Quenneville returns to face Blackhawks for 1st time since ban

CHICAGO — First-year Anaheim Ducks coach Joel Quenneville returned to the United Center on Sunday night for the first time since he and two other former Chicago Blackhawks executives were banned from the NHL in October 2021 for their mishandling of a sexual assault allegation by a former player in 2010.

Quenneville, 67, has the Ducks off to a 2-2-1 start almost four years after he was forced to resign as coach of the Florida Panthers. He was banned from the NHL for nearly three years.

“I’m grateful to be back in the game,” Quenneville said before Chicago’s 2-1 win on Ryan Donato’s overtime goal. “I’m excited about being back in here in Chicago.”

It has been a long road for Quenneville, the second-winningest coach in NHL history. His 971 career victories entering Sunday trail only Scotty Bowman’s 1,244.

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

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

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

Quenneville has spent parts of 25 NHL seasons behind the benches of St. Louis, Colorado, Chicago and Florida. He guided 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 roaring ovation from fans. He was behind the Panthers’ bench in the arena four times during the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, but no fans were present.

Quenneville seemed a little uncertain about how he might be received by United Center fans this time.

“The memories we had were all very positive here,” he said. “I’m just happy to be back in that building and hear the crowd being excited, and the crowds look like they’ve been good so far this year.”

When asked if he expected acknowledgment from fans, Quenneville responded with his signature, “We’ll see.”

The reaction turned out to be muted and mixed.

Public address announcer Gene Honda called Quenneville’s name in a routine introduction as the visiting team coach about 10 minutes before the opening faceoff. A handful of fans cheered and about the same number booed, with only about half of the United Center’s 19,717 seats occupied.

The Ducks conducted background checks and spoke with Beach before hiring Quenneville, who said he has accepted responsibility for his role in failing to properly address the allegations and has engaged in educational activities to deepen his understanding of sexual assault scenarios.

“Right from the day that we joined the Ducks, it’s been a lot of positivity,” Quenneville said. “Just getting around people that are in the game, being around the organization, having a young team, kind of reminds me of the team when we were here.”

With Anaheim, Quenneville took over a team with the NHL’s third-longest active playoff drought. The Ducks finished sixth in the Pacific Division last season at 35-37-10 after being in the bottom two for the previous four years.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.