Quenneville has not been active for three and a half years, not since the abuse scandal in Chicago Blackhawks reached the public eye.
Then he had to leave the coaching assignment in Florida, a consequence of the harsh criticism he received for his failure to act against video coach Brad Aldrich's sexual abuse during their joint time in Chicago.
Beach stepped forward
In 2021, former player Kyle Beach told in a TV interview that the video coach had assaulted him as a 20-year-old and that he had numbed himself with alcohol and drugs to suppress the memories.
Another player later stepped forward and directed similar accusations against Aldrich.
Joel Quenneville was coach while the abuse was going on. On the ice, Chicago won the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013, and 2015.
An independent investigation showed that several leaders in the NHL team had not acted when Beach internally reported the abuse. This led, among other things, to the resignation of Chicago's general manager Stan Bowman, and also Joel Quenneville had to step down from his position in Florida.
It wasn't until last summer that they were deemed suitable to work again in the NHL.
"Learned from previous mistakes"
Quenneville seemed to be out in the cold for good, but gets a new chance in Anaheim. Anaheim's general manager Pat Verbeek defends the choice of Quenneville:
Our investigations match Joel's account that he was not fully aware of the severity of what happened in 2010. It is clear that Joel deeply regrets not following up with more questions at the time.
Quenneville is the NHL's second most successful coach in terms of number of wins. He has stood in the box at 969 wins, a figure only Scotty Bowman's 1,244 surpasses.
After almost four years of absence, I have learned from my previous mistakes and realized that actions speak louder than words, says Quenneville according to American media.
