“Today was a very tough day,” admitted the Anaheim general manager, Pat Verbeek, after head coach Greg Cronin was fired on April 19. The Ducks finished the 2024-25 season with a meagre 80 points (35-37-10) and missed the playoffs for the seventh straight season. While many knew this didn’t bode well for Cronin’s career, most weren’t prepared to see Joel Quenneville as the person to be called upon to turn things around at the Ducks’ camp.

Quenneville was kept away from the field for three years after the league noted that Quenneville had an “inadequate response” to the allegations of misconduct raised against him during his time as the Blackhawks’ head coach in 2010. Last July, Joel was reinstated by the NHL commissioner, Gary Bettman. However, any team that hired the controversial guide also had to follow up on a lot of due diligence after hiring the 66-year-old coach. And the Anaheim Ducks had to address the move.

The official Anaheim Ducks’ X account went on the platform on May 8 to announce the hiring of Joel Quenneville as the 12th head coach of the franchise. “We’re proud to announce Joel Quenneville as our new head coach!” reads the caption of the post. “Today is a great day for the Anaheim Ducks,” said Pat Verbeek, “We spoke with dozens of individuals, including advocates for positive change in hockey and leadership of the NHL, which last July officially cleared Joel to seek employment in the league.”

The statements would cause significant murmurs across the community. In 2021, former Chicago player Kyle Beach sued the team, alleging that Quenneville turned a blind eye to what was going on in the locker room. Beach alleged that then-video coach Brad Aldrich had assaulted him during the team’s 2010 Stanley Cup campaign. A similar case was raised by another Blackhawks player, who chose to remain unnamed, in November 2023. The charges claimed that the team prioritized “Stanley Cup Championship aspirations ahead of the welfare of its players and provided cover to…its coaching staff.”

However, both the general manager and the Ducks’ owner, Henry Samueli, strongly backed up Joel Quenneville. “Naming Joel Quenneville as our head coach represents the next phase of our team development. Our goal is to make the playoffs. And I believe Joel is the guy who takes us there,” Verbeek said. The coach also acknowledged that whatever happened in 2010 wasn’t correct and vowed to do better.

“I fully understand and accept those who question my return to the league. I know words aren’t enough. I will demonstrate (by) my actions that I am a man of character,” Quenneville told the media. “Over nearly four years, I’ve taken time to reflect,” he said further. With 969 regular-season wins under his belt, Joel is the second-winnings coach in NHL history, and if anyone can bring the Ducks out of their playoff misery, it’s undoubtedly the veteran coach.

However, considering that Beach and others named Quenneville as part of the problem, it’s understandable why skeptical thoughts continue to run amok within the community.

Could Joel Quenneville lead the Ducks to better days, with Samueli behind him?

Anaheim has a number of charitable foundations for extensive philanthropic work. The Fly Together initiative aims to “facilitate and support programs that produce positive change for children and families throughout Southern California by providing educational opportunities, broadening access to the sport of hockey, and addressing the health and wellness needs of our community.” Naturally, with that in mind, Joel Quenneville’s hiring is making many fans raise their eyebrows. However, Samueli is confident that Anaheim’s charitable work would bring out a better version of Joel. “I’m very confident that Joel will be a star when it comes to working with those organizations,” the owner said.

But getting Quenneville to replace Cronin isn’t the only way that Samueli is trying to revive the team and the community that surrounds it. Just days ago, it was revealed that the microchip tycoon would invest a staggering $1 billion out of his own pocket to renovate the iconic Honda Center. While the proposed entertainment district that will surround the stadium, OCVibe, is yet to commence work, Samueli’s holding company believes the renovations must be carried out immediately.

The Ducks finished the 2024-25 season in sixth place in the Pacific Division. But can the new head coach, Joel Quenneville, come up with a better result to celebrate the revamped Honda Center? Tell us your thoughts in a comment!