The Chicago Blackhawks have fired head coach Joel Quenneville.
Quenneville has been with the team since the 2007-2008 season, but after the shocking announcement of his termination on Tuesday, Nov. 6 he will no longer be with the club.
This decision has been a long time coming after the Hawks failed to make it into the playoffs last season with a disappointing 33-39-10 record. In the 2018-2019 season, they have a 6-6-3 start.
The club wasn’t showing the spark that general manager Stan Bowman wanted. Chicago’s inconsistencies led to Quenneville’s release, and in his place Jeremy Colliton will step up.
Colliton formerly played for the New York Islanders. He played 57 games with the team and netted three goals and three assists. During his rookie season, he played 66 games with the Islanders minor league affiliate, the Bridgeport Tigers, and had 21 goals.
In 2013, Colliton announced his retirement from the sport after coming to terms with his on going battle with post-concussion syndrome, a set of symptoms that can last for years after a person suffers from a severe concussion.
On May 18, 2017, he was named head coach of the Rockford IceHogs, the minor league team of the Chicago Blackhawks. During his time coaching in Rockford, the team had a 40-28-8 record and had a total of 88 points.
As Chicago’s new head coach, the young man is now the youngest coach in the league at the age of 33. The hope is that he’ll be able to relate to the team more as there are 15 players on the Blackhawks roster that are under 30.
In Quenneville’s time with the team he produced a 452-249-96 record and led the team to three Stanley Cup titles. During his 10-plus seasons with the organization, the team played post-season hockey every time except for last year.
Quenneville has the second most wins in NHL history behind Scotty Bowman. He’s had 890 wins in 1,636 games. Before he became a part of the Blackhawks organization, he spent eight seasons as the coach for the St. Louis Blues and prior to that he spent three seasons with the Colorado Avalanche.
Regardless of his numbers, GM Stan Bowman felt the relationship was no longer working and decided to act now instead of waiting.
Chicago has now lost five games in a row, and that was what caused Bowman to act. With this losing streak, Chicago is sixth in the Central Division, and they place 21st in the league out of 31 teams.
The Chicago Blackhawks face off against the Carolina Hurricanes at home on Nov. 8 before traveling to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers on Nov. 10.
Emilee Brewer
Reporter