Chicago Blackhawks announced on Tuesday that they had fired their head coach Joel Quenneville. This decision comes after the Blackhawks missed the playoffs last season for the first time in a decade and entered the 2018-19 season with 6-6-3 record.
This was a somewhat unexpected decision, considering the fact that Quenneville led Chicago to three Stanley Cups since joining the organization in 2008. The 60-year-old was the coach with the longest tenure in NHL previous to getting fired.
“As Chicago Blackhawks fans have seen over the last decade, this organization no longer shies away from making tough decisions or ones based on emotion,” – said Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz in a statement. “Those days are long behind us. Of course, Joel’s was difficult, as it should have been. During his tenure as head coach to the Chicago Blackhawks, Joel brought the city of Chicago and our fans three Stanley Cups and an incredible era of hockey.”
Besides parting ways with Joel Quenneville, Chicago Blackhawks also fired assistant coaches Kevin Dineen and Ulf Samuelsson. Jeremy Colliton, who coached the Blackhawks’ AHL affiliate, was selected as Quenneville’s replacement, becoming the youngest NHL coach at age 33.
“This is certainly a very difficult decision,” – said Blackhawks’ general manager Stan Bowman 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.”
Apart from coaching Chicago Blackhawks, Joel Quenneville was also the head coach of Colorado Avalanche and St. Louis Blues. He is currently placed second at the list of all-time career wins as a coach in NHL with 890 wins combined and trailing only Scotty Bowman (1,244).
