SIMMONS: Bettman must throw the book in Quenneville
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Joël Quenneville’s season should end abruptly on Thursday.
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And when it resumes – assuming it resumes – should be in the hands of NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.
Quenneville was the coach of the Chicago Blackhawks, which won the Stanley Cup in 2010, and he, like general manager Stan Bowman, senior director of hockey administration, Al MacIsaac, and team president of the time, John McDonough, was made aware of the sexual assault allegations against video coach Brad Aldrich. .
And all of them have chosen to look away.
Bowman has since resigned or been fired, there is often little difference between the two in professional sports. MacIsaac is absent along with all the other Blackhawks front office workers who were on the team in 2010. Quenneville was the head coach, he worked most closely with Aldrich, and he now plays the role of Roger Clemens. among the witnesses – remembering almost nothing when interviewed by the Jenner and Block law firm.
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Bowman is out of the NHL and now as the general manager of the United States team for the upcoming Olympics. By Thursday, when Florida Panthers head coach Quenneville meets Bettman, his league punishment shouldn’t be any less severe.
On May 23, 2010, the night the Blackhawks won the Western Conference Finals to qualify for the Stanley Cup, a meeting was held in the office of then club president McDonough. Quenneville was hastily called after the game to join the reunion which included most of the Blackhawks front office. It was an unusual request.
Normally, Bowman would come to his office after the game. Quenneville admitted he found it curious to be called to a meeting with the club president.
At that meeting, the first details of a possible unwanted relationship between video coach Aldrich and a minor league player called to skate with the Big League squad in the playoffs were revealed. That player was Kyle Beach, who revealed himself on TSN.
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Several of those interviewed by the law firm investigating the situation described Quenneville as agitated by the meeting. They remembered Quenneville commenting on the challenge of making it to the Stanley Cup Final – and his desire to focus on the team and the playoffs.
It was a disruption, Quenneville and others said, and it was his desire to “focus on the team and the playoffs,” the legal report read.
Heading for a possible championship – something that hadn’t been won in Chicago since 1961 – Quenneville was very protective of his team, and in doing so, was protecting his video coach, and essentially asking that the internal story be buried, this that was the case. .
The Hawks won the first of their three Stanley Cups with Quenneville as coach and Bowman as general manager. This summer, some 11 years later, law firm Jenner and Block interviewed 139 witnesses and while many were cynical that a team would hire a law firm to investigate itself, the investigation appears to be thorough and damning, already costing many jobs.
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Quenneville’s work – short or long term – should be next. The league cannot have him as a coach at the moment.
Like most video coaches, Aldrich worked in the locker room during games and worked closely with the rest of the coaching staff, led by Quenneville.
In June 2010, after the Cup victory, Quenneville apparently wrote an assessment of Aldrich’s work saying he “did a great job for the coaching staff” and he ended the report by writing “Congratulations on to have won the Stanley Cup “.
This report was written five weeks after Quenneville first learned of Aldrich’s behavior with one of the Blackhawks’ spare players, named in the report as John Doe.
The report ended with photos of Aldrich holding the Stanley Cup, being part of a team photo on the ice, being in parade on stage and part of a Stanley Cup appearance at famous Wrigley Field. .
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Aldrich even had his ceremonial day with the Cup, even after leaving the organization by refusing to submit to an internal investigation.
In the report, John Doe said Aldrich told him that “if you don’t lie down and act like you like him, I will make sure that you never play in the NHL again or that you will not walk any more â€. He was holding a baseball bat and was threatening at the time.
Aldrich also apparently said, “You can’t tell anyone about it; it’s our little secret; no one can find out or I’ll make sure you never play in the NHL.
Aldrich’s name appears on the Stanley Cup.
When questioned by the law firm, Quenneville appeared to have little recollection of any conversations he may have had regarding the circumstances, phone calls made, and was generally unclear on most of the circumstances surrounding the scandal. .
Apparently Quenneville will be behind the bench tonight when the Florida Panthers host the Boston Bruins. It should be his last game of the season.
Perhaps his last game as an NHL coach.
