Chicago Blackhawks: Three reasons Quenneville should’ve stayed
The Chicago Blackhawks announced on Tuesday that the team fired head coach Joel Quenneville. It came as a shock to many fans. Here are three reasons he shouldn’t have been fired.
The Chicago Blackhawks announced a move that could signal the end of an era on Tuesday. The team informed the public that they fired Joel Quenneville after 10 years as head coach of the team. It was a shocking announcement, but there are some valid criticisms about Quenneville.
While the past two seasons of Blackhawks hockey hasn’t been up to standards they set by winning three Stanley Cups in the Quenneville era, I don’t think the answer was to fire him this early in the season.
The Blackhawks started this year off looking a lot better than they had in the 2017-2018 season. Goalie Corey Crawford was finally healthy and made his return shortly after the season started. The offense was getting going. Then, the wheels fell off rather quickly.
Clearly, the Blackhawks have been just looking for a reason to fire Joel Quenneville. What, if Duncan Keith doesn't get ejected Saturday night and Corey Crawford staves off the Flames barrage, he's still employed today? What madness this is.
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) November 6, 2018
The team has now lost five straight games and looked very average in a road trip to face western Canadian teams. This was an opportunity for the Blackhawks to execute a plan to replace coach Q with a prospect. The team named 33-year-old assistant coach Jeremy Colliton acting head coach.
There were rumors swirling that Colliton would be the one to replace Quenneville when the team wanted to part ways, but that wasn’t expected to happen until after this season at the earliest. It seems like plans changed.
This move is understandable, but I still believe it was a mistake. Here are three reasons why Quenneville should still be coaching the Blackhawks.