If an NHL head coach feels sexual assault should be blown over or ignored, he’s a loser. It shouldn’t be ignored anywhere.
On Monday night, Joel Quenneville coached his 232nd playoff game as the Anaheim Ducks head coach. He’s 12 wins away from winning his fourth Stanley Cup after the Ducks’ 3-1 loss over the Vegas Golden Knights to start the second-round playoff series.
Quenneville would have likely won his fourth Stanley Cup if he had been allowed to coach the Florida Panthers, who hired him on April 8, 2019. The NHL forced him to resign after not taking action when then-Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich sexually assaulted Blackhawks prospect Kyle Beach.
It took him three years to land an NHL head coaching job. He found a desperate sucker in the Ducks, who needed a head coach to guide their young players.
It has worked out well for the Ducks and Quenneville. The Ducks received instant gratification this season by ending their eight-year playoff drought, and the head coach did not have to wait forever to resume his Hall of Fame-bound career. Meanwhile, Beach has to go through trauma for the rest of his life. His aspirations as a player have been irrevocably destroyed. He was likely also blackballed from playing in the league for speaking out about his ordeal.
How is that fair? It’s wrong that Quenneville can move on with his life while Beach goes through trauma for the rest of his life. So, it’s difficult for me to celebrate this head coach’s “redemption.” Yes, I used quotes because he shouldn’t be a cause for celebration.
Hockey is no different than any other pro sport. If an athlete or head coach can win games despite his off-the-field incidents, he will be hired. It makes you wonder why Long Island Ducks starter Trevor Bauer has yet to be hired by a Major League Baseball team, even though he was not criminally charged with sexual allegations.
It was a matter of time until we saw Quenneville on the bench again for an NHL team. That said, credit the New York Rangers, New York Islanders, and New Jersey Devils for not hiring a three-time Stanley Cup head coach with baggage, even if they were as desperate as the Ducks. It was about doing the right thing.
Quenneville found a safety spot with the Ducks because relatively few care about hockey in Orange County, let alone Southern California. He can go on with his job, as the media is not hounding him. Trust me when I assert that he would receive scrutiny if an NHL team from Canada hired him.
No one knows what’s in Beach’s mind, and I speak from experience. My uncle sexually abused me as a kid growing up. Some days don’t go by without that experience entering my mind. I am 46, and it haunts me, and will forever.
There’s no doubt Beach relives his ordeal every day, and it’s going to be worse the more Quenneville and the Ducks advance in the playoffs. It would be his worst nightmare if the Ducks were in the Stanley Cup Final. That’s why something’s not right about Quenneville being a head coach again.
Not only had Beach had to be quiet for so long, but after he couldn’t take it anymore, there was retaliation against him for working in the NHL. That is why this whole thing stinks. Shame on the media for not even making this an issue, even when this happened in the first place.
Vegas Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella is a jerk, but he also comes across as a decent person when he has to be. It’s hard to believe he would’ve been okay with one of his players being sexually abused. That is why it’s easy to root for him over Quenneville to win the second-round playoff series.
The Ducks’ head coach clearly has no regrets. He hasn’t made it a point to acknowledge his role in Beach’s ordeal. Why would he? It’s not his problem. He is focused on winning another Stanley Cup, just like he ignored Beach’s plea for help when he was busy winning Stanley Cups as the Blackhawks coach.
If there’s justice in the world, Quenneville never wins another Stanley Cup. Even better, the Knights deny him and the Ducks of a Western Conference Final.
It’s what we call karma.
