SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Joel Quenneville resigned as coach of the Florida Panthers on Thursday, two days after the second-winningest coach in NHL history was among those implicated for not swiftly responding to allegations by a Chicago Blackhawks player of being sexually assaulted by another coach during the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs. The announcement was made shortly after Quenneville met with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman in New York to discuss his role in what happened in Chicago during the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs, when a player named Kyle Beach said he was sexually assaulted by then-Blackhawks assistant Brad Aldrich.

CHICAGO (AP) — Kemba Walker scored 21 points, RJ Barrett added 20 and the New York Knicks hung on to hand the Chicago Bulls their first loss of the season 104-103. Julius Randle had 13 points and 16 rebounds. Derrick Rose came off New York’s bench to add 12 points against his former team as the Knicks won their second straight and improved to 4-1. Chicago star Zach LaVine scored 25 points, despite playing with a torn ligament in his left thumb. The Bulls went on a 12-0 run in the final minutes to nearly tie the score in a game the Knicks seemingly had wrapped up.

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Bears enter their game against the struggling San Francisco 49ers at Soldier Field trying to steady themselves after back-to-back losses to teams with two of the game’s best quarterbacks. They got pounded last week by Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 38-3 in their most lopsided loss in seven years. That came on the heels of a loss to Green Bay punctuated by Aaron Rodgers screaming “I still own you! I still own you!” to the crowd at Soldier Field after running for a late touchdown. The 49ers have dropped four straight since opening with wins at Detroit and Philadelphia.

EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Minnesota will try to win its fourth straight game this weekend at Northwestern. The Gophers are currently atop the Big Ten West standings. They rely on a powerful running game led by a pair of freshmen who stepped up when other players were injured. Northwestern is coming off a loss at Michigan. The Wildcats have seen solid play out of transfer quarterback Ryan Hilinski.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Rutgers visits Illinois on Saturday. The Scarlet Knights are still looking for their first Big Ten win of the season and are 3-4 overall so far. Illinois is coming off one of the season’s biggest upsets: A nine-overtime win at Penn State. Coach Bret Bielema says his team has put that win behind them to focus on Rutgers. Illinois will be without quarterback Art Sitkowski, who is out for the season with a broken arm.

CHICAGO (AP) — The former player at the heart of the Chicago Blackhawks assault scandal has come forward publicly. Kyle Beach tells TSN he felt “alone and dark” in the days following the alleged assault in 2010.  Earlier this week, a report detailed how senior team leaders badly mishandled Beach’s allegations that an assistant coach sexually assaulted him. The ramifications now stretch beyond Chicago. Florida coach Joel Quenneville is slated to meet with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman on Thursday. Winnipeg general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff also is planning to talk to the commissioner next week. Both were with the Blackhawks when the allegations were first reported to team leadership.

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