NHL reinstates Joel Quenneville, Blackhawks executives after 2021 ban

(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Three former Blackhawks officials, including ex-Head Coach Joel Quenneville, are no longer banned from the NHL, the league announced on Monday.

Quenneville, former General Manager Stan Bowman and former team Vice President Al MacIsaac were all banned from NHL employment in the wake of the revelation that a Blackhawks staffer named Brad Aldrich had assaulted one of the team’s prospects.

Now, two-and-a-half years after the league’s ruling, the NHL said the three can seek work in the game again.

“While it is clear that, at the time, their responses were unacceptable, each of these three individuals has acknowledged that and used his time away from the game to engage in activities which, not only demonstrate sincere remorse for what happened, but also evidence greater awareness of the responsibilities that all NHL personnel have, particularly personnel who are in positions of leadership,” the league said in a statement.

Earlier this year, Quenneville spoke publicly on the “ Cam and Strick ” podcast about his involvement — or lack thereof — in the Blackhawks’ investigation into Aldrich, who worked as a video coach for the team.

The version of events Quenneville laid out on the podcast lined up with the findings in the Jenner and Block report , which looked into how the Blackhawks handled the sexual assault allegations against Aldrich: that he was first informed in a meeting that took place during the 2010 playoffs.

“They told me that he was hanging around the Rockford players,” the former coach said. “He was socializing; they were going out to bars; and he might have sent an inappropriate text or two; and that he was bugging them; that’s all I knew. I didn’t put it all together that it resembled sexual abuse or sexual assault.”

According to the report, that 2010 meeting took place shortly after the Blackhawks defeated the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Finals. Although Jenner and Block said accounts of that meeting varied, Bowman told investigators that he recalled Quenneville saying “it was hard for the team to get where they were, and they could not deal with the issue now.”

When interviewed by Jenner and Block, Quenneville said he didn’t recall anyone discussing how hard it was for the team to get where they were. He did, though, say his focus was on winning. Quenneville told investigators that there was “no resolution of the situation at the meeting.”

On the “Cam and Strick” podcast, Quenneville said he should have known or at least should have been more curious.

“By not asking more questions — and I take ownership on that — I think, had I known more, I think I would’ve handled it completely different,” he said.

Quenneville said he didn't learn more until 2021, when prospect Kyle Beach brought his allegations public and sued the team. Then, Quenneville said, the info made him “sick to his stomach.”

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