(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Former Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville has gone on the record about his involvement — or lack thereof — in the Blackhawks' investigation into video coach Brad Aldrich.
Quenneville's version, as told to the “Cam and Strick” podcast, lines up with the findings in the Jenner and Block report into how the Blackhawks handled the sexual assault allegations against Aldrich: that he was first informed during the 2010 playoffs.
“They told me that he was hanging around the Rockford players,” Quenneville said. “He was socializing; they were going out to bars; and he might have sent an inappropriate text or two; and that he was bugging them; that’s all I knew. I didn’t put it all together that it resembled sexual abuse or sexual assault.”
According to the report, that 2010 meeting took place shortly after the Blackhawks defeated the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Finals. Jenner and Block said accounts of that meeting vary, though former General Manager Stan Bowman recalled Quenneville saying “it was hard for the team to get where they were, and they could not deal with the issue now.”
When interviewed by Jenner and Block, Quenneville said he didn’t recall anyone discussing how hard it was for the team to get where they were. He did, though, say his focus was on winning. Quenneville told investigators that there was “no resolution of the situation at the meeting.”
On the “Cam and Strick” podcast, Quenneville said he should have known or at least should have been more curious.
“By not asking more questions — and I take ownership on that — I think, had I known more, I think I would’ve handled it completely different,” he said.
Quenneville said he didn't learn more until 2021, when prospect Kyle Beach brought his allegations public and sued the team. Then, Quenneville said, the info made him “sick to his stomach.”
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