Florida Panthers coach Joel Quenneville resigns amid sexual assault scandal

Joel Quenneville resigned from his position as head coach of the Florida Panthers on Thursday night.

It was alleged that Quenneville, 63, turned a blind eye to sexual assault allegations made by a former player against an assistant coach when he was head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks. Former Blackhawks player Kyle Beach revealed Wednesday in a TSN interview that he is the previously unnamed player who filed a lawsuit against the team for failing to address his 2010 allegations about former Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich.

A four-month independent investigation found that Quenneville and others in leadership positions with the Blackhawks decided not to address the allegations while the team was in the Stanley Cup playoffs. After winning the Stanley Cup and allowing Aldrich to stay on staff for three more weeks, the team finally pushed for Aldrich to resign from his position.

"I want to express my sorrow for the pain this young man, Kyle Beach, has suffered," Quenneville said in his resignation statement. "My former team the Blackhawks failed Kyle and I own my share of that. I want to reflect on how all of this happened and take the time to educate myself on ensuring hockey spaces are safe for everyone."

"The National Hockey League agrees with the decision tonight by Joel Quenneville to resign his duties as head coach of the Florida Panthers," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman wrote in a statement. "In his former role as Chicago Blackhawks head coach, Mr. Quenneville was among several former members of the Club's senior leadership group who mishandled the 2010 sexual assault claim by former player Kyle Beach against the Club's then-video coach, Brad Aldrich. And, following a meeting with Mr. Quenneville that took place this afternoon in my office, all parties agreed that it was no longer appropriate that he continue to serve as Florida's head coach."

The Panthers have not yet announced an interim coach.