NHL explains why they reinstated Quenneville, Bowman & MacIsaac

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Cooper Godin
July 10, 2024 (6:59 PM)

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Recently, the National Hockey League has explained their decision to reinstate former Chicago Blackhawks staff Joel Quenneville, Stan Bowman and Al MacIsaac.

Back on Canada Day, the NHL decided that they were going to officially reinstate Joel Quenneville, Stan Bowman and Al MacIsaac and beginning today, July 10th, are eligible to be hired by any team in the league.

All three of Quenneville, Bowman and MacIsaac were punished by the National Hockey League in October 2021 for their inaction regarding sexual assault allegations brought forward by Kyle Beach during their 2010 Stanley Cup run.

"As of today, NHL teams are free to hire Stan Bowman, Al MacIsaac and Joel Quenneville. They were reinstated on July 1.

Those men were previously ineligible to work as punishment for their inadequate response to sexual assault allegations brought forth by Kyle Beach in Chicago." TSN's Chris Johnston said.

The National Hockey League explains that while their responses to the matter were unacceptable, all three have used their time away from hockey to better themselves and demonstrate remorse for what had happened to Kyle Beach. They added that Quenneville, Bowman and MacIsaac have participated in programs focusing on how to respond and address alleged acts of abuse.

"While it is clear that, at the time, their responses were unacceptable, each of these three individuals (Messrs. Bowman, Maclsaac and Quenneville) 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. Moreover, each has made significant strides in personal improvement by participating in myriad programs, many of which focused on the imperative of responding in effective and meaningful ways to address alleged acts of abuse. The League expects that they will continue this commitment in any future capacity with the NHL and/or one of our Clubs." The NHL said.

It's a tough decision for the National Hockey League to make on reinstating these three individuals. Their inaction to help a player in their organization at the time, while prioritizing a Stanley Cup is absolutely inexcusable and everyone is hoping that the National Hockey League decided to speak with Kyle Beach before coming to the decision of reinstatement for Joel Quenneville, Stan Bowman and Al MacIsaac.