Quenneville met with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, deputy commissioner Bill Daly, Panthers general manager Bill Zito, and Panthers president and CEO Matthew Caldwell on Thursday.
He tendered his resignation following the meeting, the team said. Bettman said the league would not take action against Quenneville, the second-winningest coach in NHL history, but the coach would have to meet with the commissioner before returning to the league.
Quenneville, 63, told a reporter for Canadian sports network TSN that he was resigning with “deep regret and contrition.”
“I want to express my sorrow for the pain this young man, Kyle Beach, has suffered,” he told TSN. “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.”
Blackhawks’ President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Stan Bowman and Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Al MacIsaac resigned Tuesday after their alleged roles in the matter were detailed in an investigation conducted by law firm Jenner & Block.
“After the release of the Jenner & Block investigative report on Tuesday afternoon, we have continued to diligently review the information within that report, in addition to new information that has recently become available,” Caldwell said in a statement. “It should go without saying that the conduct described in that report is troubling and inexcusable. It stands in direct contrast to our values as an organization and what the Florida Panthers stand for. No one should ever have to endure what Kyle Beach experienced during, and long after, his time in Chicago. Quite simply, he was failed. We praise his bravery and courage in coming forward.”
Bettman said in a statement that the league agrees with Quenneville’s decision to step down. The commissioner said Quenneville was among several former members of the team’s top officials who mishandled Beach’s claim in 2010.
“I admire Kyle Beach for his courage in coming forward, am appalled that he was so poorly supported upon making his initial claim and in the 11 years since, and am sorry for all he has endured,” Bettman said.
On Tuesday, the NHL announced it had fined the Blackhawks $2 million for what the league described as “the organization’s inadequate internal procedures and insufficient and untimely response.”
The Blackhawks organization apologized to its fans in a letter published Tuesday, saying it had not lived up to its own standards.
Beach, 31, now plays professionally in Germany.
The Panthers said an announcement will be forthcoming regarding an interim head coach.
CNN’s Steve Almasy contributed to this report.