Panthers’ Quenneville resigns over role in Blackhawks’ mishandling of abuse allegations
After meeting with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, Quenneville has resigned as Panthers coach as details of his role in handling of Chicago Blackhawks sexual assault case emerge.
Joel Quenneville is out as coach of the Florida Panthers after revelations this week showed the former Chicago Blackhawks coach was aware of 2010 sexual assault allegations against one of his assistant coaches and did nothing about it.
Quenneville resigned as coach of the Panthers on Friday in the aftermath of a meeting with Gary Bettman about his role in the Blackhawks’ mishandling of the allegation, which was made by a then-Chicago left wing Kyle Beach against then-Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich.
Quenneville previously denied knowledge of the allegation, which took place during the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs, but a report published Tuesday by Chicago law firm Jenner & Block, as well as assertions made by Beach in an interview with The Sports Network’s SportsCentre on Wednesday, contradicted the coach.
“It should go without saying that the conduct described in that report is troubling and inexcusable,” CEO Matt Caldwell said in a statement. “It stands in direct contrast to our values as an organization and what the Florida Panthers stand for. No one should ever have to endure what Kyle Beach experienced during, and long after, his time in Chicago. Quite simply, he was failed. We praise his bravery and courage in coming forward.”
In July, Quenneville told the Associated Press he “first learned of these allegations through the media earlier this summer.” He stood by the statement Wednesday and was still allowed to coach later in the day, but he did not speak to reporters following the Panthers’ 4-1 win at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise. General manager Bill Zito read a prepared statement in Quenneville’s place and did not take questions.
Zito and Caldwell were both in the meeting with Bettman in New York, ESPN reported.
“With deep regret and contrition, I announce my resignation as head coach of the Florida Panthers,” Quenneville said in a statement. “I want to express my sorrow for the pain this young man, Kyle Beach, has suffered. My former team the Blackhawks failed Kyle and I won my share of that. I want to reflect on how all of this happened and take the time to educate myself on ensuring hockey spaces are safe for everyone.”
Quenneville’s alleged negligence all took place while he was coach of the Blackhawks. Chicago fired him in 2018 and Florida hired him on a six-year deal in 2019. He was in his third season with the Panthers and had Florida off to the best start in franchise history after it put together its best regular season ever last year.
The Panthers said an interim coach will be announced in the near future. It is not yet known who will coach Florida (7-0-0) on Friday when it faces the Detroit Red Wings (4-2-1) at 7 p.m. at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
Quenneville was made aware of Beach’s allegations, the Jenner & Block report said, on the day the Blackhawks beat the San Jose Sharks to reach the 2010 Stanley Cup Final. He was part of a meeting of “senior club management,” the report said, to discuss how Chicago should handle the allegation.
“Accounts of the meeting vary significantly,” the report said, but attendees decided hockey operations personnel “should devote their exclusive attention to on-ice matters heading into the Stanley Cup Final and that other appropriate Club personnel within the organization would take responsibility for ‘handling’ the Aldrich situation.”
As part of the report, former Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman also recalled Quenneville being informed of the allegation, shaking his head and saying, “it was hard for the team to get to where they were, and they could not deal with this issue now.”
On Wednesday, Beach outed himself as the previously unnamed accuser in an extensive interview with Canada’s TSN and said, “There’s absolutely no way that [Quenneville] can deny knowing it.”
“I witnessed meetings, right after I reported it to James Gray, that were held in Joel Quenneville’s office,” Beach said. “If this had been reported to someone other than [then-Blackhawks president] John McDonough, or Joel Quenneville or Stan Bowman that didn’t have skin in the game of winning a Stanley Cup, it would have been dealt with and would have protected all of the survivors that came after me.”
Aldrich was allowed to stay on through the end of the 2010 Cup playoffs and even took part in Chicago’s championship celebration. He later quietly stepped down when given the choice to either resign or take part in an internal investigation.
After leaving the NHL, Aldrich worked as a volunteer coach at Houghton High School in Michigan and was convicted of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct with a student at the school.
As fallout from the report Tuesday, Bowman stepped down as GM and Al MacIsaac stepped down as Blackhawks senior vice president of hockey operations, which left Quenneville and Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Chevelayoff as the only attendees of the reported meeting still in the NHL.
For now, Chevelayoff remains the Jets’ GM. He’s scheduled to meet with Bettman on Friday.
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