LAST WORD

Quenneville is out of a job because this is the price to be paid for three Stanley Cup championships between 2010-15. When a team has that much success, top players receive lucrative contracts, depth erodes, players grow older, the process becomes stale and the coach gets fired. It’s just what happens.”

Kevin Allen, USA TODAY hockey columnist, on the firing of Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville. (For Allen’s full column, go to nhl.usatoday.com.)