Ducks Owner Addresses Concerns After Hiring of Controversial Head Coach

The Anaheim Ducks announced the hire of its next head coach, Joel Quenneville, on Thursday, prompting a rare media address from franchise owner Henry Samueli.

The hiring of Quenneville was a controversial one, considering his history in the league. Quenneville has been out of the NHL for almost four years stemming from a league investigation into the handling of an alleged sexual assault within the Chicago Blackhawks organization in 2019.

Quenneville was reinstated by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in July but wasn't hired by any organization for the 2024–25 season. Now, he's set to take over as the head coach of the Ducks after the team parted ways with Greg Conin.

Knowing he'd need to provide some insight into the due diligence the organization did ahead of its decision to hire Quenneville, Samueli spoke to reporters on Thursday in an attempt to clear the air.

"Of course, it was a concern. First thing we talked about is what sort of due diligence have you done?  Who have you spoken to? We spent hours literally going through all the details of his due diligence as we spoke to him and what they had to say," Samueli said when asked about the level of concern he had about hiring Quenneville, via Zach Cavanagh of The Sporting Tribune.

"He made a mistake. I make mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes. He paid the price, and spent three, four years out of the league, educating himself on what he should be doing better, what he could have done better, how to handle things. I feel very good that we're in a good position," he added.

When asked about the reaction from fans and how he would handle it, Samueli said, "Did we do a thorough investigation? Are we comfortable with Joel in his current state of health and being mental wellness? And we are comfortable, very comfortable, and we're really not overly worried that it's going to become a problem.

"I mean, yes, we'll hear negatives. Fine. We'll deal with it, and I fully respect people who have negative opinions are going to have negative comments, a lot of people who are victims of abuse and I have nothing but the most respect for them, and we’ll listen and try to convince them that we really did go through a thorough process, and that Joel really is a good person who happened to make a mistake."

Quenneville last coached in the NHL in 2021–22. He resigned from his position with the Florida Panthers just seven games into the season after being named in an independent investigation into the Chicago Blackhawks' sexual abuse case.

Prior to his stint in Florida, Quenneville had coached the Blackhawks from 2008 to 2019. He's also previously held head coaching stints with the Colorado Avalanche and St. Louis Blues. Quenneville boasts 25 years of head coaching experience and is the second-winningest coach in NHL history, but also comes to Anaheim with plenty of additional baggage.

When asked why the team elected to go with Quenneville over some less controversial coaching options, Samueli said, "Well, first of all, as you heard a million times, you can't argue with his record. A younger coach, there's risk. They may have great experience, but do they really have that track record in the NHL?  So going with somebody who's been in the NHL, second winningest coach all time, he doesn't have to prove his capabilities."

Ultimately, the onus will be on Quenneville to win over the approval of Ducks fans, but he's got the support of the Samueli's as he makes his return to the league.