NHL reinstates Bowman, MacIsaac, Quenneville after ban - ESPN

The NHL will allow three former Chicago Blackhawks executives to seek employment in the league after they were banned in October 2021 after an independent investigation into how they handled a sexual assault allegation in 2010.

NHL teams are allowed to speak with Stan Bowman, Al MacIsaac and Joel Quenneville about positions with their franchises, but can't enter into new employment relationships with any of them until July 10, the league announced Monday. All three had a role in three Blackhawks Stanley Cup championships.

Bowman was the Blackhawks' president of hockey operations and general manager. MacIsaac was senior director of hockey administration. Both stepped aside from their roles in October 2021. Quenneville resigned as head coach of the Florida Panthers that same month after a meeting with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.

Their ineligibility came after an independent investigation into how the Chicago Blackhawks handled a sexual assault allegation in 2010, when then-player Kyle Beach said he was sexually assaulted by video coach Brad Aldrich. The report said Blackhawks officials didn't want to take action against Aldrich because they didn't want to disrupt the team's path to the Stanley Cup title.

The NHL never formally suspended any of the three executives, but Bettman said they could return to working in the league under «appropriate conditions.»

«For more than the last two and a half years, these individuals have been ineligible to work for any NHL team as a result of their inadequate response upon being informed in 2010 of allegations that Blackhawks' Player, Kyle Beach, had been assaulted by the Club's video coach,» the NHL said in a statement. «While it is clear that, at the time, their responses were