One Western club going all-in to sign Quenneville?

This could be a great move.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 5 years ago
One Western club going all-in to sign Quenneville?
Zuma Press

Yes, this has indeed taken place for real in the past week: the Chicago Blackhawks fired head coach Joel Quenneville on Tuesday. He was the longest-tenured coach in the National Hockey League in his 11th season and won three Stanley Cups with the Hawks. With 890 wins, Quenneville is second on the all-time list next to only Scotty Bowman’s 1,244.

And Brian Burke is right about this: 

“I don’t agree with it myself, I think Joel Quenneville is an amazing guy and a great coach. He’ll be out of work about 72 hours if he wants to work again right away.

“If he wants to work tomorrow he will have a job offer by tomorrow.”


So what if the team looking to make his a job offer were the Edmonton Oilers? 

Michael Traikos, national hockey writer for Postmedia, believes that the Oilers should strongly consider replacing head coach Todd McLellan with fired Chicago coach Joel Quenneville: 

“If you’re Peter Chiarelli, the question is do you make a coaching change right away or wait a few more days until the Edmonton Oilers fall out of a playoff spot? After all, Joel Quenneville is not going to be out of work for long. Fired from the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday, I’d be shocked if the Los Angeles Kings weren’t already negotiating a new deal for the three-time Stanley Cup-winning coach. That is, if the St. Louis Blues, Detroit Red Wings or Florida Panthers aren’t already tying up his phone line trying to do the same. That’s how big of a name Quenneville is. And that’s also how badly some teams have started out of the gate…  If the Oilers are contemplating a coaching change, they better act fast. Edmonton cannot miss the playoffs for a second straight year. Not with Connor McDavid on a 58-goal,129-point pace to start the season. If that were to happen, McLellan won’t be the only one in Edmonton who will be losing his job.”

Only hours after the firing in Chicago, The Hockey Central at Noon guys broke down teams in the NHL who they feel could seriously consider firing their coach now that Quenneville is available. The Oilers were not mentioned in their list. They believe the St. Louis Blues, Detroit Red Wings, Anaheim Ducks, Columbus Blue Jackets and Philadelphia Flyers, would be, or should be, interested. 

However, the move could be a brilliant one. Imagine what Quenneville could do with a talented player and captain like Connor McDavid?!


Source: Postmedia