Joel Quenneville wants to return to the NHL, but Gary Bettman has other ideas

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Josh tupper
November 18, 2022 (8:40)

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Joel Quenneville was relieved of his duties last season as the Florida Panthers Head Coach, not because of his performance, but due to his involvement in the Kyle Beach scandal. At the time the Panthers were undefeated in their first 7 games of the season. But Quenneville's involvement in the Beach Report was too much for the team to ignore.

Quenneville has since been placed on Gary Bettman's magical ineligible for the NHL list. This means should Quenneville try and make a return he'll first have to seek permission from Gary Bettman. While some say that Bettman is open to the idea, others believe he'll immediately give into any pushback from NHL fans.

Darren Dreger shared the following information on the matter:

Joel Quenneville is eager to get back to coaching, any team interested would have to go through the Panthers and also Bettman. Bettman has to clear Quenneville to return, that has not happened yet and some believe that won't happen until next season.

There is still a large resistance to Quenneville's return from NHL fans at this point. This means there is a good chance that this could turn into another situation where negative public press leads the NHL to never allowing a return. It will be interesting to see what approach Bettman and the league take on Quenneville's eligibility.