Joel Quenneville from Anaheim Ducks for his first head coach job, since Blackhawk's abuse scandal

Anaheim, California (AP) – Joel Quenneville returned to hockey on Thursday. He recognized mistakes and said that he took full responsibility for his role in the Chicago Blackhawks Sexual Assault Scandal.

The second most worried coach in NHL said that he was a changed man after almost four years before the game. When he took over behind the Bank of the Anaheim Ducks, he swore to continue to inform himself about abuse, to expand his work with victims and to create an incontestably safe job with his new team.

Quenneville also recognizes that this does not approach During the Blackhawks scandal should have ended his career forever.

“I understand and accept those who question my return to the league,” said Quenneville. “I know that words are not enough. I will demonstrate my actions that I am a man of the character.”

The owner of Ducks, Henry Samueli, and General Manager Pat Verbek, emphasized the 66-year-old Quenneville when they presented him as a coach of a franchise franchise who was in a seven-year-old playoff Dürre and thirst after the success of quenneville usually orchestrated.

He won three Stanley Cups with the Blackhawks and brought 20 teams to the playoffs in a quarter of a century with four NHL clubs.

While Quennevilles was remarkable on-iece record, his behavior of the off-IS behavior in 2010 finally led to His resignation from the Florida Panthers In October 2021 and a long exile for the league – a ban that many hold should be permanent.

“I have my mistakes,” said Quenneville and occasionally took a break when he submitted a written explanation. “While I believed all my heart, the problem was treated by the management, I assume full responsibility for not tracking and asked more questions. That is all about myself. Over four years, I took the time to think about hearing experts and supporters and informing me about the realities of abuse, trauma and the way you are a better leader.

The executives of Quenneville and Blackhawks, Stan Bowman and Al Macisaac, were banished by the NHL for almost three years after an independent examination came to the conclusion that the team had abused the accusations of the former player Kyle Beach against the video coach Brad Aldrich during the team's first Stanley Cup run. The trio was stopped again last July and Bowman became the General Manager of Edmonton Oilers three weeks later.

After an investigation and review process that lasted several days and contained communication with beach and other victims and representative groups with sexual assault, the owners of the Ducks supported the decision of Verbek, Quenneville's teammate in New Jersey and Hartford more than three decades ago.

Samueli and his wife Susan and her daughter Jillian all spoke in detail with Quenneville. Henry Samueli said he was “absolutely convinced that Joel is a really good person.”

“I think the four years that Joel spent from hockey really gave him the opportunity to learn a lot,” said Samueli. “In my thoughts, he will be a model trainer for such situations like this. I think he will be a mentor for other coaches in the league who can come to him and speak to him. 'How do you deal with such situations?' And they will trust him because he is an old school that has changed.

Quenneville understands how bad his reputation and career were damaged by his role in the treatment of accusations against Aldrich by Blackhawks. He remained out of hockey for another season after his ban was over, but was increasingly striving to continue his career last winter while watching games every evening and was closely informed about the league.

“I thought I had something to do to grow as a person,” said Quenneville. “As far as I work on the way, I had the feeling that I had passed to an area in which I had put myself in a position in which I know that I can share some of these lessons and these experiences.”

Many people with a first -hand knowledge about Quenneville's attempts to change themselves supported his wish to return. Quenneville said he had spoken to Beach several times recently, including Thursday morning.

He has closed learning friendships with lawyers, including Chris Jensen, the former players from the University of Wisconsin and Maple Leafs Draft Pick, who was abused by a coach as a teenager.

“I think most of the athletes who played for him would argue that this guy helped me get better,” said Jensen. “He has all the expertise, and now he has additional perspective on how he is available to deal with people with emotional injuries. I think he is in a much better position to be successful.”

The non -profit foundation of the Ducks is already involved in non -profit and philanthropic work that supports survivors of sexual abuse, and Samueli expects Quenneville to support these efforts.

“I am very confident that Joel will be a star when it comes to working with these organizations,” said Samueli.

Before his ban, Quenneville spent parts of 25 NHL play times behind the benches of St. Louis, Colorado, Chicago and Florida, especially the Blackhawks for championships in 2010, 2013 and 2015.

Quenneville takes over a team with the third longest playoff dürre of the NHL. Anaheim took sixth place in the Pacific Division with 35-37-10 this season after being in the lower two in the last four consecutive years.

He replaces Greg Cronin, which was surprisingly fired by Verbeek After the ducks had an improvement of 21 points in season.

Quenneville inherits an Anaheim team with an extensive stock of young talents, and he was immediately impressed by her squad when he personally saw it personally during the road trip from Anaheim to Tampa Bay last January. He also trained duck captain Radko Gudas and Frank Vatrano in Florida.

“One of the best coaches I have ever had and I always tell people that,” said Vatrano, who visited Quenneville's introductory conference. “As a person, he is also a great person. That always pulls me to Q. I am a great advocate for him and I am glad that he is here.”

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