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Former head coach Joel Quenneville addresses his part in the 2010 Chicago Blackhawks sexual assault scandal

By Todd Welter |
/ James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports
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Joel Quenneville will always have a legendary coaching career that will be tainted by the role he played in the cover-up of the sexual assault accusations made by a former Chicago Blackhawks' first-round pick regarding the video coach 14 years ago.

Quenneville denied once Kyle Beach's accusations came to light in 2021 that he had any knowledge of being told about the incident in 2010. The team's internal investigation done by the Jenner & Block law firm revealed that Quenneville was not only told about the incident by general manager Stan Bowman, but he “shook his head and said that it was hard for the team to get where they are and they could not deal with (the allegations) now.”

Beach settled a lawsuit with the Chicago Blackhawks regarding his allegations that he was sexually assaulted by the team's video coordinator, Brad Aldrich, during the Hawks Stanley Cup in 2010.

The team allowed Aldrich to quietly resign after the 2010 season and a few years later, he was charged with sexual assault of a player on a youth hockey team that had him as a volunteer coach. He pleaded guilty to a fourth-degree criminal sexual assault and received a nine-month jail sentence.

This became a major scandal when the Hawks leadership at the time tried to cover up what Aldrich allegedly did to Beach in the pursuit of trying to snap the team's 49-year Stanley Cup drought. The team discarded Beach's concerns because as Quenneville allegedly admitted, the franchise felt it could not focus on winning the whole thing with a dark cloud hanging over it.

The fallout of the Jenner report forced Bowman to resign as Hawks general manager. Quenneville had been dismissed as the Hawks' head coach early in the 2018-2019 season. He was coaching the Florida Panthers once the report was published and he resigned as a result.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman also placed an indefinite suspension on Quenneville, and he has been out of the game ever since. It has forever tainted the 2010 Stanley Cup championship team and Quenneville's legacy.

Quenneville never really addressed his role in the cover-up until now...

He spoke on the Cam and Stick Podcast to address his role and he provided some interesting details.

He admitted that after he read the report he was sickened by Aldrich's actions and how he used the power of being on the coaching staff over Beach. He said once the report dropped, it was the first he knew it was a sexual assault that took place.

Quenneville also gave his account of what happened in the meeting detailed in the Jenner report.

Quenneville also disclosed that he should have done more once he was told about the incident. He claims sexual assault was never brought up when he was first informed, but he should have probed more regarding what had happened.

Quenneville also said he did reach out to Beach but did not want to disclose the details of the conversation.

First, bravo to Andy Strickland for conducting such a great interview. He did an outstanding job of asking follow-up questions and the right questions.

Second, this almost feels like an apology tour for Quenneville to get back into the NHL. He admitted that some teams have found ways to gauge his interest in jobs and he in return has admitted there are jobs he wants. The guy has been a hockey lifer, and he has been reduced to a spectator. Those are the consequences that come from the role he played.

The man helped bring three Stanley Cups, but he needs to remain in exile.

First, you can never wash away that stain. The team literally discarded a human being's safety because they needed to win a championship more than anything else. The head coach could not be bothered to address his subordinate because preparing for the San Jose Shark was more important. It was a first-round pick too. In any other sport, a first rounder has something like that happen with an assistant coach, that coach is gone.

Second, he will forever have that issue of does he cares about his players' safety more than he cares about winning. Third, any organization willing to hire him will have to deal with the massive blowback of his hiring. The Hawks are still trying to win fans back from the scandal and there is no one left in the organization from that era.

Heck, opposing fanbases were enraged that the Hawks got the No. 1 overall pick last year and hoped Connor Bedard, who was five when this happened, would not join the Blackhawks in protest. You can expect the same to happen to whoever hires Quenneville.

Two things can be true at the same time. You can appreciate how Quenneville coached the Blackhawks to their greatest success, and you can also be disgusted with his explanation of the events that took place.

He can claim the Hawks were run like a law firm, but if he stood his ground, it would have been hard for the team to cover up what happened if they took a retaliatory response against Joel. People would have asked questions had the Hawks say, fired Quenneville after 2010 for asking too many questions.

That is why Quenneville must remain in exile. Sometimes the act of doing nothing or blowing it off has to have this severe type of consequence. What happened to Beach, and what Coach Q did or did not do, has risen to a harsh level of consequence.

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