Joel Quenneville (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
A week after firing Greg Cronin as head coach, it appears that the Anaheim Ducks have their man.
A well-connected NHL source has confirmed to RG that the Anaheim Ducks have offered their open head coaching job to four-time Stanley Cup champion Joel Quenneville.
“The job is his if he wants it, and I’d be stunned if he doesn’t take it,” the source told RG on Saturday afternoon. “I’d say it’s 99.999999 percent he becomes the next head coach in Anaheim.”
The source stressed that other NHL teams were still pushing hard for Quenneville, but as of Saturday afternoon, it appeared that after almost four years away from the NHL, the 66-year-old bench boss would return as head coach of the Ducks.
Old Friends, New Chapter
As the source pointed out, Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek and Quenneville have a long history. They were teammates on the 1982-83 New Jersey Devils and the 1989-90 Hartford Whalers. They have remained friends since then.
The New York Rangers, Seattle Kraken, Boston Bruins, and Philadelphia Flyers have all been reported to have expressed interest in Quenneville recently as well, but the Ducks have seemingly won the sweepstakes for Quenneville.
Quenneville won a Stanley Cup as an assistant with the Colorado Avalanche in 1996 and then three Stanley Cups (2010, 2013, 2015) with the Blackhawks. Quenneville holds a coaching record of 969-572–77-150 in the regular season and 121-104 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
It should be noted that ESPN NHL play-by-play announcer and studio host John Buccigross did post a cryptic post on X in which he had a picture of Quenneville next to a photo of a flock of ducks.
Return Amid Controversy
Quenneville hasn’t coached a game in the NHL since abruptly resigning from his job as head coach of the Florida Panthers on October 28, 2021. The resignation came two days after the results of an independent investigation into how the Blackhawks responded to claims that former video coach Brad Aldrich sexually assaulted prospect Kyle Beach during the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs were made public. The investigation concluded that Quenneville and several members of the Blackhawks’ senior leadership team opted to defer any action on Aldrich until after the 2010 Stanley Cup Final.
According to the report, Quenneville was particularly concerned about causing a distraction before the 2010 Stanley Cup Final that Quenneville and the Blackhawks won. Quenneville had previously claimed to be unaware of any sexual abuse taking place, but numerous witnesses later told investigators that Quenneville was informed of Aldrich’s abuse of Beach. However, he and others who knew what happened were instructed by then-Blackhawks CEO John McDonough to keep quiet and focus on helping the Blackhawks win the 2010 Stanley Cup.
On October 27, 2021, Quenneville met with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, and less than 24 hours later, following a 4-1 win over the Boston Bruins, the longtime NHL coach announced his resignation. He was subsequently banned from coaching in the NHL until further notice and until Bettman felt he had done enough to return to the NHL coaching ranks. That day came last July 1 as Quenneville—along with former Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman and former Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations of the Chicago Blackhawks, Al MacIsaac—were reinstated by Bettman. Bowman was almost immediately hired as the new general manager of the Edmonton Oilers, but Quenneville and MacIsaac remained unemployed.
With 24 years of experience (SiriusXM NHL Network Radio, ESPN Boston, NESN, NHL.com, etc.) covering the Bruins, the NHL, NCAA and junior hockey, and more, Jimmy Murphy’s hockey black book is filled with Hall of Famers, current players, coaches, management, scouts and a wide array of hockey media personalities that have lived in and around this great game. For 22 of his 24 years as a hockey and sports reporter, Murphy covered the Bruins on a daily basis, including their victorious 2011 Stanley Cup run and their runs to the 2013 and 2019 Finals. Murphy is currently a co-host, along with Pierre McGuire, on The Eye Test Podcast.
