In a shocking turn of events, the Chicago Blackhawks have fired head coach Joel Quenneville just a month into the season. Quenneville had been the bench boss in Chicago since October 16th, 2008, and had won more than 500 games with the club including three Stanley Cups. The team has also fired assistant coaches Kevin Dineen and Ulf Samuelsson. Jeremy Colliton, who had been coaching with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs, has been promoted to NHL head coach alongside Barry Smith who will make the jump to NHL assistant.
Quenneville, 60, is one of a handful of coaches who could be considered the greatest—or at least most successful—in the history of the NHL. His 890 regular season wins trail only the legendary Scotty Bowman, while his .609 winning percentage is third among coaches with over 1,000 games behind the bench. Even his three championships, won in 2010, 2013 and 2015 are the benchmark for coaches in the salary cap era. Since becoming a head coach during the 1996-97 season, his teams have reached the playoffs 18 times, missing just twice including last season.
The struggles of the Blackhawks in recent years to return to the Stanley Cup Finals has forced several issues between Quenneville and the front office into the spotlight, including the firing of assistant coach Mike Kitchen in late April of 2017. After being swept out of the first round of the playoffs, GM Stan Bowman surprised Quenneville by firing Kitchen suddenly. The two had worked together for years, and Quenneville was “upset” at the decision. Even before that, Bowman and Quenneville had clashed about the appearance of Smith, then director of player personnel, at team practices. Smith has now been chosen to fill in on the bench with Colliton as an assistant.
The outgoing Quenneville still has another season on his current contract that will pay him $6MM, but shouldn’t be out of work long if the Blackhawks allow him to pursue other opportunities. Teams that have been internally assessing their own coaching staffs have even more reason to make a move now, and would likely only have to pay out a portion of the remaining deal. Chicago could technically block him from working somewhere else, but would save money by allowing another team to pay some of his contract. There are no longer any compensatory draft picks for situations like this.
Colliton, 33, will become the youngest head coach in the league after taking over from Quenneville. Originally selected in the second round by the New York Islanders, Colliton played 57 NHL games before heading over to Sweden to try and continue his career. While dealing with post-concussion symptoms he announced his retirement only to join the Mora IK coaching staff. He coached the IceHogs to a 40-28-8 record last season (his first) in the AHL, and took them all the way to the third round of the Calder Cup playoffs.
Still, for all the acclaim Colliton has received as a young coach, he has a lot of work to do. Duncan Keith, Corey Crawford, Cam Ward and Chris Kunitz are all older than the incoming coach, and Brent Seabrook is a former teammate of his from the World Junior Championship. While that doesn’t mean he can’t control or command them, it does point to at least one of the reasons why the roster has struggled recently. The Blackhawks are 6-6-3 this season but have lost five straight games, and have a huge amount of their cap tied up in their aging core. Seabrook and Keith, once the faces of a dynamic defensive unit, are both shadows of their former selves and still signed through at least the 2022-23 season. Captain Jonathan Toews has had a nice bounce back season so far, but is now on the wrong side of 30 with another four years at $10.5MM on his deal.
There is talent and youth on the roster, but it will be a tough ask for Colliton—like it was for Quenneville—to turn this group into a playoff team right away. Perhaps more changes are on their way for the Blackhawks, including potential transactions to rid themselves of some of the heftier contracts. The team is headed in a new, fresh direction, and would likely want a more flexible balance sheet to work with going forward.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Unbelievable. The gm should be fired. He can inly do so much with a bad hand and aging core. And in hockey dynasties don’t last long.
Can’t fire himself, so Bowman is trying to save his job!
What Sheep said. Baaahhd decision.
Blues reunion.
How bout fire the guy that drew up the contracts of the 4 guys who suck up most of the payroll.
