The Chicago Blackhawks saw a familiar face at the United Center on Sunday against the Anaheim Ducks. One who comes with championships and controversy.
The night started normally: fans filed into their seats for the Hawks’ fourth home game of the season, booed the road team and cheered for the home team during starting lineup introductions. The only difference was the elephant in the room.
Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville accepted the Anaheim job in May, replacing Greg Cronin.
Quenneville, the Hawks coach from 2008-18, and Hawks executives Stan Bowman and Al MacIsaac were banned from the NHL for nearly three years after an independent investigation concluded the team mishandled allegations raised by former Hawks player Kyle Beach against video coach Brad Aldrich during the team’s first Stanley Cup run. The trio was reinstated in July 2024.
While Quenneville’s on-ice record was remarkable — winning Stanley Cups in 2010, 2013 and 2015 with teams that featured Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews — his off-ice behavior in 2010 eventually led to his resignation from the Florida Panthers in October 2021 and a lengthy banishment from the league.
Prior to this season, Quenneville hadn’t coached since his resignation from the Florida Panthers on Oct. 28, 2021, just days after he was named in the independent investigation report.
Initially identified as “John Doe,” Beach claimed that Aldrich threatened both physical and financial harm if he didn’t engage in various sex acts.
The Hawks hired the Jenner & Block law firm to investigate, which determined that top Hawks’ officials didn’t report Beach’s allegations until after they won the 2010 Stanley Cup. Additionally, the firm’s report said that the team paid Aldrich severance to resign.
In 2021, the two sides reached a settlement in Beach’s negligence lawsuit. The monetary amount was not revealed.
When Quenneville was hired as the Ducks head coach, he vowed to be a renewed and more humble person than he was before his coaching break. At his introductory news conference, he addressed the elephant in the room.
“Over nearly four years, I’ve taken time to reflect, listen to experts and advocates and educate myself on realities of abuse, trauma and how to be a better leader,” Quenneville said. “I hope others can learn from my inaction.
“I’ve spoken to Kyle more than once (and) I’ve apologized to him and express how much I regret not following up and taking action.”
Speaking with the media prior to Sunday’s game, Quenneville said he immediately addressed the Ducks team upon his hire. He shared what he wished he’d done differently during his time with the Hawks.
“I could have been more forceful and asked more questions and gotten more involved in the details of what happened,” Quenneville said. “Two takeaways was, one applying those lessons to make sure it doesn’t happen under our watch and making sure the players’ health and safety is priority number one.”
The Hawks previously recognized their former coach in 2020 when Quenneville returned to Chicago as the bench boss of the Panthers, so a further tribute is unlikely. But Quenneville said he has good memories of his time with the team.
“We had a lot of great moments and a lot of nights that we were celebrating different events and achievements from the past,” Quenneville said. “I’m happy to be back in that building and hear the crowd being excited and the team looks like they’re on that next level of trying to be a playoff team. They look like they’re on the right track.”
Quenneville said he and Beach have remained in contact since the settlement.
“I always have a positive conversation (with Beach),” Quenneville said. “I’ll leave the conversations between us.”
The fans at the United Center on Sunday didn’t go out of their way to acknowledge the former Hawks coach who brought three championships to the team, outside of a few timid cheers and boos. Will that change in the future?
“We’ll see,” Quenneville said.