John Doe’s lawyers release an angry statement after Joel Quenneville is hired by Ducks

Should Quenneville be forced to be in exile forever? Or does he deserve this second chance?

The Anaheim Ducks have announced today that they have hired Joel Quenneville as their new head coach.

Today is a great day for the Anaheim Ducks,” said General Manager Pat Verbeek. “Joel is a proven winner and one of the top coaches in NHL history. We believe this is a major step forward in our process of being a perennial playoff contender.

“Over the last two weeks, we conducted interviews with many outstanding coaching candidates, while simultaneously conducting a comprehensive review of what took place while Joel was head coach of the Blackhawks in 2010. We spoke with dozens of individuals, including advocates for positive change in hockey and leadership of the NHL, which last July officially cleared Joel to seek employment in the league. Our findings are consistent with Joel’s account that he was not fully aware of the severity of what transpired in 2010. It is clear that Joel deeply regrets not following up with more questions at the time, has demonstrated meaningful personal growth and accountability, and has earned the opportunity to return to coaching.”

Quenneville, of course, has been unemployed since resigning from his head coaching position with the Florida Panthers back in 2021 when news of the Brad Aldrich scandal broke. He was effectively suspended from coaching by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, but by all accounts he has worked to learn and improve himself following the scandal. There’s a sense in the NHL community that Quenneville would be welcomed back into the league if given an opportunity.

Lawyers for the two unnamed former Chicago Blackhawks players/prospects who have made allegations of negligence against Quenneville have released a charged statement:

I’m conflicted…

I feel for the “John Doe” and “Black Ace 1”, but at the same time Quenneville had done a lot of remediation work. He seems genuine in his regret for how he handled things back in 2010. Should he be forced to remain in exile forever?

As for the Ducks, they’re in desperate need of someone like Quenneville. They recently parted ways with head coach Greg Cronin after two disastrous seasons. They haven’t been to the post-season in 8 years.

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