Former Chicago Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman, head coach Joel Quenneville and assistant general manager Al MacIssac have been reinstated by the NHL more than two years after they stepped down from their roles following an investigation into their handling of sexual assault allegations made by former forward Kyle Beach.
According to a press release from the NHL, all three men will be eligible to speak to teams about employment immediately and can accept a position beginning on July 10.
“While it is clear that, at the time, their responses were unacceptable, each of these three individuals has acknowledged that and used his time away from the game to engage in activities which, not only demonstrate sincere remorse for what happened, but also evidence greater awareness of the responsibilities that all NHL personnel have, particularly personnel who are in positions of leadership,” the league said in a statement.
Bowman and MacIsaac resigned their roles with the Blackhawks in Oct. 2021 after the release of an investigation commissioned by the team. That investigation found that the team mishandled the allegations by Beach, who said he was sexually assaulted by former video coach Brad Aldrich in 2010.
Quenneville resigned his position as head coach of the Florida Panthers days after the release of the Jenner & Block Report. The NHL also fined the Blackhawks $2 million “for the organization’s inadequate internal procedures and insufficient and untimely response,” according to a statement.
All three men were deemed ineligible for employment in the league, and had recently sought reinstatement by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.
The investigation was initiated after multiple lawsuits were filed against the organization. One of them was filed by Beach amid the allegations he had been sexually assaulted by Aldrich during the team’s 2010 Stanley Cup run, and the other was filed by a former student whom Aldrich was convicted of assaulting in Michigan after he was terminated by the Blackhawks.
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Beach's lawsuit was settled in Dec. 2021. The second lawsuit was dismissed, according to attorneys.
The investigation found that on May 23, 2010, Bowman, MacIssac, former team president John McDonough, former executive VP Jay Blunk and Kevin Cheveldayoff met with Quenneville to discuss the allegations.
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The investigation found that “no action was taken” following the revelations, and said that Quenneville “said it was hard for the team to get where it was,” and that they couldn’t deal with the issue during a playoff run.
Aldrich continued traveling with the team for the remainder of their playoff run and celebrated with the Stanley Cup after they won it in June 2010. He was then given the option of resigning or participating in an investigation into the allegations, and he chose to step down.
