in the bottom two the previous four years.

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