Interesting to see…. remember when it was kings/hawks/kings/hawks … etc…. when it came to playoffs and winning the cup?? Now that aging core of players and bad contracts are coming back to haunt the front offices, and the easiest thing to do…. fire the coaches. Stevens wasn’t head coach, but an assistant during the cup years in LA. So they fired Sutter AND Stevens now…. maybe (and I hate stevens) but MAYBE it’s the front office for allowing these teams to age with contracts backing the team into a salary cap corner….and not address the team needs. Wish we would sign Quenneville in LA! He’s an awesome coach!
Why is Bowman Still there? He got the hawks into that mess to begin with long term contracts and recent bad deals. Trading Panarin was an epic disaster he should be fired over that alone. Are they keeping him because of Scotty I hope McDonough and Wertz are better than that.
Red Wings need to hop all over this! Fire Blashill immediately and bring in Quenneville
If I am Quenneville where would I like to live , Los Angles or Detroit? No brainer. Bring on the warm sunshine!!!!
Newly re-monikered City of Angles. Bad angles. With a sizable number of players who are teetering on the edge of having to get around the 85×200 with aluminum walkers, it appears just as no-win as Beirut West (Detroit). Coach Q can’t make them younger & faster. Sure the weather is better, but no-win is still no-win. Ideal landing spots are already filled. Maybe the Hawks can rebound with a new voice, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up, especially after whacking the staff, as well. Stan-The-Man-Without-A-Plan. Way to cut your nose off to spite your face… and that of the fans…
Or if I was Quennevile where do you want to coach…… original 6 franchise(red wings) or a garbage franchise Los Angelos
When was the last time detroit was relevant lol
imindless Way back, when Detoilet were cheating to SC AFTER SC along with Montreal and Toronto.
Ahhhhhh, the good old days…. cheaters were WELCOME back then with far more fervor than these days.
In the past 30 years, no team has made the playoffs more times than Detroit (27/30) and their four Stanley Cups over that time are second only to Pittsburgh. So the answer to your question would be: The past 30 years.
Sorry, Rex. The last ten years matter. Not pretty for Detroit and not getting better…
Wow. What a joke. The guy who should be fired stays. Q was second most all time in wins, you don’t achieve that by being a bad coach. He’s not the problem. Bowman is.
Hindsight is a powerful thing. A fresh start can be too. Q was a fantastic coach and is one of the best ever. As a Blackhawks fan I say thank you for bringing the excitement and success to the team for years.
Bowman has an upside as well but some of the contract decisions have been a bit hefty. I don’t work there so a lot of speculation is all I can offer. Who knows how this will play out but clearly there was turmoil between them. Let’s see what a new generation can do.
Return to the Blues perhaps? Maybe fire Yeo and bring back Joel?
Bring back Keenan ;)
Would be entertainment!
Pretty sure Jesus himself couldn’t help the Blues this year.
The Fyers should fire Haskell and Hire Quenville now. the flyers are a very talented team and he would be a great coach for them
I wouldn’t be surprised if he wound up in Canada ,maybe rebuild the Senators being he’s from Ontario and at 60 stays close to Home?
PAGING RON HEXTALL!
bowman has wanted to fire him or make him quit since they day he got the job. forcing players and coaches on him. You knew once the were not winning time was up. You have wonder any other team thinking of making a change jumps in to get him like montreal did with Julien when he came available
Quenneville had a hell of a run with the blowcawks of the windy blowy. Not many coaches would have lasted as long as he did, especially with a first name like “Joel” and in a rough media market like chicago. LOL… Congrats to him all the same, 3 rings and a load of money…. not much left to coach for IMO.
Some would disagree with the firing, as Bowman is a hell of a tool and should likely have be gone long before Queeny. Gifted all those 1st round draft picks and the SC rosters too. Speaking of, special thanks KAAKAA Rask (the choker) and company for that rigged Stanley Cup loss in 2013, the Series definitely should have been won by the Bruins, though the ‘cawks HAD BEEN the best regular season team truthfully. You chitown ladies never could beat the LA Queens though, lol. Who knows why?
You should locate the nearest mental health facility. You need some help, my friend.