Joel Quenneville's daughter Anna defends her father for his alleged involvement in Chicago Blackhawks' Kyle Beach sexual assault scandal

Joel Quenneville stepped down as the head coach of the Florida Panthers just seven days after he was appointed for the 2021-22 season. The decision came after an independent report revealed that when Joel Quenneville was the coach of the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010, the team failed to take action on allegations of sexual assault made by former player Kyle Beach against video coach Brad Aldrich.

The report stated that the Blackhawks President, John McDonough, and management at the time were aware of these allegations but did not want the negative publicity associated with them because the team wanted to focus on winning the 2010 Stanley Cup.

According to reports, Quenneville became aware of the scandal during a meeting shortly after it took place. The former Blackhawks head coach claims that he did not know about the incident until the recent report was made public.

Anna Quenneville, daughter of Joel, recently took to X/Twitter to defend her father. Anna's statement suggested that her father did not know about the sexual scandal involving Kyle Beach:

"It is baffling to me that after three years the same false perception is out there. My dad was in one single meeting for 5-10 minutes after a playoff game where he was told by his bosses they were looking into a matter that didn’t at all resemble sexual assault."

She also made it clear that her father never wrote a letter of recommendation for the video coach, writing:

"And no my dad did not ever write a letter of recommendation for the video coach, that is just another blatant false perception I’m tired of seeing."

Anna also reckoned that if her father had taken action earlier, the matter could have been escalated to HR and Legal much sooner:

"My dad owned his miss in not recognizing the severity of what happened & for not following up with his bosses. If he had then the matter could have gotten to HR and Legal sooner then the 3 weeks it took."

Since the incident came to light, some individuals who were aware of what happened decided to step away from their roles, including GM Stan Bowman.

Additionally, Joel Quenneville, who was the coach of the Blackhawks and most recently of the Florida Panthers, also stepped down. The former Blackhawks coach recently opened up about how his former club managed the 2010 sexual assault scandal.

Insider on Joel Quenneville's link to Toronto Maple Leafs

After Joel Quenneville's resignation in the 2021-22 season and his unofficial suspension from coaching in the NHL, there have been discussions about his potential reinstatement, particularly with the departure of Sheldon Keefe as the Maple Leafs HC.

However, TFP's David Pagnotta reported on Saturday:

"As teams evaluate their coaching options, I’m told Joel Quenneville’s status remains unchanged - he is still ineligible to coach. Edit: Some teams have indeed reached out, but also told his status is still the same. The Leafs, as of now, are not one of those teams."

With 969 wins, Quenneville is the second-most-winning NHL coach. Also known as "Coach Q," Quenneville helped the Blackhawks win three Stanley Cups between 2010 and 2015 during his tenure.