Firing of Hawks coach ends era
CHICAGO— Joel Quenneville knew the deal. After three Stanley Cup titles and nine playoff appearances with the Chicago Blackhawks, the longtime coach figured this was a big season for him.
“I only think we’re in the winning business and we better win,” Quenneville said on the first day of training camp. Two months later, it was over. The Blackhawks fired Quenneville on Tuesday, ending a wildly successful run that returned the franchise to the top of the NHL after years of heartache.
“This is certainly a very difficult decision,” general manager Stan Bowman said in a statement. “But I believe it is in the best interests of the Blackhawks organization. We need to maximize each and every opportunity with our playoff goals in mind and create continued growth and development throughout our roster at the same time.
“After much deliberation the last several days, with great respect to what Joel has meant to the Blackhawks, we knew we had to make a change.”
Assistants Kevin Dineen and Ulf Samuelsson also were let go. Jeremy Colliton was hired as the 38th head coach in franchise history, and Barry Smith, 66, moved from Chicago’s front office to the bench as an assistant coach.
Colliton moves from Chicago’s American Hockey League affiliate in Rockford, Ill., and is now the NHL’s youngest head coach at 33. Blackhawks forward Chris Kunitz, defenceman Duncan Keith and goaltenders Corey Crawford and Cam Ward are older than Colliton, and defenceman Brent Seabrook also is 33.
The 60-year-old Quenneville had another year left on a threeyear contract extension he signed in 2016 that pays him $6 million per year, second highest in the NHL behind Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock.
“He’s a good friend, good coach, three Cups. He’s going to go in the Hockey Hall of Fame,” Babcock said. “I don’t know what else you say about him. If he wants to work, he works.”
After getting off to a 6-2-2 start this year, Chicago has dropped five in a row heading into Thursday’s home game against Carolina. The power play, a persistent problem, ranked 27th in the NHL heading into Tuesday.
Quenneville finishes with a 452-249-96 record with Chicago. He also went 76-52 in the playoffs with the Blackhawks for the best record in franchise history.