Joel Quenneville will remain ineligible from coaching in the NHL, despite multiple clubs looking into the veteran signal-caller, shares David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period (Twitter link). Quenneville stepped down from the Florida Panthers on October 28, 2021, amid the Blackhawks sexual assault scandal. The news ended Quenneville’s 27-year career in the league – a tour that took him through long stretches with the St. Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche, and Chicago Blackhawks. He won three Stanley Cups along the way, leading a prolific Chicago core that featured Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, and Corey Crawford.
A long list of teams are currently in the process of reconsidering their coaching staff, with five teams currently without a bench leader for next season. That includes the New Jersey Devils, whose coaching vacancy represents one of the highest ceilings in the league per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The long list of mingling teams also means a long list of strong candidates – with former Toronto Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe becoming the most recent coach to hit free agency. He’s now competing with a wide array of talents, from the development focus of coaches like Jay Woodcroft and Dave Hakstol to postseason and even Stanley Cup precedent through Gerard Gallant, Todd McLellan, and Craig Berube.
Teams will try to find an edge any way they can, especially when hiring for a role as pivotal as head coach. Because of that, this isn’t the first time that we’ve seen teams check the pulse of Quenneville’s eligibility. He’ll remain away from the league but still well-represented in the record books, boasting the second-most wins and fifth-most games coached of any coach in NHL history.
good
No not good. He didn’t do anything wrong!! Great coach. And a true winner! Maple Leafs desperately need him to turn things around.
The employee Brad Aldrich sexually assaulted the employee Kyle Beach in Aldrich’s apartment. Quenneville cannot dismiss or reprimand either employee any more than he can determine what players are drafted or traded.
“Aldrich was forced to resign by Human Resources and Legal Compliance after opting not to comply with their investigation and subsequently pleaded guilty to assaulting a player at a Michigan high school where he was a volunteer coach.”
His delegated authority is not in hiring, firing, reprimanding, or sexual harassment between employees.
Bettman needed a scapegoat for the pitchfork-and-torch peasants to lynch and burn. Found one.
Didn’t Q meet with Hawks management to discuss the assault and then agree to sweep it under the rug because it would’ve been a distraction in the playoffs?
He’s a great coach that maybe deserves a second change. But I can totally understand why he hasn’t been given one yet.
Coach Q is not a “scapegoat”, he was the head coach who decided “team chemistry” during a playoff run was more important than protecting his players from a sexual predator. And your whole “employee” to “employee” statement is way off base, one “employee” was the video coach who selected the clips the coaches would view. That “coach” used his power to prey on the young players who were trying to break into the league. And when the head coach was informed, he did NOTHING.
Thank goodness. This guy is an ignorant unapologetic jerk who should be in jail.
In jail? What law did he break that justifies a jail sentence? Bad judgement? If so, we all will go to jail at least once in our lives.
Sweeping a sexual assault under the rug may not be criminal, but it damn sure is a hell of a lot more serious than a “bad judgment” call
“Retreads bad!!! Unless they abused or enabled abuse and then it’s an outrage they don’t have jobs!!!”